Bars and restaurants in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute will have to close by 10pm from Friday, after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a raft of changes aimed at reducing the spread of the coronavirus.
Speaking to Parliament this afternoon, Ms Sturgeon followed Prime Minister Boris Johnson in introducing the measures, with the PM's other measures including encouraging home working and the wearing of masks in taxis already guidance in Scotland.
The First Minister also said that meetings indoors between households would be banned nationwide from tomorrow, with exceptions for those living alone, or alone with children, who form extended households; for couples in non-cohabiting relationships; for the provision of informal childcare by, for example, grandparents; and for tradespeople.
West Dunbartonshire was already under tightened local measures to try and control the virus, with meetings between households banned after statistics showed that there were 81 cases per 100,000 people locally - four times the Scottish average.
Car sharing with people outside your own household is also advised against, whilst route map changes planned for October 5 now look unlikely. The First Minister also urged against all but essential travel overseas - especially during the October week school holidays.
Ms Sturgeon added that additional support would be available to people needing to self-isolate, including financial support of £500 for those on low incomes who require to stay at home.
It is expected that the tightened measures will be in place for at least the next six months, although the First Minister was keen to stress that they could be in place for a shorter period than that - with reviews taking place every three weeks.
Across the country one new death and 383 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded from 12,497 tests in the last 24 hours, with 73 people currently in hospital due to the condition (the same number as yesterday) and 10 in intensive care - an increase of two on the statistics published on Monday.
