Covid 19 - What you need to know - Scotland - Face coverings

Earlier today we summarised the current position regarding face covering in England.

In Scotland a similar situation exists.

A face covering must be worn by all people in the settings listed below, except where an exemption applies (as defined in the legislation), or where there is a ‘reasonable excuse’ not to wear a face covering:

• any premises which open to members of the public and used for the retail sale or hire of goods or services, such as shops, takeaway restaurants, estate agents, beauty parlours. This does not include hospitality premises such as bars and pubs or certain hospitality premises with table service such as cafes and restaurants
• aquariums, indoor zoos or visitor farms, and any other indoor tourist, heritage or cultural site
• banks, building societies and credit unions
• cinemas
• community centres
• crematoriums and funeral directors premises
• libraries and public reading rooms
• museums and galleries
• places of worship
• post offices
• storage and distribution facilities, including collection and drop off points

A face covering must be worn by all passengers and staff or operators in the following settings:

• train services including the Glasgow subway
• bus services and the Edinburgh tram
• taxi and private hire vehicles
• bus stations, railway stations (including open air stations) and airports
• ferry services (unless the ferry is open to the elements and physical distancing can be achieved, or the vessel is large enough that physical distancing can be achieved)
• airline services

Some people are not required to wear a face covering.

These include:

• babies, toddler and children under 5 years of age, due to the possibility of overheating, suffocation and strangulation and they are safe without one.
• police constables or emergency response workers such as paramedics acting in the course of their duty
• owners, managers, members of staff, or volunteers, of indoor premises where it is mandatory to wear a face covering who are physically separated, by means of, for example, partition screens, from passengers or customers or if they maintain a 2 metre distance from customers or members of the public
• In a place of worship, or at a funeral, marriage ceremony or civil partnership, by a person leading an act of worship, service, ceremony or registration where there is a partition screen or a distance of 2 metres is maintained

There are further exemptions within the regulations, relating to health issues etc, and guidance issued by the Scottish government, on these and other matters relating to face coverings, can be found here.