Scotland pubs and cafes, restaurants and bars will be able to serve people outdoors – in groups of up to 6 from 3 households – until 10pm from 26 April.
Alcohol will be permitted in Scotland Pubs, and there will be no requirement for food to be served.
There could be limited indoor opening of hospitality from 26 April too.
This will be limited initially to the service of food and non-alcoholic drinks until 8pm, and for groups of up to four people from no more than 2 households.
All remaining retail premises are expected to re-open on 26 April.
All tourist accommodation will be able to re-open, subject to any restrictions.
Libraries, museums and galleries will also reopen from 26 April.
Indoor gyms will also reopen for individual exercise on that date.
Monday 5 April will see the beginning of the phased re-opening of non essential retail.
Click and collect retail services will be permitted to reopen, along with homeware stores, and car showrooms and forecourts.
Garden centres will also be able to reopen on 5 April
Hairdresser and barber salons to reopen for appointments on 5 April.
Indoor meeting from 17 May
Up to four people from two household can socialise indoors in a private home or public space from 17 May.
Hospitality venues can open until 10:30 pm indoors (alcohol permitted, 2-hour dwell time) and 10:00 pm outdoors (alcohol permitted)
Outdoor adult contact sport and indoor group exercise can restart.
Cinemas, amusement arcades, and bingo halls can open.
Small-scale outdoor and indoor events can resume subject to capacity constraints.
I wanted to share some information about the site to make people feel more comfortable about visiting.
Community testing allows for early identification of outbreaks and reassures you that you can safely go about your essential duties.
If you are an employer, encouraging your staff to be tested can give you peace of mind, at no cost to your business.
If you are already being offered testing, e.g. teachers, but are apprehensive, we will guide you through the process and hopefully give you the confidence to test at home in the future.
Our Peterhead Community Test Centre is based in the Rescue Hall on Prince Street and is open 8.00AM – 7.30PM every day, including weekends, until at least late May.
Anyone who lives/works/studies/shops in Peterhead and the surrounding area can come along up to twice a week for a self administered lateral flow test, which obtains results in less than an hour.
Being tested counts as essential travel, but we encourage you to visit as part of another essential journey, such as before a grocery shop or at school drop off.
Morven Jane | Peterhead Community Test CentrePeterhead Community Test Centre
All ages are welcome, but those aged 12-17 should have consent from a guardian and those under 12 must have a guardian with them to assist with the swabbing process.
If you need additional support, you can come along with other members of your household support bubble, such as a carer or translator (although we do have translation facilities available).
Peterhead Community Test Centre
Please note that staff cannot administer any swab test. To be eligible for testing you must not have any coronavirus symptoms (new persistent cough, fever, loss of change in taste or smell), have had a coronavirus vaccine in the last 3 days, or have tested positive for Covid in the last 90 days.
In addition, avoid eating or drinking anything in the half hour before you carry out the test.
On arrival we will take your name and a contact telephone number (only used if your test is positive, and destroyed at the end of each day).
Scanning a QR code opens the website where you will register your test – staff are on hand to assist with this if needed and tablets are available for those without a smartphone.
The form is quite long, but there’s no rush – you will be asked to stand on one of the socially distanced crosses while you complete it.
After registration, you will be taken to one of three testing booths where an operative will guide you through the swabbing process. Once seated, you may remove your mask and blow your nose.
Open the swab packet AT THE HANDLE END, just enough to pull the swab out.
Swipe the (tiny – see photo!) swab over each tonsil 4 times, taking care not to let the swab touch anything else (hands, table, tongue, teeth, etc.) then rotate the same swab inside one nostril 10 times (only going up until you feel resistance).
Insert the swab (swab end first) into the tube provided, then put your mask back on and wipe down your booth. You will leave the test centre following the one way system, where someone will provide you with an information leaflet. Your test result will be registered after 30 minutes and a text/email automatically sent to you.
Only if you do not have easy access to either of these may you wait in the centre to receive your result.In the unlikely event your result is positive, staff at the centre will contact you to arrange for PCR tests to be sent for all members of your household.
You and all in your household (including in extended household) MUST go home immediately and self isolate. If your PCR tests are negative, you may end your self isolation. A major misconception about community testing is that it is designed to increase the number of positive cases.
Undoubtedly some asymptomatic positive cases will be detected that would not have otherwise, however detecting these prevents them from spreading it to others, causing more positive cases in the following weeks. In addition, by testing asymptomatic individuals, the percentage of positive tests will likely decrease as most at the site will receive a negative result.
I hope this has reassured people who are apprehensive about being tested and highlighted the importance of community testing.
