When will Scotland return to some sort of normal?

[RomeoCharlie71]

Yes I noticed Sky Sports saying this too about crowds but thing is one day people will be back in stadiums so does that mean they will go back to old normal?

I'm sure they'll jump at the opportunity when Sturgeon lets them; they might as well play on the local park otherwise.

 

[68000]

Is anybody here struggling with all these new rules that keep coming in? Quarantine to face masks to stories they will patrol pubs for social distancing. It really feels like our life is policed now not good for my mental health?

No, it is actually quite clear when you research it

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

No, it is actually quite clear when you research it

The fact that you have to research how to live your own life is ludicrous in itself...

 

[68000]

The fact that you have to research how to live your own life is ludicrous in itself...

and so is COVID-19 but hey ho we have to live in the present, not some make believe land

 

[Gadget88]

The fact that you have to research how to live your own life is ludicrous in itself...

They have been desperate to spy on people since the Brown years of Labour. They finally have control. Sturgeon really doesn’t want to let go of these powers.

 

[68000]

They have been desperate to spy on people since the Brown years of Labour. They finally have control. Sturgeon really doesn’t want to let go of these powers.

What gadget are they using to do that?

 

[Journeyman]

The fact that you have to research how to live your own life is ludicrous in itself...

It really is. When will I be legally allowed to travel more than five miles? My nearest decent sized town is six miles away. When will I be able to work again? When will I be able to get simple medical treatment I've needed for ages? When will I be able to go to a shop, or a cafe?

 

[Gadget88]

It really is. When will I be legally allowed to travel more than five miles? My nearest decent sized town is six miles away. When will I be able to work again? When will I be able to get simple medical treatment I've needed for ages? When will I be able to go to a shop, or a cafe?

You can travel to visit family more than 5 miles away but not for leisure which is crazy.

 

[Journeyman]

You can travel to visit family more than 5 miles away but not for leisure which is crazy.

It's all insane and almost impossible to justify in a country blessed with vast empty spaces.

 

[68000]

It really is. When will I be legally allowed to travel more than five miles?

Are you saying the 5 mile limit is in law?

 

[Journeyman]

Are you saying the 5 mile limit is in law?

It's not, but it's been threatened, and given the petty zeal of some people out there, it's enough to make me think twice about long journeys.

 

[takno]

Are you saying the 5 mile limit is in law?

Are you saying it isn't? Personally I haven't got a clue what the law is - it seems to get changed other week by statutory instrument, and doesn't match the government guidance. Then Sturgeon nips on the telly to tell us something different, and tell us that even if it's not against the law she will probably make it against the law, and then Veitch is on the radio 3 hours later saying something different again.

 

[Huntergreed]

Are you saying it isn't? Personally I haven't got a clue what the law is - it seems to get changed other week by statutory instrument and doesn't match the government guidance. Then Sturgeon nips on the telly to tell us something different, and tell us that even if it's not against the law she will probably make it against the law, and then Veitch is on the radio 3 hours later saying something different again.

For reference, the 5-mile rule isn't law and is only guidance, however, she did threaten to make it law (which is ludicrous as you're permitted to go further to visit family, rendering it null anyway).

Your point, however, is true. Leitch said on the briefing today that public transport was for key workers only, which is not, and never has been, true. It's clear that they want to appear the 'safest' out of the four nations, however give it 6 months to a year when England's economy has bounced back and Scotland is in a dire state due to the prolonged restrictions, and we'll see what people think of her and her approach then.

 

[haggishunter]

You can actually walk just over 41 miles (theoretically, the road layout would make it not quite that) by walking out to a circular route of 5 mile radius centred on your house, walking round (just over 31 miles) then walking back. When it looked likely, in the "deepest" lockdown, that we'd follow the French in saying "no more than 1km from home" I did notice a roughly 4km route that complied with that!

Zig-zag the route a bit and it goes up even further.

If going for a walk or cycle run from your house there is no requirement or guidance to stay within a 5 mile radius, there never was at any point during lockdown. The 5 mile guidance applies to travelling to a place to partake in a particular recreational or leisure activities, eg to play tennis or golf, go fishing or things like that. In that regard, yes if you drive somewhere for a walk, the advice is to keep it local for now.

I certainly get concerns about pubs even operating outside, a few pints and social distancing will be completely out the window! But a food based service could start sooner, where you can only get drinks with a meal, then progress to full service at a later date. I note councils have been told to have any changes to traffic and pedestrian arrangements in place before the 29th. so possibly cafes and things will be allowed to open a couple of days after shops at least outside?

 

[Mag_seven]

The following development has been announced today which is deemed significant enough to reopen this thread.

