First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said two weeks ago that the mask mandates would come to an end in early April instead of on March 21 as previously planned.
But she said on Wednesday that Scots will have to wait until April 18 for all mask rules to end.
Updating the Scottish Parliament on COVID-19 measures, she said the Scottish Cabinet has agreed the “legal requirement to wear face coverings should be replaced with guidance” on a “phased basis.”
From April 4, it will no longer be a legal requirement to wear a face covering in places of worship or while attending a marriage ceremony, a funeral, or commemorative event.
The wider legal requirement for wearing masks—which applies to shops, public transport, and some other indoor settings—will then be converted to guidance two weeks later on April 18.
Sturgeon also confirmed that mask requirements will be removed in schools from the same date.
But she stressed the government will “continue to encourage the wearing of face coverings in certain indoor places, especially where significant numbers of people are present.”
The first minister said the phased approach strikes “a sensible balance between our desire to remove this one remaining legal measure and the common sense need for continued caution.”
She recognised that face coverings are an “inconvenience,” but said she believes that “the vast majority of people will accept that for a further two weeks this is a proportionate precautionary measure while we pass the peak of this latest wave.”
She said the mask rule “provides some further protection to those who are most at risk from the virus.”
Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said the Scottish government’s strategy to curb COVID-19 cases has “failed” and urged the first minister to trust the public.
He said: “We believe that anyone who wants to continue to wear a face mask should keep doing so, particularly if that will help vulnerable friends and relatives. But it should be down to individual choice, as it is in other parts of the United Kingdom.”
Ross said that face masks are not just “an inconvenience,” but are “holding people back” in both school and in business.
