First Minister hails more 'progress' on Covid-19 battle as beer gardens open for the first time since before lockdown
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There have been no new deaths from confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Scotland in the last 48 hours in what First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hailed “continued progress” in the fight against the virus.
Technical difficulties meant that no confirmation could be made yesterday on whether there were or were not any new deaths. However today Ms Sturgeon was able to reveal that four more people had contracted the infection – the total is now 18,300.
There was further good news for Scotland’s arts and culture sector following after an announcement by the UK government that it would provide a package of support that Ms Sturgeon vowed to pass on in full.
The First Minister said: “Regarding Scotland's arts and culture sector, on Friday we became the first government in the UK to provide direct support to performing arts venues with the announcement of a £10 million relief fund.
“We called then on the UK government to step up and provide further assistance and so we very much welcome the announcement from the UK government last night of a significant package of financial support.
“We are now seeking clarity on precisely how all the different funding arrangements will work and we will engage quickly with those in our culture and heritage sectors to identify the best ways in which the Scottish government can provide additional help."
She said she hoped the announcements would provide people working across the sector "with some optimism about the future".
Regarding the much discussed opening up of beer gardens and other outdoors areas, Ms Sturgeon revealed that local authorities have been asked to implement a temporary relaxation on planning rules to help pubs and other businesses use outdoor spaces more.
“I know many people have been eagerly awaiting one change in particular – from today in Scotland outdoor hospitality venues such as pavement cafes and beer gardens are able to reopen.
“We know that implementing some of the safety and physical distancing can create specific challenges and of course reduce the number of people that can be in these places at any given time.
“That's why we want to give businesses a bit more freedom in their use of outdoor space and today we have taken an additional step by asking local authorities to put in place a temporary relaxation of planning controls so that it's easier for businesses to use public space."
