Nicola Sturgeon has announced new funding support for the cultural and heritage sectors, as well as the opening of a new walk-in test centre in Fife.
It comes as 51 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the past 24 hours and a number of clusters are being monitored and tackled.
Here’s what was included in today’s briefing from the First Minister.
Daily figures
No new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Scotland in the last 24 hours.
20,107 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 51 from 20,056 the day before.
Two of these new cases are in the Grampian health board area, 14 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, three in Lanarkshire and 10 in Tayside.
There are 255 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of two in 24 hours.
Of these patients, three were in intensive care, up by one.
Funding for venues
Nicola Sturgeon announced £59 million of support for the culture and heritage sectors.
The package will be funded by the £97 million given to the Scottish Government through the Barnett formula, based on spending by the UK Government.
The key measure is a £15 million recovery fund for venues, the First Minister said, to “safeguard key parts of our cultural infrastructure”.
Theatres, galleries, comedy clubs, music venues and nightclubs are among the groups eligible for the new fund, with information on how to apply to be released next week.
The First Minister said: “The culture and heritage sectors are, of course, hugely important to our economy, but they’re also really important to our wellbeing and happiness as a country.
“They’ve been very hard hit by this pandemic and we’re determined to do everything we reasonably can to support them.”
Funding will also be made available for Historic Environment Scotland, as well as support for freelancers, the development of new creative work, independent cinemas and youth arts.
Walk-in testing
The first of 22 walk-in Covid-19 testing centres in Scotland will open on Friday.
The facility, at Victory Memorial Hall in St Andrews, is designed to make testing more accessible and available.
Six of these facilities will be created before the end of September in areas of high student population, the First Minister said, coinciding with the return of universities and colleges.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Today’s opening is a first stage but an important first stage in developing walk through centres and making testing more accessible for people in different parts of the country.”
Bookings are recommended for the testing centres, which can be done through the NHS Inform website.
Cluster updates
The First Minister said there is no evidence in Coupar Angus of wider community transmission from the 2 Sisters factory where a Covid-19 cluster was identified.
Ms Sturgeon said that 177 cases have been identified, 157 of which are staff at the factory and 20 who are close contacts, an increase of 11 from Thursday.
At Kingspark School in Dundee, where the First Minister said there is also no evidence of community transmission, two more cases were identified – taking the total number of cases to 36.
Of the 36 cases, three are pupils, 22 are staff members and 11 are contacts of staff.
In Aberdeen, where local lockdown measures were lifted earlier this week following a cluster, the First Minister said the situation was “under control”.
Addressing a small cluster in Hawick identified on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon reported that four more cases have been identified, bringing the total to 11.
New police powers
Police Scotland’s Chief Constable Iain Livingstone spoke at the briefing on the new powers given to enforce regulations.
Indoor gatherings of over 15 people are now against the law, he said, warning people not to arrange or attend large house parties.
The Chief Constable said that “the vast majority” of people have adhered to the rules throughout the pandemic and he thanked the people of Scotland for that, going on to say that officers will ensure to work with members of the public instead of using powers aggressively.
He said that police will approach enforcement of regulations with “courtesy and common sense”, but will take “decisive action” to enforce the law when required.
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