Nicola Sturgeon confirms restrictions on football and pubs will remain in place for another week

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed football fans must wait at least another week before they can return to watch their favourite club in large numbers.

The First Minister told MSPs today there would be no immediate easing of the restrictions brought in by government over the festive period to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.

At a virtual session of the Scottish Parliament, the SNP leader said expected the rules to remain in place until at least January 17.

That means football grounds will only be allowed to admit a maximum of 500 supporters this weekend. The Scottish Premiership brought forward its winter break to coincide with the new restrictions but football bosses are eager to be given a confirmed date for when sell-out crowds can return.The restrictions still in place also mean pubs and restaurants must continue with social distancing inside their premises with customers being served at tables only.Sturgeon said: "As I said last week, we have been considering very carefully the risks and benefits of changes to self isolation requirements and I will update on that shortly."More generally, we are not proposing any new protective measures today."However, with the virus so prevalent, we do consider it important to continue to apply some brake on transmission, particularly in settings posing the highest risk."Accordingly, I can confirm that the restrictions on large gatherings, the requirement for distancing between groups in public indoor places and for table service in hospitality venues serving alcohol on the premises will remain in force for now and, I expect, until 17 January 17."The First Minister added: "In addition, while this is not a legal requirement, we are continuing to advise the general public to limit