Couples getting married won't have to wear face masks

Couples who are getting married will not have to wear face masks at their wedding, the Scottish Government has confirmed.

Updating MSPs on the latest coronavirus measures, Nicola Sturgeon said couples will be exempt from wearing a face covering during their wedding or civil partnership ceremonies.

Stronger regulations on face coverings are set to come into force on Friday, including mandating their use in workplace canteens.

It will bring them into line with hospitality businesses, meaning people won’t be able to remove their mask until they are sat at a table.

Further measures to be introduced on Monday will mean face coverings have to be worn in other communal workplace areas such as office corridors.

But as the laws on mask-wearing are beefed up, the First Minister stressed she wanted to “deliver some flexibility”.

The regulations “will exempt a couple from having to wear a face covering during their marriage or civil partnership ceremony”, she said.

“This is a small but important change which I hope will be welcomed by anyone about to tie the knot.”

That exemption, as well as making face coverings mandatory in workplace canteens, are the two new regulations which come into force on Friday.

The First Minister continued: “Anybody in a workplace canteen will have to wear a face covering when they are not seated at a table – for example if they are queueing, or are entering or leaving the canteen or going to the bathroom.”

She said that while individuals are responsible for complying with these measures, employers should “take steps in their workplaces to explain and promote the new regulations”.

Sturgeon added: “The new rules are a proportionate additional step which will help employees keep themselves and their colleagues that bit safer.”