Spell out 'best practice' when easing outdoor activity and tourism access restrictions

There are many pleas on here for access to outdoor activities, which overlook all risks outside the activity itself. For example, the hills may be quiet, but the roads, the filling stations, the shops, the parking places – are they?

All the the above can be managed, but it needs to be clear and unambiguous and therefore included in official government guidance when the time comes for any easing of restrictions. A reliance on the general social distancing concept may not be sufficient.

For example, guidance could state that fuel and food must be bought at your usual places – in your home location before you travel, and that the trip is continuous without stopping off anywhere between home and the proposed activity location, that any vehicle used has a high probability of not breaking down, that a puncture can be handled without the need for the breakdown services, that driving will be to a high standard of caution to reduce the possibility of accidents, that the activity itself has low risk.

This can be part of a wider conversation about keeping parts of Scotland that usually have high levels of tourism safe: there is widespread apprehension on the islands about the potential for visitors to bring the virus into virus free areas, and perhaps not enough understanding on the part of potential visitors that it is not the presence of their motorhome / caravan / tent / yacht that is the problem so much as the moment they go to the local virus free supermarket / filling station.

Making sure that wider risks and both sides of a situation are 'visible' will improve safety.