Scotland toughens Covid rules with restrictions on takeaway food and alcohol

13 January 2021, 12:52 | Updated: 13 January 2021, 13:53

Scotland will be toughening its Covid-19 rules, Nicola Sturgeon has announced. Picture: PA

By Kate Buck

Scotland will be toughening its Covid-19 rules, with further restrictions on takeaway food and drinking alcohol in public.

From Saturday, click-and-collect services from non-essential retailers will be restricted to the following items; clothing and footwear stores, homeware stores, garden centres/plant nurseries, baby equipment shops, electrical goods (including repairs)key cutting and shoe repair shops, and bookstores.

People won't be allowed to go inside takeaway food or coffee outlets, and it'll be against the law to drink alcohol in public.

Working from home arrangements will be also strengthened through updated statutory guidance, with only those who cannot do their job from home being asked to go into the workplace.

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Announcing the latest measures, Nicola Sturgeon said: "The situation we face in relation to the virus remains extremely serious.

“We must continue to do everything possible to reduce case numbers – this is essential to relieve the pressure on our NHS and to save lives.

“Both individually and collectively, these additional measures – in further reducing the interactions that allow the virus to spread – will help our essential efforts to suppress it.

"At this critical and dangerous moment, please: Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.”

The news comes as the number of coronavirus deaths in Scotland passed the 7,000 mark.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) statistics show there were 384 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate between January 4 and 10, an increase of 197 from the previous week.

As of Sunday, 7,074 such deaths had been registered in Scotland.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of the deaths were of people aged 75 and over, while 9% were aged under 65.

There were 428 (34%) more deaths registered between January 4 and 10 compared to the five-year average for that week, and 76% of them had Covid-19 as an underlying cause.