The day after Boris Johnson outlined a roadmap out of Covid restrictions for England Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has laid out the beginnings of a roadmap to ease Covid-19 restrictions from April. Like Johnson, Sturgeon is focusing on data rather than dates, but is taking a more cautious approach than the PM. She is going for phased and sustainable, with at least 3 weeks between each phase. Although, she did say that ‘if the data allows, we will seek to accelerate the easing of restrictions.’ More details will be laid out in mid-March, but here’s what we know about Scotland’s Covid-19 roadmap so far and it’s impact on businesses.
Phase 3 – April 5
Sturgeon wants to focus on getting children back to school first, opening the economy at a later stage.
There could be some early easing of business restrictions towards the beginning of April.
- An extension of the classification of ‘essential retail’
- Click and collect should resume for non-essential retail
- Stay at home restriction may be lifted
Phase 4 – April 26
From the end of April, Scotland would be moving back to its multi level system.
- Gyms, non-essential retail, hairdressers, bars and restaurants should reopen
- Non-essential work should be permitted in people’s homes
Change of local levels
From the end of April, everywhere should move from level 4 to level 3. The content of the levels system may be revised but, at present, people can’t leave their council area under level 3 which is still restrictive for businesses.
No decisions have been made on international travel, which will be looked at at a later date.
Financial support for businesses
Ongoing financial support is still available for businesses and tapered support will be provided for those that may still be facing restrictions and reduced demand. If you have any questions about the financial support available to your business please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to assist.
