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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Dayna McAlpine

'Unclear' whether Edinburgh bars and restaurants will reopen after two weeks, says Nicola Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon has said in her daily coronavirus briefing that bars and restaurants in the central belt may not reopen a week on Monday.

Her statement came as a response to a question from David Henderson from the BBC.

He said that "across the central belt bars and restaurants will remain closed until a week on Monday...but what comes next is not at all clear."

The BBC journalist stated that venues cannot prepare for opening i.e. ordering stock like food and drink as they cannot plan ahead in case they are not allowed to reopen.

He asked Nicola Sturgeon if she will give businesses more than a couple of days notice of what her plans will be when they're eventually announced.

Ms Sturgeon said she will give them as much notice as possible but the government has to "err on the side of caution."

Nicola Sturgeon is under investigation for her conduct in the Alex Salmond scandal (J MITCHELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

She said that "it's not always possible to say with absolute certainty a week or ten days in advance of something what the situation is going to be."

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"I would love to be in a situation where I could look ahead and say I could guarantee what the situation is going to be in two weeks' time but I can't do that because of the nature of what we are dealing with."

"I know that's not perfect...but it is the reality of what it is we are facing right now."

You can read a blow-by-blow of today's briefing on our live blog.

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