Nicola Sturgeon KEEPS Scotland’s mask laws in place for WEEKS over Covid case spike

Nicola Sturgeon sparked fury today as she U-turned on plans to remove Scotland’s last remaining Covid laws by keeping mask rules in place. 

The First Minister told Holyrood the face covering restrictions would be kept for at least two more weeks amid a spike in cases.

She had been under pressure to bring Scotland into line with England by scrapping all remaining social restrictions, including laws demanding masks be worn indoors in public places. 

Opponents had urged the First Minister not to backtrack but chief medical officer Sir Gregor Smith had advised a cautious approach amid concern over a recent rise in case numbers.

And Ms Sturgeon told MSPs in Edinburgh today that keeping the mask mandate was ‘prudent’ and expected to lift the law before the Easter school holidays, with a decision in 14 days.

But Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross slammed the decision, saying: ‘It’s true that cases rates are higher at the moment than any of us would like. But Covid cases were always going to rise as restrictions were eased.

‘We can’t get complacent with Covid but we have to move forward, we cannot stay stuck with Covid rules forever. That’s why it will be a blow for households and businesses that the First Minister has decided to keep the face mask rules in place…

‘Why won’t the First Minister trust the Scottish public to take the steps they think are right to protect themselves and their families? And why are we back to this ”wait-and-see’ approach again with no firm date to allow businesses and the public to plan ahead?’

Other measures still in place, like forcing businesses to collect customer contact details, will cease on Monday as planned.

The First Minister also confirmed plans to stop widespread Covid testing by the end of April.  

The First Minister said rising cases driven by the BA.2 sub-variant meant the rule would have to stay in place beyond Monday.

The law on masks, which applies to public transport and enclosed public spaces, was due to be converted to guidance on March 21.

However, the legal requirement for certain premises to retain customer contact details will be dropped as planned.

The First Minister said: ‘Given the current spike in case numbers, we consider it prudent to retain this requirement in regulation for a further short period.

‘I know this will be disappointing for businesses and service providers such as day care services.

‘However, ensuring continued widespread use of face coverings will provide some additional protection – particularly for the most vulnerable – at a time when the risk of infection is very high, and it may help us get over this spike more quickly.’

Dr Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said: ‘Scottish businesses were looking forward to returning to greater normality and the decision to delay the removal of all remaining Covid-19 restrictions will come as a bitter disappointment.

‘Further delay will put Scotland’s recovery into reverse gear again, create confusion, dent business confidence, putting the buffers on economic growth.

‘The Scottish Government’s strategic framework recognises that the success of the vaccine rollout minimises the risk of serious illness and should enable Scotland’s businesses and individuals to begin living and working with increasingly normality alongside the virus.

‘Businesses cannot continue to operate with the start-stop lever being pulled just weeks apart, with no clear confirmation as to what the triggers driving decision making are.’

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in Scotland, accounting for more than 80 per cent of all cases. 

It came as the Scottish Government confirmed that travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people will end this week.

It followed an announcement by UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps that passenger locator forms and PCR tests will be scrapped in time for the Easter holidays.

Sir Gregor said it is estimated that around 85 per cent of Scotland’s cases are the new more transmissible BA.2 variant.

In the past week, nearly 76,000 people in Scotland have tested positive for Covid, the largest seven-day total since mid- January.

But the rise has not fuelled a significant increase in serious illness. Sir Gregor told the

BBC: ‘At this moment in time we can certainly see that, with rising cases, we need to be just a little bit cautious when we are interacting with others, particularly when we are in more crowded situations.’

Asked about lifting the rules on face coverings, he said: ‘That is a decision that ministers will make over the coming 24 hours. I think that a cautious approach at this moment in time is probably the right approach, and we are already seeing the public adopting those additional protections.’

The number of people in hospital with Covid has increased, with 1,805 receiving treatment yesterday, compared with 1,360 one week earlier and 1,175 a fortnight ago.

The number in intensive care rose from 19 on February 28 to 27 yesterday. There were 121 deaths in the week to last Friday.

Following yesterday’s announcement on the scrapping of travel regulations from 4am on Friday, Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: ‘These measures were agreed on a UK-wide basis despite the Scottish Government raising concerns over the lack of border controls.

‘However, we recognise the benefits of acting on a four nation basis and this will bring a high degree of normality back to travel and is extremely welcome for Scottish tourism, the aviation sector and travellers.’