The Scottish Conservatives have said it should be up to the public to decide whether or not to wear a facemask, after the SNP Government again extended the legal requirement for them to be worn in certain public settings.
In her Covid update to parliament today, the First Minister announced that the need to wear face coverings in shops and on public transport would not now be lifted on April 4, but would be extended – yet again - until April 18.
Douglas Ross said Nicola Sturgeon’s blanket restriction was damaging Scotland’s economic recovery from the pandemic – and that we must learn to live with Covid as other nations around the world are doing.
The Scottish Conservative Leader added that her Covid strategy was failing because, in spite of clinging to restrictions already lifted elsewhere, Scotland currently has the highest infection rate in the UK.
Douglas Ross challenged the First Minister to confirm that there would be no further extension of the facemask curb beyond April 18 and asked whether the requirement for secondary pupils to wear them in communal areas of schools would end on the same day.
Nicola Sturgeon did not address a possible further extension, but on schools said: “We would expect the requirement to lift in line with the requirement for the general population”.
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said: “We believe that anyone who wants to keep wearing a face mask should keep doing so - particularly if it will protect vulnerable friends and relatives - but it should be down to individual choice.
“We should leave it up to people and businesses to decide what’s best for them, based on public health advice. Nicola Sturgeon has to start trusting the Scottish public more.
“Covid case rates in Scotland are now far higher than the rest of the UK, so the First Minister’s strategy is clearly failing.
“And because of her failing strategy, she is keeping restrictions in place in Scotland weeks after they have been removed elsewhere.
“This isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s really holding some people back. Retaining face masks in schools and businesses is damaging young people’s education and limiting the Scottish economy.
“This is now the third date we’ve heard that face mask use will no longer be mandated by law – yet the First Minister still wouldn’t guarantee that there will be no further extensions.
“We can’t go on like this. We must learn to live with Covid like other countries in the UK and across Europe.”
