Coronavirus: Scottish high school pupils to wear facemasks

Image source, EPA

Image caption, Pupils may have to wear masks indoors as they move between classes, like these Dutch teenagers

High school students in Scotland will have to wear face coverings in corridors, on school buses and communal areas - to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

From Monday 31 August all Scottish pupils over the age of 12 will have to wear masks in shared areas but not in classrooms where social distancing measure are in place.

There will be some exceptions for people with specific health problem but the rule applies in all secondary schools though not in primary ones.

Scottish Education Secretary John Swinney said the government had changed the rules after new guidance from the World Health Organization.

He said: "From August 31st young people over the age of 12 in secondary schools should habitually wearing face coverings when they are moving around schools and corridors and in communal areas where it is difficult to deliver the physical distancing, which is an inherent part of the guidance the education recovery group has put in place."

Image source, Getty Images

Young people returned to school in Scotland earlier in August - at first there were no requirements for physical distancing between younger pupils and no rules around face coverings.

Some people chose to wear them but the new rules mean that people have to cover their faces in shared areas.