Tougher lockdown restrictions have been announced – including further amendments to takeaway services and click-and-collect retail. 

Nicola Sturgeon set out the tightened measures during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood today, confirming limited availability and operation of takeaway services and click-and-collect retail services.

It will also be against the law to consume alcohol in any Level 4 area in Scotland outdoors or in public in a move that will affect Ayrshire and the whole of mainland Scotland.

The latest measures are due to come into effect on Saturday, January 16.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: NHS Ayrshire and Arran suspends elective surgery

Sturgeon's statement today confirms that only click-and-collect retail services selling essential items will be allowed to remain open such as retailers selling clothes, footwear, babywear and homeware.

Staggered appointments must also be organised to collect items to reduce the need for queueing and access inside premises for collecting items will not be permitted.

For takeaway services, customers will no longer be permitted to go inside to collect food or drink, with outlets told to serve goods through a hatch or doorway instead to, again, reduce the risk of indoor contact.

The Scottish Government also announced that they intend to strengthen the obligation on employers to allow staff to work from home.

The new rules come after the country progressed from Level 4 to a strict lockdown on January 4, similar to the one experienced at the beginning of the outbreak in March 2020, as cases continue to soar amid the new, faster-spreading strain of the virus.

In a statement to Parliament, First Minister 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.”

On Monday, Scotland recorded 1782 new cases of coronavirus with one further death.

144 of these cases were in Ayrshire and Arran.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: NHS Ayrshire and Arran breaches COVID capacity