Coronavirus: Scotland’s pubs and restaurants can fully reopen next week

Scotland’s pubs, restaurants and cinemas will be allowed to open fully next week, as the country moves to phase three in its easing of lockdown restrictions.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it marked “the most significant milestone yet in Scotland’s emergence from lockdown”.

As well as pubs and restaurants, tourist accommodation, museums and galleries can also open their doors from Wednesday.

Some pubs and restaurants in Scotland have already reopened – but only if they have been able to serve customers outdoors.

From tomorrow, up to 15 people from five different households will be able to meet outdoors. Indoors, eight people from three different households can meet.

The two-metre distancing rule remains in place in Scotland but there will be exemptions for retail and hospitality venues, under strict conditions, as well as on public transport.

Face coverings will be mandatory in shops from tomorrow and Ms Sturgeon said wearing a covering “should become as automatic as a seatbelt in a car.”

Ms Sturgeon outlined the phase three changes in a statement to the Scottish Parliament.

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On Monday, outdoor contact sports, play and physical activity can restart for those under 18, and all dental practices can treat registered patients for non-aerosol routine care.

Non-essential shops inside shopping centres can also re-open, subject to guidance and physical distancing. Meanwhile, face-to-face youth work can resume outdoors.

On Wednesday, places of worship can open for prayer services without singing, as can cinemas as long as physical distancing can be adhered to.

Childcare providers will also begin to open, and restrictions will be eased on numbers attending funerals, marriage ceremonies and civil partnerships registrations.

Scotland becomes the latest part of the UK to allow the hospitality industry to reopen, after pubs and restaurants opened their doors in England last Saturday.

Ms Sturgeon’s announcement comes as Wales announced that all Welsh children will be back to school full time in September.

Kirsty Williams, the country’s education minister, said that the fall in coronavirus infections meant that all pupils could go back into classrooms in the autumn with limited social distancing.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Scotland’s pubs and restaurants can fully reopen next week