Scotland reopens: Rallying call as pubs, gyms and shops welcome back customers

Retail and tourism chiefs have issued a rallying call to support businesses battling for survival as Scotland reopens today in the biggest single-day easing of pandemic restrictions so far.

Mainland Scotland will enter Level 3 restrictions from today, with non-essential shops, gyms, museums and tourist accommodation allowed to reopen.

Pubs and restaurants will be allowed to serve food indoors until 8pm, and food and alcohol outdoors until licenses allow. The border with England will also reopen for non-essential travel.

Health chiefs warned people not to “go crazy” as the restrictions ease, but Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said last week he is hopeful the harsh restrictions left behind on Monday will not return.

Jennifer Morrison, 30, General manage of St Luke's, Glasgow moves a keg of beer as the venue gears up for reopening.

Business chiefs urged Scots to “think local” and support shops and attractions close to home as they reopen.

Scotland’s Towns Partnership, the organisation behind the Scotland Loves Local campaign, said the importance of Monday’s reopening for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses “cannot be underestimated”.

“By supporting local businesses - whether when shopping or meeting friends - you are helping protect the jobs of those who live around you, safeguarding shops and services and making your community a better place to be,” said chief officer Phil Prentice.

“The road to recovery from coronavirus is going to be challenging. But we hope that today can signal the start of a summer of success, both in terms of beating the pandemic and for businesses bouncing back. Thinking local first - and safety first - will give the greatest chances of realising those hopes.”

All aboard as museums and galleries across Scotland reopen from Monday.

VisitScotland also called on Scots not to stray too far from home, encouraging “staycations” and support for local tourism.

“It is clear that tourism has been one of the greatest economic casualties of the pandemic,” said Malcolm Roughead, VisitScotland chief executive.

“We've had a year of very little investment, job losses and business closures – it will take time and significant investment to get us back to a thriving industry.

Preparations for opening at the the Three Sisters pub, Grassmarket, Edinburgh

“With the right support tourism and events can lead the economic recovery and boost inward investment where it’s needed most, but to do that the industry needs the support of people living in Scotland in the first instance.

“Many businesses are reopening after months of no trade, and with staycations set to be popular again this year, there is a real opportunity for us all to rally round and show our support for local tourism.

“I’d urge everyone, when appropriate and in accordance with the guidance, to visit restaurants that you’ve missed, explore visitor attractions, book a night away, take the family on a day out, discover somewhere new and make Scotland your holiday of choice this year.

“Only with this support can we truly start to help tourism bounce back.”

The Scottish Government has released a new app to allow businesses to more easily register the contact details of customers for contact tracing purposes.

More than 6,400 venues have signed up to Check in Scotland, which allows customers to log their details by scanning QR code posters or downloading the app on their phones.

All names, numbers and email addresses are stored in an encrypted data vault unique to each venue for 21 days.

The app is designed to complement the separate Protect Scotland app, which alerts people if they have been in close contact with a Covid-positive person.

Alerts will be sent by text, email or letter depending on what details users provide and “will be clearly marked as being from NHS Scotland Test and Protect”.

Chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith said: “As travel, retail and hospitality restrictions begin to ease and venues start to reopen, it’s vital that any close contacts of new positive cases can be quickly contacted and given advice to self-isolate.

“Check In Scotland is designed to give businesses an easy way to collect contact details from customers for contact tracing purposes.

“It is entirely voluntary and up to individual venues to decide what method they prefer to use to collect the required contact details.

“The faster we can contact people who might have been exposed to Covid-19, the faster we can stop the spread of the virus, and keep moving towards the return of everyday activities.”

Dr Christine Tair-Burkard, infection expert at Edinburgh University’s Roslin Institute, said she expected to see a “small increase” in Covid cases as the restrictions ease.

This will be exacerbated, she told the BBC’s Sunday Show, by a change in how Scotland conducts Covid testing.

From today, rapid lateral flow tests will be available to anyone without symptoms twice a week, which should mean many more asymptomatic cases are picked up.

Dr Tait-Burkard is optimistic that further easing may be allowed from the end of June or beginning of July, when more people have been vaccinated.

“We've always been talking about end of June, early July, and that's probably not an unrealistic thought process,” she said.

“We are expecting every adult in the UK to have been offered the vaccine by the end of July. “Despite the supply issues, and the change in the under 30s receiving different vaccines, that hasn't really changed.

“That means by the end of July we should probably have 80 to 90 per cent of people in the UK offered a vaccine, which should truly help us drive down case numbers and make public life much safer.

“From July onwards I would reckon that we can start to look at opening up [public venues], maybe in lower numbers, obviously with mask restrictions still in place.

“Whether that involves things like a vaccine passport, that is another question.”

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