THE First Minister has urged Scots to “be kinder to each other” as she warned of a “difficult” few months ahead.

In a virtual statement to the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister said Scotland was at a “critical moment” in its battle with coronavirus.

She told MSPs she could not rule out further restrictions, including a possible travel ban on visitors coming to Scotland.

And she cautioned Holyrood against expecting a “return to complete normality” when the current rules on bars and restaurants expire on October 26.

The First Minister unveiled more details of the new tiered system, which, she said will “strengthen our resilience to live with this virus”.

It will help “improve the effectiveness” of existing measures, she added.

The First Minister also unveiled new regulations on face coverings which will bring in strict new rules for workplace canteens, with co-workers only able to remove their mask when seated at a table.

However, couples will be able to leave their faces uncovered on their wedding day.

Sturgeon said: “The new rules are a proportionate additional step which will help employees keep themselves and their colleagues that bit safer.”

New restrictions put in place by the Welsh Government on Wednesday to stop travellers from areas where there’s a high prevalence of coronavirus from entering the country could be mirrored in Scotland, Sturgeon said.

She added: “As we consider these issues, plan future steps and where necessary, take emergency action, we will seek to ensure that parliament is fully informed and involved in these decisions.”

The First Minister warned of the “difficult few months that lie ahead”.

She said: “Look out for people, offer help if you can and remember this is no-one’s fault.

“Our experiences are different, I know, but this pandemic is something that we’re all living through, none of us are exempt from the impact and we are all finding it hard.”

The First Minister added: “I know it can sound cliched, but I will make no apology for saying that love, kindness and solidarity are more important now than ever before.

“Even just a smile and a kind word can help make a tough day slightly better.”

The update from the First Minister came as a further 13 coronavirus deaths were recorded over the previous 24 hours.

There were also 1351 new Covid-19 cases, representing 17.6% of newly tested individuals.

Meanwhile, south of the Border, Boris Johnson’s Tory Government was accused of treating the north with “contempt” over plans to move huge chunks of England into tier 3 of the UK Government’s Covid lockdown system.

That would force the closure of pubs and bars unless they could operate as restaurants. A key sticking point is over extra funding.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the north was “fed up of being pushed around”, claiming the region was being treated “as the canaries in the coalmine” for an experimental regional lockdown strategy.

He said: “They are asking us to gamble our residents’ jobs, homes and businesses and a large chunk of our economy on a strategy that their own experts tell them might not work. We would never sign up for that.”

Burnham said the Tory measures went “way beyond” the closure of pubs.

He said: “It is wrong to place some of the poorest parts of England in a punishing lockdown without proper support for the people and businesses affected.

“Last night the deputy chief medical officer told the leaders that to bring the infection rates down, any regional lockdown would require widespread closures way beyond pubs to stand any real chance of working.”