DRINKERS who refuse to share their contact details with the pub should not be served, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The First Minister was speaking yesterday as a number of new regulations came into force in a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus in the hospitality sector.

It comes as a restaurant in East Renfrewshire was forced to close after being associated with a positive case.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said anyone who visited the Ca Va Brasserie in Giffnock from mid-afternoon onwards on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday should look out for symptoms associated with the virus, such as a fever or persistent cough.

While bars and restaurants had already been urged to take customers’ contact details, there was a fear that many businesses were not complying with the guidance, forcing ministers to tighten the rules.

Under the new rules all pubs, restaurants, cafes and hotels must record the name, phone number, arrival date and time of customers and hold them for 21 days.

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Speaking at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing, the First Minister said: “It is now mandatory for hospitality businesses – including cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars – to collect customer and visitor contact details.

“That requirement already exists in guidance and I know many businesses are already doing this, but it is now the law. It’s an essential step to ensure that our test and protect system can function as effectively as possible.

“So from now on, all hospitality businesses must collect contact details for all visitors to the premises. That includes customers and staff, but also people such as cleaners and delivery drivers.

“Let me make this point clear as well, particularly to members of the public: if customers refuse to provide these details, they should not be served in the place that they’re trying to be served.”

The First Minister revealed that 198 of the 328 coronavirus cases in Aberdeen’s cluster were linked to the city’s pubs.

Sturgeon also urged Scots to avoid pub crawls, and “minimise” the number of bars visited in a night.

“The more settings you go to, the more likely you will be to get Covid and the more likely you might be to spread it. Visiting lots of pubs in a single day or evening massively increases as well the workload potentially of Test and Protect. So please think about that – it makes a really big difference if you stay in one pub or whether you go to several.”

She said that if people were going out to pubs or restaurants a lot, or going to other people’s houses regularly, they should reflect on their actions.

“Nobody’s social life should feel exactly as it was before Covid struck,” she said.

The First Minister said the government was considering if it would be practical to “put more of a legal framework around the issue of pub crawls” but that this was “not an easy thing to do”.

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Other regulations introduced yesterday include a ban on background noise, in a bid to avoid customers shouting or leaning in.

That means no music and keeping TVs on mute.

“I know, absolutely all of us know, that atmosphere in pubs and restaurants is important, so we are willing to work with the sector to see if it might be possible to agree a more nuanced position based on an acceptable decibel level,” she added.

The First Minister also expressed concern about “venues where crowding has become an issue, due to poor compliance with physical distancing or premises exceeding their safety capacity”.

There were 65 new cases of coronavirus confirmed yesterday. The First Minister said 28 of those were in the Grampian health board area.

A new positive coronavirus case has been confirmed in the cluster linked to an Orkney fishing vessel, taking the total to six.

No deaths were registered.