THE majority of Scots support the idea of temporary “circuit breaker” restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus, polling shows.
From last night pubs and restaurants across the five health board areas in the central belt were closed until October 26. Across the rest of the country, licensed premises were banned from serving alcohol indoors and were told they could only open inside from 6am to 6pm.
They are permitted to serve alcohol outside until 10pm. The new rules come in addition to a Scotland-wide ban on indoor visits to other people’s homes.
As the measures came into force in Scotland yesterday, YouGov asked 2568 adults in Britain: “Would you support or oppose a nationwide lockdown that would last about a fortnight, and see the closing or regulating of pubs, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities, with socialising between households banned?”
Despite mainstream media reports of widespread discontent over Scotland’s latest restrictions, the survey found that 35% of Scots strongly support and 26% somewhat support.
Meanwhile 12% said they somewhat opposed the measures and 17% said they strongly opposed them, giving an overall of 29% unhappy with the coronavirus rules.
There was also support for new restrictions across Britain, with a total of 65% indicating support and just 28% reporting opposition to the proposals.
Scotland’s new restrictions came in after more than 1000 coronavirus cases were reported for two days in a row, the highest daily counts since the start of the pandemic.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon issues plea to Scots to follow curbs for 16 days to save lives
National clinical director Jason Leitch said yesterday: “These 16 days are literally about saving lives again ... it’s crucial we spend these 16 days as a whole population in getting the prevalence of coronavirus down.”
At the Scottish Government daily coronavirus update, Nicola Sturgeon added: “This is really difficult and I know because I feel it myself. I am the First Minister. I am standing here doing my job but I am also a human being and an individual citizen and I feel the frustration and I feel the fatigue that everyone feels with this ... Please, please stick to these rules.
“To businesses affected by these temporary restrictions having to close your doors at 6pm, I couldn’t be sorrier.”
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