Scotland’s government has gone back on its word regarding the scrapping of COVID rules, keeping forced mask wearing until at least April.
First Nicola Sturgeon’s europhile, left-separatist devolved government has gone back on its word regarding the scrapping of forced mask-wearing in Scotland.
Scottish authorities had initially slated forced mask-wearing for termination on March 21st, but Sturgeon will now force those within the country to keep wearing them in the legally required areas for some time to come.
According to a report by the BBC, the Scottish National Party (SNP) leader argued that it would be “prudent” for the country to keep forced mask-wearing in the hopes of lowering Chinese coronavirus case numbers.
As a result, the face coverings will remain mandatory in shops, bars, and places of worship, along with public transport and some workplaces.
“Given current case numbers, and the desirability of getting those back under control quickly, the wearing of face masks will stay in place for at least another two weeks,” Sturgeon is reported as saying.
“I know this will be disappointing for businesses and service providers such as day-care services,” she continued.
“However, ensuring continued widespread use of face coverings will provide some additional protection — particularly for the most vulnerable — at a time when the risk of infection is very high, and it may help us get over this spike more quickly.”
The pro-EU leader was keen to emphasise, however, that rules regarding contact tracing for businesses were being loosened, and that a further easing was still set for April.
In this sense, Scots can count themselves lucky when compared to fellow Europeans in Germany, where the leadership class seem hell-bent on keeping them in lockdown.
While emphasising that there were no plans in place to “open everything” anytime soon, German federal authorities recently passed more COVID legislation, giving local authorities the power to implement harsh lockdowns when they see fit — and see fit they have, with a number of authorities refusing to follow through with a nationwide relaxing of rules on March 20th, and some even tightening measures further.
The regions of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Hamburg, the Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saxony have all expressed their desire to extend the current COVID rules past the March 20th expiration date, with some wanting to maintain the nation’s vaccination pass regime.
Under the rules, unjabbed individuals who cannot prove that they had COVID recently are barred from a wide variety of public amenities, including bars and restaurants.
Meanwhile, the country’s federal health minister, Karl Lauterbach, has been accused of fear-mongering to the public by German publication Bild.
The SPD politician has expressed serious concern publicly as to the current state of the COVID pandemic in Germany, but is now reported to secretly harbour far more moderate views in private.
According to the publication, Lauterbach wrote in a private letter to a colleague that he no longer suspects that the German health system could be overwhelmed by the virus, noting the “stable situation in the intensive care units”.
“The seasonal effects, which will probably have a favourable effect on new infections, must also be taken into account,” he is believed to have said.
“In addition, it has been shown that the omicron variant causes significantly milder courses.”