Covid 19 – Update to Scotland’s strategic framework

The First Minister this week announced a new staged approach to easing protective measures and recovering from the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  In her statement, she confirmed the details of the updated Strategic Framework to manage COVID-19 primarily through public health advice, vaccination, and treatment rather than legal restrictions and set out an indicative timescale for remaining legal protections to be lifted. 

Key points are:

• Vaccine certification will no longer be legally required from Monday 28 February, although the app will remain available so any business that wishes to continue certification on a voluntary basis to reassure customers will be able to do so.
• Current legal requirements on the use of face coverings, the collection of customer details for contact tracing purposes, and for businesses, service providers and places of worship to have regard to guidance on Covid and to take reasonably practicable measures set out in the guidance are expected to be lifted on 21 March, subject to the state of the pandemic.
• Access to lateral flow and PCR tests will continue to be free of charge, ahead of a detailed transition plan being published on the future of Scotland’s test and protect programme in March.
• People who test positive for COVID-19 will continue to be asked to self-isolate to reduce the risk of infecting other people. Any changes to the recommended period of self-isolation will be considered on an ongoing basis.

Full details of the announcement are here:  https://www.gov.scot/news/living-safely-with-covid/  And a copy of the updated Strategic Framework is here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-scotlands-strategic-framework-update-february-2022/

The Workforce Issues Group will be discussing this at its next meeting on Friday 4th March so if you have any views or comments that you would like us to feed into that please drop me a line.

Covid 19 – Second boosters for at-risk groups

The arrangements for second boosters to be delivered to at-risk groups has been announced – details here: https://www.gov.scot/news/second-boosters-for-at-risk-groups/