Scotland moves 11 areas into highest level of COVID-19 restrictions

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said that 11 areas including the city of Glasgow would be moved into the country’s highest level of coronavirus restrictions due to higher infection rates.

“Eleven local authorities will from 6pm on Friday, for a strictly limited period, move from level 3 to level 4,” Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament on Tuesday.

Sturgeon said the decisions announced today are necessary to ensure that the NHS can cope with the range of pressures it will face over the winter and will give the best possible chance of being able to ease restrictions in all parts of Scotland for Christmas.

The council areas that will move to level 4 from Friday for 3 weeks until 11 December are: the City of Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Stirling and West Lothian.

Only essential indoor retail premises are allowed to remain open for this three-week period. All non-essential retail and close contact services, such as hairdressers and beauty salons, visitor attractions, leisure and entertainment settings and indoor gyms, should close for this period.

Hospitality sector also needs to close, but for takeaway services.

Responding to the announcement, the sector said the move “effectively signals permanent closure” for many pubs and restaurants.

“This is the worst possible news for the licensed hospitality industry and there will be many operators who will now be seriously considering if their businesses have a future at all – that’s how serious the situation is,” commented Colin Wilkinson, managing director of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association.

He said many operators in levels two and three areas have already decided to close down their businesses as it is unviable to operate with the current restrictions on the sale of alcohol and the operating times.

“Moving into level four suggests that the closing of pubs and bars in October in five health board areas, prior to the introduction of the tier system, has done little to bring down the rate of Covid-19 infections,” Wilkinson said.

“And yet again, there has been no meaningful engagement with our industry and there has been no evidence to prove that the virus is being spread within the licensed hospitality sector.”