SCOTLAND’S toughest coronavirus restrictions are to be imposed on more than two million people in 11 council areas as the coronavirus death toll approaches 5000.

Nicola Sturgeon said their move to level 4 will help protect the NHS and could give people the chance of some respite at Christmas.

The First Minister described the step as “unpalatable but necessary” as she promised £60 million of support funding, including help for affected businesses.

In a statement to Holyrood, she announced level 4 restrictions will be imposed in Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Stirling and West Lothian.

The measures, which come into force from 6pm on Friday, will run until December 11. It will mean that non-essential shops, gyms, beauty salons and hospitality businesses will close in those areas. Schools will stay open.

The First Minister revealed that the National Records of Scotland was likely to reveal that the number of people who have died in Scotland as a result of the virus was likely to exceed 5000 when its latest data is published today.

"National Records of Scotland will publish its weekly report tomorrow. This records deaths confirmed through a test as being Covid related and also those that are presumed to be so

"It is very likely, based on the numbers we have reported in the past seven days, that the death toll on that wider measure will this week pass 5000."

The move to level 4 will take effect at the same time as a ban on people in level 3 and level 4 areas travelling outside of their council boundaries for non-essential purpose comes into law.

The First Minister suggested that, if travel between high and low-level areas continued, the latter areas could see an increase in restrictions as a result.

She said: “To put it bluntly – and we will require to monitor this – if we see evidence that people from East or South Ayrshire are visiting places in North Ayrshire, or that people from Glasgow are going to Inverclyde, we would have no choice but to put these areas in level 4 too.”

The First Minister later said that enforcement action would be used as a “last resort”, as has been the case for throughout the pandemic.

The change will be made by regulation, with secondary legislation not yet made public.

Sturgeon said the move to level 4 is “necessary to ensure that the NHS can cope with the range of pressures it will face over the winter”. She told Holyrood yesterday: “We must ensure that hospital and ICU services are there, not just for those with Covid but for everyone who needs them.

“That means we must get case numbers down from current levels before going into a period when winter pressures will increase.”

She added: “These decisions will give us the best possible chance – albeit in a limited and careful way – of being able to ease restrictions in all parts of Scotland for Christmas.”

It came as Scotland recorded 37 deaths from coronavirus and 1248 positive cases in the previous 24 hours.

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In the seven days up to Friday, November 13, cases across Scotland were recorded at the rate of 140 new infections per 100,000 people.

Sturgeon said the 11 areas moving to level 4 all had a higher rate than that, ranging from West Lothian at 158 cases per 100,000 to Glasgow at 277.

Infection levels in these areas remain “stubbornly and worryingly high”, she said.

The First Minister added: “At these levels, we simply do not have the assurance we need that hospital and ICU services will be able to cope as we go deeper into winter.”

The Scottish Conservatives’ Holyrood leader Ruth Davidson raised concerns NHS Lanarkshire, Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Ayrshire and Arran “could run out of Covid hospital beds in the next few weeks and ICU capacity in those areas, along with Fife and Forth Valley, will also soon be reached”.

The move to level 4 means as well as non-essential shops, bars and restaurants will have to close – though takeaways will be permitted – along with visitor attractions, hairdressers and gyms.

The First Minister acknowledged there will be an impact on business but said: “The difference between level 3 and level 4 for Lanarkshire, for Glasgow, for these other areas, may be also fewer people dying over the next period and it may be the difference between our NHS being able to cope and not cope.”

Companies that have to shut will be eligible for grants, with Sturgeon announcing the Scottish Government will establish a £30m discretionary fund so councils can “provide additional support for businesses where they consider that necessary or justified”.

A further £15m will go to helping newly self-employed people, with the same amount again going to local authorities to help with the “community and social impact of a move to level 4”, the First Minister added.

While many businesses will have to close, she restated that keeping schools open in level 4 areas remains a “priority”.

While 11 council areas will move into level 4, Sturgeon announced two – Midlothian and East Lothian – will have restrictions eased as they move from level 3 to level 2.

The remaining 19 council areas will not change level.