Nicola Sturgeon has said she will stick with the two-metre rule for physical distancing despite tourism and travel operators calling for it to be relaxed to help businesses.
The first minister said she had not seen any scientific advice to persuade her that it was safe to ease the guidance.
At her daily coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon stood firm on the rule despite Boris Johnson hinting a few days ago that he would like to see it changed to one metre.
Ms Sturgeon said she would take the decisions “we think are right for Scotland”, although she would be informed by discussions with the other nations of the UK.
“On the two-metre rule, I have had no advice given to me – and, to the best of my knowledge, although I don’t see all the advice that the UK Government gets – I have not seen anything that they’ve had that would advise a change in the two-metre rule right now,” Ms Sturgeon said.
“On the contrary, most of the advice I see says the two-metre rule should be retained and, if you read the research published in the Lancet last week, it is very clear that the risks of contracting the virus increase if you go from two metres to one metre.”
Earlier this month the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) warned many businesses in the sector would be unable to reopen unless the guidance is changed.
STA chief executive Marc Crothall argued many tourism businesses were unable to operate while imposing the rule and failing to relax it could be the difference between losing or saving tens of thousands of jobs.
With foreign travel restricted, many people are planning for staycations when hotels and B&Bs reopen in phase three.
But ferry operator Calmac has warned a surge in people holidaying at home that a normal summer service will not be feasible while observing the two-metre rule.
In evidence submitted to Holyrood, Calmac said: “Implementing physical distancing of two metres throughout our operations will reduce the capacity of our fleet on average to 17 per cent of normal passenger capacity and 91 per cent of car deck capacity.”
Earlier this month the prime minister hinted at relaxing the rule following demands from Tory MPs who want measures to be eased to help pubs, restaurants and other venues to reopen. When questioned about the rule at Westminster, the prime minister’s spokesman simply said the current guidance was two metres.
But Ms Sturgeon said it was not a “simple equation” to change the two-metre rule. If the distance is reduced then so must the time spent in someone’s company. It would also have an impact on face covering guidance.
“It is a complex decision to take and one that has to be very soundly and carefully raised,” Ms Sturgeon said.
“The key point I would raise today is that all of the evidence and advice I have seen up until now would say that we should retain the two-metre rule. If that changes in future we will consider that, as we always do. But that is not the case at the moment. Two metres is very much what the advice is steering us towards right now.”
