Ayrshire and Arran is being put in an effective lockdown along with the central belt due to increasing coronavirus cases.

The First Minister announced the new restrictions from 6pm on Friday which includes the closure of all licensed hospitality businesses, apart from hotels, to all but takeaway customers for more than two weeks.

Cafes without an alcohol license can stay open until 6pm.

Outside Ayrshire and Arran and four other health boards in the central belt, indoor pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes will face a 6am til 6pm curfew, but no alcohol can be served.

People in Ayrshire should avoid public transport unless absolutely necessary and should not travel outside the health board unless necessary.

The restrictions will be in place until October 25.

There have been 1,054 new cases since yesterday, with a total of 319 people currently in hospital and 28 of those in ICU.

Another death has been registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's death toll by this measurement to 2,533.

NRS published that by last Sunday 4,276 people had died from the virus, 20 of those were registered last week, the highest weekly rate since late June.

Nicola Sturgeon said the restrictions were to tackle the 'rising challenge' of COVID-19, following an evidence paper published today recommending further action to tackle the spread.

Ms Sturgeon said: "We are living much more freely now than in the spring and early summer.

"We are not going back into lockdown today."

But she said the restriction 'will feel like a backwards step'.

She said: "If this was a purely one-dimensional decision, if the immediate harm from COVID was all we had to consider, then we may very well go further... but this cannot be a one-dimensional decision."

People who were shielding do not have to return to staying indoors, but they are advised to be more careful.