Nicola Sturgeon has announced the legal requirement to wear face coverings in certain public places in Scotland will be converted to guidance.
This comes as number of coronavirus patients in Scotland’s hospitals has reached another record high – for the sixth time in the past eight days.
Scottish Government figures showed that on Sunday there were 2,360 people with recently confirmed Covid-19 in hospital, the highest number since the start of the pandemic.
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said the changes would begin on April 4 for places of worship and weddings. Picture date: Thursday March 24, 2022.
Andrew Milligan
The latest peak in hospital numbers comes after a slight fall in the total.
She told the Scottish Parliament: “Nine days ago we lifted all bar one of the remaining Covid legal requirements. However we retained in law the requirement to wear face coverings on public transport, and in certain indoor settings. I said two weeks ago that we would review this requirement before the Easter recess, which we have now done.
Members of the public wearing face masks. Sturgeon said the wider legal requirements for areas like shops and public transport will be converted to guidance on April 18.
Andrew Milligan
“We have taken account of the very high level of infection and the pressure on the NHS, and the fact that face coverings do provide an important layer of protection against transmission of the virus from one person to another.
“However, we are also mindful that the data may now be indicating a peaking of this wave of infection which should hopefully become more pronounced over the next couple of weeks.
“We have therefore concluded, subject as always to the state of the pandemic, that the legal requirement to wear face coverings will be replaced with guidance on the following phased basis.”
She said the changes would begin on April 4 for places of worship and weddings, with the wider legal requirements for areas like shops and public transport converted to guidance on April 18.
Scotland has reported a further 9,610 new cases of Covid-19, as well as 34 new deaths.
Scottish Government figures also showed that 2,344 people were in hospital in Scotland on Tuesday, down from 2,383 the previous day.
The hospital total includes 20 people who were in intensive care on Tuesday with recently confirmed Covid-19.
The latest deaths take the total number of people who had died within 28 days of contracting coronavirus in Scotland to 11,393.
Meanwhile, 4,353,991 people have received their first dose of Covid vaccine, 4,092,791 have received two doses, and a total of 3,451,131 have had three doses.