Scotland: Non-essential retailers to reopen at 6am on Friday

Retailers in Scotland forced to close earlier this month will be allowed to reopen from 6am on Friday, 12 hours earlier than originally planned in order to help them better manage the flow of customers after the period of closure.

Last month, the Scottish government announced 11 councils in the west of the country would be placed into the toughest tier of Covid-19 restrictions, meaning non-essential retailers were forced to close for three weeks.

When those level 4 restrictions were introduced, the government said they would be lifted at 6pm on Friday 11 December. While that still stands, the government announced Wednesday there would be one exception: Retail premises will be permitted to re-open from 6am on Friday.

Announcing the plans, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a statement: “This is intended to help stores and shopping centres better manage the flow of customers after the period of closure.”

Sturgeon also warned the public to remain vigilant, advising those living in level 4 areas “to continue to exercise care and caution”.

“As we know from our experience of Covid so far, progress can very, very easily go into reverse,” she said. “So please continue to abide by the rules. That means, in particular, not visiting other people’s houses.”

The announcement came the same day the first vaccines against Covid were administered in Scotland.

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