The Scottish hospitality industry is facing new restrictions following an announcement today from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The Scottish Government will make it mandatory for customers in bars, restaurants and cafes to wear face coverings when they are moving around and not eating or drinking – for example when entering a premises, going to a table, or to the toilet.
In addition to this it will also become mandatory – rather than simply guidance – for staff working in hospitality premises to wear face coverings.
The First Minister said: “The hospitality industry has put a lot of effort into creating safe spaces for people to meet and we hope these additional protections will help ensure the sector can remain open, with high levels of compliance.”
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister also said that there would be no further lifting of lockdown restrictions.
She said that people would only now be able to meet up in groups of six – whether inside or outside.
She said: “The pause in our routemap and the new restrictions I have outlined today are not welcome. I know that – the Scottish Government did not want to have to impose them. But they are necessary.
“And they reflect the fact that Scotland – like the rest of the UK, Europe and the world – is currently in a precarious position.”
But she insisted that the country was “in a much better position than in late March”, saying prevalence of the virus was lower than then and that the rise in cases was “not as rapid” as earlier in the year.
“So we still have grounds for cautious hope. But we have no grounds for complacency,” she said.
Meanwhile demonstrators gathered outside the Scottish Parliament where the First Minister made the statement to protect against face coverings and lockdown restrictions
