Pubs, restaurants and cafes in Scotland are being barred from selling alcohol indoors for 16 days from Friday, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
They can continue selling food and non-alcoholic drinks indoors until 6pm and are able to sell alcohol outside up until the 10pm curfew.
But in areas with particularly high coronavirus rates, all licenced premises apart from hotels will be forced to close both indoor and outdoor services, though can continue doing takeaways.
Image: Pubs across Scotland can only sell alcohol outdoors
Those tougher restrictions will affect Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Lothian and Forth Valley from 6pm on Friday.
Residents in those areas will also be encouraged not to travel outside them “if they don’t need to”, though the first minister insisted she was not ordering a second lockdown.
Image: The measures will stay in place until 25 October
And snooker, pool and bingo halls as well as casinos in the problem regions will have to cease trading, with most contact sport also having to stop.
Gyms can stay open and exceptions will be made for already-booked life events like weddings and funerals.
The Scottish government also confirmed National 5 exams will be cancelled for this academic year, with an “alternative approach” to be worked out based on exam centre estimates and teachers’ judgements.
Image: Tougher measures will come into effect in Greater Glasgow and other areas
Ms Sturgeon promised an extra £40m of government support will go towards businesses affected by the fresh restrictions.
She said the measures will last until Sunday 25 October and people do not need to cancel half-term plans.
In “many respects” the moves feel like “backward steps”, Ms Sturgeon admitted, but she said without action coronavirus cases could shoot up by the end of October to levels not seen since the first peak.
Deaths are already beginning to rise, she added, with the highest number of fatalities linked to COVID-19 recorded last week since late June.
But the Scottish Beer and Pub Association said the latest restrictions will “deliver a knockout blow for many of Scotland’s much-loved pubs and the communities they serve”.
“We question the fairness and wisdom of these restrictions and the level of financial support available to help our sector through this,” chief executive Emma McClarkin added.
Image: Concern was raised about the financial support offered to affected businesses
And former Labour first minister Jack McConnell tweeted “pubs and restaurants are NOT the same”.
He wrote: “Majority of law abiding and decent businesses being punished because the Scottish Government is not enforcing the rules in the few places that are breaking the rules.
“Heartbreaking for those who have worked so hard. Lost the plot.”
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It comes after Ms Sturgeon warned yesterday she was getting “very strong public health advice” that further restrictions were necessary.
In England, the government is considering temporarily closing pubs and restaurants and limiting household mixing further.
The latest UK figures show there were 14,162 new coronavirus cases reported on Wednesday – a slight fall from 14,542 the previous day.
A further 70 people have also died within four weeks of testing positive – bringing the total number of deaths in the UK to 42,515.