Coronavirus: Scotland bans visits to other households

Fans observing safe distancing under pandemic curbs during a football match in Scotland earlier this month.
Fans observing safe distancing under pandemic curbs during a football match in Scotland earlier this month. PHOTO: REUTERS

EDINBURGH • Scotland will take extra steps to curb the mixing of households as part of new measures being implemented across the United Kingdom to tackle the latest surge in coronavirus infections.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Tuesday that the tightening of restrictions is broadly in line with the rest of the UK, including closing pubs earlier and ensuring people work from home where possible.

However, the Scottish government went further on household gatherings, banning all visits to other people's homes, with limited exceptions such as for childcare.

The aim is to ensure schools and most businesses can remain open and to avoid a return to the national lockdown implemented in March.

Ms Sturgeon's statement came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Britons that new rules are likely to be in place for six months as the government tries to stamp out a resurgence of the disease.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 24, 2020, with the headline Coronavirus: Scotland bans visits to other households. Subscribe