Scottish Government Daily Update 24th April 2021

This update from the Scottish Government directs businesses towards the most up to date information on COVID-19.

The Find Business Support website has details of support and guidance for businesses that have been affected by the pandemic.

The most recent Brexit advice and support can be accessed here.

Changes to COVID-19 restrictions come into effect from Monday (26 April). Hospitality venues such as cafés, pubs and restaurants can reopen, along with tourist accommodation. Non-essential retail outlets and close contact services such as beauty salons can also reopen, along with indoor attractions and public buildings such as galleries, museums and libraries.

All parts of the country will move to Level 3 and remaining travel restrictions within Scotland will be lifted and travel within the UK will be permitted for any purpose.

Guidance for people who provide close contact services on working safely has been updated ahead of the reopening. The guide includes a downloadable checklist of actions to consider.

An Advice Card for everyone at work highlighting key ventilation practice has also been published.

To support workplaces to reopen safely, a series of assets including posters and other digital resources to be displayed throughout work environments have been developed. Assets specifically for the hospitality industry have been added. The assets can be downloaded here.

A self-assessment tool is available to help workplaces evaluate the effectiveness of their COVID-19 control measures. While not mandatory, the tool is designed to provide assurances that all necessary mitigating measures are in place.  A checklist can be downloaded as part of the tool.

***The Scottish Parliamentary pre-election period began on the 25 March and runs until the election to the Scottish Parliament takes place on 6 May 2021. This places some restrictions on the activities of civil servants. Our response to COVID-19 is on-going we are issuing this update to signpost you towards new and essential information***

The Scottish Government’s timetable for easing restrictions has been published. The timetable sets out how and when we plan to lift the current coronavirus restrictions over the coming weeks and months.

Safer workplace guidance is released on a sectoral basis and can be found here.

The NHS Inform coronavirus webpage is the fastest way for people to get the latest health advice and information.