Coronavirus: Scottish schools aim to reopen full-time in August

Scottish schools are planning to reopen fully in August with no physical distancing if coronavirus is suppressed.

www.bbc.co.uk

Scottish schools are aiming to reopen full-time with no physical distancing in August if coronavirus continues to be suppressed, John Swinney has said.

Schools had been preparing to return with a "blended" model of face-to-face teaching and at-home learning.

 

[Huntergreed]

The following development has been announced today which is deemed significant enough to reopen this thread.

Coronavirus: Scottish schools aim to reopen full-time in August

Scottish schools are planning to reopen fully in August with no physical distancing if coronavirus is suppressed.

www.bbc.co.uk

This is, in my opinion, excellent news.

Our children have suffered enough of a disruption to their education and it’s time for them to go back into full time face-to-face education now I think, given the risk of them dying from the virus is (practically) zero. I’m especially happy to see that there will be no physical distancing, this should be a great boost for their mental health and is a positive move, not only with implications in schools, but hopefully one that can be rolled out into other areas of society.

I’m optimistic about Sturgeon’s announcement tomorrow, where it sounds like she may be moving forward the easing of the lockdown from her remarks today. It finally feels like we’re catching up with the UK and, with reference to the thread title, we may return to some sort of “normal” in the not too distant future.

 

[Richard Scott]

This is, in my opinion, excellent news.

Our children have suffered enough of a disruption to their education and it’s time for them to go back into full time face-to-face education now I think, given the risk of them dying from the virus is (practically) zero. I’m especially happy to see that there will be no physical distancing, this should be a great boost for their mental health and is a positive move, not only with implications in schools, but hopefully one that can be rolled out into other areas of society.

I’m optimistic about Sturgeon’s announcement tomorrow, where it sounds like she may be moving forward the easing of the lockdown from her remarks today. It finally feels like we’re catching up with the UK and, with reference to the thread title, we may return to some sort of “normal” in the not too distant future.

Let's hope Wales follows suit.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

The following development has been announced today which is deemed significant enough to reopen this thread.

Coronavirus: Scottish schools aim to reopen full-time in August

Scottish schools are planning to reopen fully in August with no physical distancing if coronavirus is suppressed.

www.bbc.co.uk

The next concern will be school transport, I think. If capacity is still limited in 7 weeks time, how do they expect kids to physically distance (lets use Sturgeon's words...) themselves on both normal and closed contract services? I can't see face coverings being favoured by children/teens either - they will probably do more harm than good!

 

[Huntergreed]

The next concern will be school transport, I think. If capacity is still limited in 7 weeks time, how do they expect kids to physically distance (lets use Sturgeon's words...) themselves on both normal and closed contract services? I can't see face coverings being favoured by children/teens either - they will probably do more harm than good!

If they’re not physically distancing in schools, it would be pointless to enforce it on the school bus (unless this is a public service bus, in which case the guidance at the time would apply).
I can’t see face coverings being mandated in schools, I think the EIS were taken by surprise and had to do something, given just last week the same man who made the announcement today said that schools wouldn’t be back to normal “this academic year”, I don’t think they expected this and they need to be seen promoting safety of their members.

 

[CM]

The next concern will be school transport, I think. If capacity is still limited in 7 weeks time, how do they expect kids to physically distance (lets use Sturgeon's words...) themselves on both normal and closed contract services? I can't see face coverings being favoured by children/teens either - they will probably do more harm than good!

You'll be lucky if there are any Coach operators left by the time the Schools go back to get them there.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

If they’re not physically distancing in schools, it would be pointless to enforce it on the school bus (unless this is a public service bus, in which case the guidance at the time would apply).
I can’t see face coverings being mandated in schools, I think the EIS were taken by surprise and had to do something, given just last week the same man who made the announcement today said that schools wouldn’t be back to normal “this academic year”, I don’t think they expected this and they need to be seen promoting safety of their members.

I agree - but a lot of school kids do travel to/from school by service bus.

I was more referring to face coverings on public transport - but yes, I agree re the EIS.

 

[snookertam]

I’m going to take bets on how long it takes this thread to become pure toxic again.

anyway, quite glad we’ve been cautious up here. Main thing I was upset about was our slovenly lockdown at the beginning - we were about to go ahead with a Celtic v Rangers match with fans on the 19th March! - a look at the number of fatalities in Scotland compared to Denmark, Norway and even the Republic of Ireland makes grim reading. We stuck far to close to the Uk strategy at times. Taking longer to come out if lockdown is a necessary step to mitigate for the failures at the start.

I don’t think we will have complete normality until next year but I’d go for mid to late July for things to get closer to normal.

 

[applepie2100]

It's excellent news indeed that plans are being made to get children back into full time education. The "blended learning" would not have been sustainable even in the short term. Lets hope now that our local authorities are in a position to put this into practice and everyone works together for the right outcome.

