PUBS, RESTAURANTS AND cafés in most of Scotland are being barred from selling alcohol indoors for more than two weeks, as part of efforts to curb Covid-19, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

New restrictions have been placed on the hospitality industry across Scotland, with harsher changes made in the country’s central regions.

Announcing changes to coronavirus measures in Holyrood, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that indoor hospitality venues will only be allowed to operate between 6am and 6pm daily, selling food and non-alcoholic drinks only.

Outdoor bars, restaurants and cafes will be allowed to remain open up until 10pm and will be allowed to sell alcohol up to that time.

The restrictions will come into force at 6pm on Friday and are intended to end after October 25.

However, all licensed premises in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Lothian and Forth Valley health board areas will be closed for both indoor and outdoor operations.

Cafes without a licence to sell alcohol will be allowed to open until 6pm, the First Minister said, to counter social isolation.

Addressing MSPs in Holyrood, Nicola Sturgeon said it was important “for the morale of all of us” not to forget that progress has been made.

Cases are not rising as quickly as in March, with the current number of cases just 13% of the highest point of the pandemic and the understanding of the spread of the virus has increased.

She said: “So while there are significant restrictions still in place – and they are hard and painful – we are living much more freely now than in the spring and early summer.

“We are determined – if at all possible – that this will continue to be the case.”

She said that the country is not returning to lockdown.

 “Let me be clear. We are not going back into lockdown today. We are not closing schools, colleges or universities.

“We are not halting the remobilisation of the NHS for non-Covid care. And we are not asking people to stay at home.

“So while the measures I announce today will feel like a backward step, they are in the interests of protecting our progress overall.

“It is by taking the tough but necessary action now, that we hope to avoid even tougher action in future.”