Wales and Scotland, both of which have their own public health policies in Britain, said Monday that they were loosening some pandemic rules. However, neither went as far as England last week.
Wales has dropped its mask mandate in some indoor public venues like theaters and cinemas. However, it still requires that the masks be worn in retail shops, public transport and in health care settings.
“Thanks to everyone’s hard work and all their sacrifices, cases of coronavirus are falling across Wales,” the region’s first minister, Mark Drakeford, said in a statement. “Now is the right time to relax the general requirement to wear a face covering in many indoor public places.”
Wales also lifted its mandatory mask requirement for students in classrooms. However, it stated that secondary school students should continue to wear them within communal areas.
The Welsh government said that if “public health conditions continue to improve,” the region’s remaining mask rules could be dropped by the end of March. The topic will be discussed by Mr. Drakeford later in the week.
Scotland announced Monday that people in the country would no longer need to show proof of vaccination to be allowed into nightclubs and other indoor public venues. If there are no new cases, the Scottish government announced that all restrictions would be lifted by March 21, if they do not increase.
Saying that it was time to learn to live with the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that he was lifting all of England’s remaining legal restrictions and ending free coronavirus testing in the nation. He made the announcement just days after Queen Elizabeth II was confirmed to have the virus and was suffering symptoms.
According to the New York Times database, Britain reported an average of 28,430 coronavirus cases per day in the last week. Both new cases and deaths are down overall. According to their population, Scotland had the highest rate of transmission with approximately 109 cases per 100,000 residents. Northern Ireland had 95. The figures for England were lower with 36 new cases per 100,000 residents in England and 25 in Wales.
Source: NY Times