It will also be interesting to see what if any further changes are announced tomorrow given the hints that were dropped today.

 

[Ian Cunningham]

The following development has been announced today which is deemed significant enough to reopen this thread.

Coronavirus: Scottish schools aim to reopen full-time in August

Scottish schools are planning to reopen fully in August with no physical distancing if coronavirus is suppressed.

www.bbc.co.uk

A recurring message from ScotGov / First Minsister has been to drive down the infection rate as low as possible before starting to lift restrictions. This has been partly to reduce deaths but also in hope of a more sustainable re-opening without spikes in infection rates or the fabled Second Wave. One of the "rewards" of that slow and steady approach may well be a quicker return to normality in places such as schools.

 

[Huntergreed]

Sturgeon set out some more points with regards to Scotland’s path out of lockdown in Parliament today:

Sturgeon said she has not yet seen sufficient evidence that 2m is safe to reduce to 1m.

Sturgeon also said that all pubs and hospitality businesses will be required to take and retain contact details of all customers who have visited the business for 4 weeks.

Key dates for reopening: (taken from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-53056582)

The Scottish government has given "indicative dates" for when phase 3 of lockdown easing can be implemented, subject to criteria on virus contriol being met.

• People can meet in extended groups outdoors(with physical distancing) -10 July
• Households can meet indoors with up to a maximum of two other households (with physical distancing) -10 July
• Organised outdoor contact sports can resume for children and young people (subject to guidance) -13 July
• All dental practices begin to see registered patients for non-aerosol routine care. Work will begin to return aerosol generating procedures to practice safely -13 July
• Increasing capacity within community optometry practices for emergency and essential eye care -13 July
• Non-essential shops inside shopping centres can re-open (following guidance and with physical distancing) -13 July
• All holiday accommodation permitted (following relevant guidance) -15 July
• Indoor hospitality (subject to physical distancing rules and public health advice) -15 July
• Hairdressers and barbers - with enhanced hygiene measures -15 July
• Museums, galleries, cinemas, monuments, libraries - with physical distancing and other measures (e.g.ticketing in advance) -15 July
• All childcare providers can open subject to individual provider arrangements -15 July
• From 3 July guidance advising people to travel no more than five miles for leisure and recreation will be lifted
• Tourism sector will not open fully until 15 July, however self-contained holiday accommodation with no shared services can open from 3 July
• The advice remains to avoid crowded places
• Measures to protect against imported cases of the virus are being considered
• Outdoor hospitality, such as beer gardens, can reopen from 6 July after guidance on mitigation is put in place
• Move to phase 3 of the route map expected on 9 July

Very reassuring news from the Scottish Government today and it looks like, all going well, this time next month Scotland will feel much more 'normal' than it does at present. The only thing I didn't find fully reassuring was the remark that a decision regarding mandating masks in shops may be made, I very much hope this is decided against, as this would make shopping a very unpleasant experience.

 

[Scotrail12]

The idea of businesses taking my contact details freak me out a lot and may put me off going certain places. I have an uncommon surname and don't want someone to identify me unless I'm buying alcohol or something (which I never do).

But I am pleased that there is finally some progress and a bit of light at the end of a long tunnel!

 

[scotrail158713]

Hairdressers and barbers - with enhanced hygiene measures - 15 July

is certainly very welcome

 

[Journeyman]

The idea of businesses taking my contact details freak me out a lot and may put me off going certain places. I have an uncommon surname and don't want someone to identify me unless I'm buying alcohol or something (which I never do).

But I am pleased that there is finally some progress and a bit of light at the end of a long tunnel!

Unless people ask me to prove my ID, I'll give fake details. I'm not happy about the data protection implications at all.

 

[applepie2100]

Unless people ask me to prove my ID, I'll give fake details. I'm not happy about the data protection implications at all.

I certainly won't be providing the details they're asking for and I don't believe that many others will provide them either. It would be very interesting to know if any analysis has been done to look at how compatible this idea is with the current GDPR setup. Does this mean that our pubs and restaurants will have start employing data protection policies, nominate data controllers or data protection officers and have copies of their policies available behind the bar? That should make things interesting after a double or three!

 

[Huntergreed]

I certainly won't be providing the details they're asking for and I don't believe that many others will provide them either. It would be very interesting to know if any analysis has been done to look at how compatible this idea is with the current GDPR setup. Does this mean that our pubs and restaurants will have start employing data protection policies, nominate data controllers or data protection officers and have copies of their policies available behind the bar? That should make things interesting after a double or three!

This is a fair point, does anyone know where this guidance stands in terms of GDPR? I would have assumed that these businesses simply wouldn't be allowed to take this sort of information, or has GDPR temporarily been amended/lifted?