Scottish music venues, theatres, concert halls and nightclubs have been given the green light to reopen next week without physical distancing restrictions.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that no venues will be legally required to close as of August 9.
However, attendees will still be expected to register their details when visiting entertainment venues as the Test and Protect service will continue to operate to monitor future outbreaks of COVID-19. Face coverings will also still remain mandatory in some public settings.
Large-scale events, of over 2,000 capacity indoors and 5,000 capacity outdoors, will have to seek special permission from local authorities or the Scottish Government to go ahead when the changes take effect on Monday.
The First Minister has discussed a potential new vaccine passport scheme for venues that are deemed a “high risk”. Speaking in a virtual meeting of the Scottish Parliament, Ms Sturgeon also warned that “keeping some distance from people in other households and avoiding crowded indoor places – even if no longer legally mandated – are still sensible precautions.”
She added: “I can also confirm that we continue to consider very carefully the possible, albeit limited, use of Covid status certification for access to certain higher risk venues in future.
“We are currently developing an app to make access to Covid status certificates – which will include vaccination details – easier for international travel. This will be launched next month.
“The app will have functionality to support the use of such certificates for domestic settings should we decide that this is appropriate.
“However, I can assure Parliament that we do not underestimate the ethical, equity and human rights issues associated with Covid status certification and will keep members updated and consulted on our thinking on this issue.”