The First Minister has said that bars and restaurants in Lanarkshire are to remain shut for another week.
Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement at today’s daily briefing after announcing a further 28 coroanvirus deaths in the country.
Now licensed premises here and in Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and Arran, Forth Valley, and Lothian will be unable to open until Monday, November 2 at the earliest.
The news comes after a further 520 positive coronavirus cases were confirmed in the Lanarkshire area today.
There were 605 in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area.
The First Minister revealed a further 1739 people had received positive test results, although some of those are likely to be a backlog from the weekend.
On Wednesday, October 7, Ms Sturgeon told parliament that further measures were needed in a bid to prevent a return to the peak level of infections experienced in the spring.
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Therefore new restrictions were imposed at 6pm on Friday, October 9, around the Central Belt area, meaning bars and licensed restaurants had to close for 16 days.
They were due to open again this coming Monday, but that has now been postponed until November 2.
At that point “a new framework for managing the virus through the winter into the early part of spring will be published”.
Ms Sturgeon told the nation: “This is all about trying to save lives.
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“I know all of this is really unwelcome and these restrictions are harsh financially and emotionally for all of us.
“But I want to stress we do believe these restrictions will make a difference and may already are making a difference.
“I also want to confirm the finanncial support available to those businesses affected will be made to cover the additional week.
“There will be extensions to the business support grant available.”
