Covid: Glasgow clubbers glad to be back as venues reopen after more than a year

Nightclubs across the country opened their doors as the clock moved a minute past midnight on Monday and Scotland’s Covid-19 Levels system was scrapped.

In Glasgow, dancers took to the floor at the Boteco Do Brasil club.

Martin Stewart, 24, from the city, was among the crowd and said he was glad to be back.

“It’s been a long wait – I’ll be out till closing,” he told the PA news agency.

At the nearby Polo Lounge, an LGBTQ inclusive club, revellers chanted and screamed as the clock struck midnight and the doors re-opened.

Luke Dunsmuir, 19, from Strathbungo, said he was eager to get back.

“I’ve been nightclubbing since I was 15,” he said. “Oot and aboot.”

He said with clubs closed he had missed meeting different people and networking with others.

He said he wasn’t worried about Covid-19 as he was double-vaccinated.

“The only worry was older people, that was the only worry for me, but the younger generation the percentage of them getting Covid is so low,” he said.

He said his next few weeks would be “busy busy”.

“Out every night, just you wait, you’ll be seeing my face everywhere,” he added.

In the city centre people queued round the block outside the Savoy nightclub.

Mark Grant, 19, and Johnny Matthews, 21, both from the Southside, were among those waiting to get back inside.

Mr Grant said he only had two months of clubbing when he turned 18 before the country locked down.

“I spent most of my 18 inside so it’s been good to get back out,” he said.

“It’s a huge part of our teenage life – especially teens to early twenties – it’s a huge part of it, and we’ve not had it. So we have a lot of time to make up for,” he said.

Mr Matthews said: “I’m buzzing – I’ve got Monday off work, I put a holiday in”.

He said he was double vaccinated but would be taking precautions.

“We will be wearing the mask, but it should be all right,” he said.

He added: “It’s a good laugh, cheap drinks, so it’s good to get back.”

Nightclubs were among the last venues to reopen in Scotland, long after bars were allowed to welcome back customers.

Following initial confusion last week, the Scottish Government clarified that masks would not have to be worn when dancing or drinking.

The majority of coronavirus restrictions have now been removed.

Legal requirements for physical distancing – except in healthcare settings – and gatherings have been removed and all venues are now able to reopen.

Some measures, such as the requirement to wear face coverings indoors in public places and on public transport, will stay in place.

The First Minister told MSPs last week that the country could move beyond Level 0, the lowest level of a five-tier system of restrictions in Scotland, due to the “steady decline in cases” and “the success of vaccination”.

Under the new rules, double-vaccinated adults and all children will be able to avoid self-isolation if they are a close contact of someone with coronavirus so long as they are symptomless and provide a negative PCR test.

Pupils and teachers will have to continue wearing masks indoors for up to six weeks after schools return, the Government has said.

But whole classes in schools will no longer have to stay at home if an infection is discovered, although children and adults who are higher-risk close contacts will be told to isolate.

Outdoors events of more than 5,000 people and indoor events of more than 2,000 will have to apply for permission from local authorities and the Government to go ahead.

When announcing the lifting of further restrictions, Nicola Sturgeon hailed Monday as “perhaps the most significant date so far” in the pandemic.

She has since stated that Scotland is in a “much better position” with Covid than could have been expected at the start of summer but urged Scots to “continue to take sensible precautions” despite many of the legal coronavirus rules being lifted from Monday.