Aberdeen in lockdown as Covid-19 spreads

The Scottish government has reimposed partial lockdown conditions in Aberdeen to deal with a Covid-19 cluster in the city.

Pubs and restaurants in the city will have to close at 17:00 BST on Wednesday and its 228,000 citizens will not be allowed in each other's houses. Travelling for work or education is allowed but people have been told not to travel more than five miles for leisure.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there were 54 cases of coronavirus in Aberdeen, representing a "significant outbreak" and that community transmission may have taken place. The cluster has been linked to people who drank at the city's Hawthorn Bar on 26 July.

Sturgeon said the outbreak in Aberdeen, whose economy is linked to Scotland's oil industry, was the "biggest wake-up call" since the early stages of the pandemic. "There's always a sense of 'we're doing well and it won't happen here'," she said. "It can happen and it is happening here."

The restrictions will be reviewed in a week's time and could be extended, Sturgeon said.