Scotland to Close Pubs, Restaurants to Slow Coronavirus Spread

(Bloomberg) -- Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that she is asking the country’s restaurants, cafes, pubs, gyms and cinemas to close in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus as part of a U.K.-wide push.

More than 320 people in Scotland have so far tested positive for Covid-19 and the “number of cases is set to rise sharply,” Sturgeon said in a copy of a national address posted on the government’s website. “We must do all we can to slow it down and save lives.”

Stopping the spread of the disease “is the biggest challenge of our lifetimes,” she said. The decision to close establishments where social contact is high is based on the advice of the country’s chief medical officer and “there must be strict compliance for that to be effective,” Sturgeon said.

As she spoke on Friday evening, some Scottish pubs were still busy with customers on the same day schools closed until further notice. Six people in Scotland have so far died from coronavirus, according to government figures.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced earlier on Friday that pubs, restaurants and cafes will be ordered to shut.

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