Despite praising hospitality’s “sterling efforts” Nicola Sturgeon confirmed today that Scotland will move to Level 0 on 19th July but that social distancing outdoors would remain, and pubs, bars and restaurants must also shut their doors at midnight rather than follow local licensing rules.
Describing it as “not a complete and wholesale lifting of restrictions” but a “gradual approach” she said that closing hospitality venues at midnight must happen because hospitality is “a risky environment where people are less likely to follow rules” and that the measures “mitigate risk.”
A total of 15 people from the same number of households will be able to gather outdoors with a one-metre gap between each group, while inside hospitality venues, 10 adults from four households can meet, and there will be no need for customers to book a two-hour time slot.
Customers will still be asked to provide their contact details to support Test & Protect and will also be required to wear face coverings when not seated.
A maximum of 200 people will be able to attend weddings and funerals.
With regard to self-isolating she said that the blanket requirement for close contacts of those who test positive to self-isolate, will be removed from Monday, as long as they have had two doses of vaccine and take a PCR test.
She said that she still hoped Scotland could move beyond level zero from 9 August – the point at which the government aimed to scrap most legal restrictions.
Marc Crothall, CEO Scottish Tourism Alliance described the outdoor social distancing rule remaining as “disappointing”. He said, “It will be disappointing news today that the 1-metre distancing will remain outdoors for many of those businesses operating in the outdoor adventure and marine sector, especially as their counterparts south of the border are able to trade without this condition.
“There are understandably huge concerns across the industry in relation to the Scottish Government’s current self-isolation policy and the impact this is having on the ability for businesses to staff at required levels and in many cases, remain open. We are reassured by the Scottish Government’s commitment to removing the need for people to self-isolate if they are double vaccinated and come into close contact with a positive case.”
Leon Thompson, UKHospitality Scotland Executive Director, is calling for more financial support. He said, “Hospitality continues to trade in a very difficult environment which will not improve until all major restrictions are removed. Today we had hoped to hear something definite on this. Instead, businesses burdened with expensive short-term debt will continue to struggle, unable to break-even whilst ongoing and seemingly endless restrictions continue.
“Again, today’s announcement had nothing on financial support for Scotland’s hospitality businesses which are now set to fall further behind businesses in England. UKHospitality Scotland will continue to press the Scottish Government on this crucial point. A new package of support can make the difference between survival and closure for some businesses.”
She also expressed concerns about the uncertainty of long Covid, the fact the Delta variant was holding back NHS recovery and causing a backlog of non-coved care, and not being complacent about the number of young people getting the virus.
Nicola Sturgeon also reached out to those on the high clinical risk list – 13,000 of which haven’t had both doses of the vaccine – by telling them “we will not abandon you.”
As of 07:30 today, 3,941,571 people have received their first dose of the vaccine, an increase of 7,163 since yesterday, with 10,286 people received second doses of the vaccine yesterday, bringing the total number to 2,903,557.
The first minister said that the progress of the vaccination programme gives us “real hope” and that we are in the last stages of offering first doses to the adult population and confirmed that the vaccination programme is weakening the link between case numbers and severe acute illness.
The daily coronavirus figures show a further 2,529 people have tested positive for Covid-19, which is 11.5% of the tests carried out yesterday, bringing the total number of positive cases in Scotland to 318,566.
There are currently people 506 in hospital, 37 more than yesterday, and 41 people in intensive care, which is one more as yesterday, and there have been four further deaths reported, which brings the total deaths under the daily measurement to 7,761.
Lockdown is not getting in the way of fundraising for Buzzworks Holdings as its People and Operations Teams aim to walk, run and cycle the equivalent of 16 marathons in aid of Hospitality Action.
The charity offers a range of support services for people working within the hospitality industry, covering challenges with physical and mental health issues to financial difficulty, addiction and family concerns.
Each year the team at Buzzworks take on a community challenge to raise money for their nominated charity of the year. The 2020 challenge is to complete the equivalent of a tour of all Buzzworks venues across Ayrshire and beyond – totalling 214 miles.
Encouraging some healthy competition, the People Team and Operations Team are in a race against each other to see who can reach the collective 214 miles first, whilst raising sponsor money for the chosen charity.
Carole Lamond (pictured), Buzzworks Holdings People Director, said, “Hospitality Action is a charity very close to us all here at Buzzworks, so it’s great we can continue to fundraise for them and engage our teams with this community challenge, while venues remain closed.
“We’ve been keeping in daily contact with all of our people and encouraging everyone to stay fit and healthy – both physically and mentally. Lots of us took part in the Run For Heroes 5k initiative and our teams at Scotts in Largs and Vic’s & The Vine in Prestwick are continuing to clock up the kilometres in a 100k May challenge for Hospitality Action and the NHS.
“In our community challenge so far, the People Team has reached 66 miles, but with some healthy internal rivalry I’m sure we’ll hit our target in no time and raise a great sum for charity.”
Buzzworks subscribes to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) from Hospitality Action on behalf of its people, allowing them access to impartial advice, support and services 24/7, free of charge.
Scottish drinkers are learning lessons but are not there yet according to NHS Health Scotland’s latest report. Although it revealed the number of people exceeding weekly guidelines and the amount of alcohol-related deaths have both dropped over the year, the drops have been marginal.
The report, published as part of the MESAS programme (Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy), focuses on statistics drawn from 2016 . The number of units sold per adult, per week, sits at 20.2 in Scotland compared to 17.3 in England and Wales, which is also an area for improvement.
Authored chiefly by Public Health Intelligence Adviser Lucie Giles, the report attributes the difference in sales per adult between Scotland and England/Wales to lower off-trade prices north of the border. For instance 14.7 units were sold per person, per week in the off-trade in 2016, whereas the on-trade figure was 5.4.
Dave Roberts, Director General of the Alcohol Information Partnership, is heartened by the figures.
He said, “The report from NHS Health Scotland highlights how consumption of alcohol, alcohol-related deaths and harm in Scotland continue to fall, and shows that the vast majority of people in Scotland (74%) that choose to drink do so within the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines.”
He continued, “According to official data in Scotland alcohol related deaths have fallen by 31% since peaking in 2006, average weekly consumption has declined from 16.1 units in 2003 to 12.9 units, binge drinking has declined by 18%, underage drinking has halved and harmful drinking is down by over 20%.
“The fact that sales of alcohol are higher in Scotland than in the rest of the UK is in part to be expected given the amount of sales made to tourists visiting Scotland, the historic home of Scotch whisky, and the importance of tourism to the Scottish economy.”
However Giles disagrees saying, “It is worrying that as a nation we buy enough alcohol for every person in Scotland to exceed the weekly drinking guideline substantially. The harm that alcohol causes to our health is not distributed equally; the harmful effects are felt most by those living in the most disadvantaged areas in Scotland.”
She added, “Alcohol has become more affordable in recent years as disposable income has increased.”
Dave Roberts concluded, “Proven, targeted initiatives are being designed and implemented by partnerships of retailers, bars, the public sector and the alcohol industry in order to successfully tackle harmful levels of consumption while not punishing the majority of moderate drinkers.”