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| Covid: Pubs and restaurants in central Scotland to close | Covid: Pubs and restaurants in central Scotland to close |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| All pubs and restaurants across central Scotland are to be closed under new measures aimed at tackling a surge in coronavirus cases. | All pubs and restaurants across central Scotland are to be closed under new measures aimed at tackling a surge in coronavirus cases. |
| The new rules will apply to licensed premises across the central belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh. | The new rules will apply to licensed premises across the central belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh. |
| In other areas, they will be able to open - but can only serve alcohol outdoors. | In other areas, they will be able to open - but can only serve alcohol outdoors. |
| The new rules come into force at 18:00 on Friday, and will be in place until 25 October. | The new rules come into force at 18:00 on Friday, and will be in place until 25 October. |
| First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the restrictions were "intended to be short, sharp action to arrest a worrying increase in infection". | |
| But she admitted that they would be disruptive to many businesses and would be unwelcome to many people. | |
| The licensed trade had warned ahead of the announcement that many pubs and restaurants would be forced to close for good if any further restrictions were imposed on them. | |
| And opposition parties have called for more detail on a £40m support package for affected business that was announced by Ms Sturgeon. | |
| The restrictions for the central belt cover about 3.4 million people living in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Forth Valley, Lothian and Ayrshire and Arran health board areas. | |
| In these areas, all licensed premises - with the exception of hotels for residents - will be required to close indoors and outdoors, although takeaways will be permitted. | |
| Cafes which do not have an alcohol licence will be able to stay open until 18:00. | |
| Snooker and pool halls, indoor bowling alleys, casinos and bingo halls will also close in the five health board areas for two weeks from 10 October. | |
| And contact sports for people aged 18 and over will be suspended for the next two weeks - with an exception for professional sports. | |
| Indoor group exercise activities will not be allowed, although the current rules will remain in place for under 18s and gyms can remain open for individual exercise. | |
| Outdoor live events will not be permitted in any of the five regions for the next fortnight. | |
| There will be no travel ban in any of the areas, but people in the central belt have been urged to avoid public transport unless it is "absolutely necessary". | |
| And they have also been advised not to travel outside of the health board area they live in if they do not need to. | |
| In other parts of the country, pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes will be able to open indoors until 18:00 - but only to serve food and non-alcoholic drinks. | |
| However, they will be able to serve alcohol in outdoor settings such as beer gardens until 22:00, with the current rules on no more than six people from two households remaining in place. | |
| It comes as Scotland recorded more than 1,000 new confirmed cases of the virus in a single day for the first time - although the country is doing far more testing now than at the height of the pandemic earlier in the year. |