NICOLA Sturgeon has extended the temporary lockdown restrictions in Scotland for another week.

At her daily briefing in Edinburgh, the First Minister said the current rules would be rolled on until 6am November 2 – when a new tiered system will likely come into force.

Under the current restrictions, bars and licensed restaurants in five health board areas – Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Lothian and Forth Valley – have been forced to close for all but takeaways.

Pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes elsewhere in Scotland are only allowed to serve indoor customers between 6am and 6pm with a ban on alcohol inside, although alcoholic drinks can be served until 10pm in outdoor areas.

Peeblesshire News: Current restrictions are in place in the central beltCurrent restrictions are in place in the central belt

Ms Sturgeon said: "This is first and foremost a public health decision.

“Although we have grounds for cautious optimism that the restrictions are having an effect, the clinical advice to Cabinet is that it would not be safe to lift them as early as Monday.

“The extension allows us to transition to the new levels system from November 2.”

The current rules also include a ban on household visits.

Snooker and pool halls, indoor bowling alleys, casinos and bingo halls will also remain closed, and contact sports for people aged 18 and over will also remain suspended with an exception of professional sports.

Gyms and pools can remain open for individual exercise, but indoor group activities are not allowed for people over 18.

What is the new system?

It is understood the new system, which is due to start on November 2, would have three central tiers akin to the medium, high and very high alert levels in England, which curb hospitality and social mixing.

However, there would also be an extra upper and lower level.

The lowest would be as close to normality as possible in the absence of a vaccine, while the topmost tier would involve extreme restrictions, including travel bans.

Closing schools and switching to home-based "blended learning" would always be a last resort.

But there is not yet clarity on exactly what the public could expect in each tier.

Under current proposals it is not thought any area will be placed onto the top tier straight away, but central belt areas already facing tighter restrictions are likely to be put into the second-top category when the system is brought in on November 2.

What are the latest figures?

Scotland has recorded 28 deaths from coronavirus and 1,739 positive tests in the past 24 hours, Nicola Sturgeon said – the highest number of fatalities since May 21.

The First Minister told the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing the death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – has risen to 2,653.

The figures are lower than the 4,376 deaths given earlier by the National Records of Scotland as they do not include suspected and probable coronavirus infections.

Ms Sturgeon said 50,903 people have now tested positive in Scotland, up from 49,164 on Monday.

The daily test positivity rate is 9.7%, down from 11.4% on the previous day.

Of the new cases, 605 are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 520 in Lanarkshire, 250 in Lothian, and 105 in Ayrshire and Arran.

There are 873 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus as of yesterday, up by 49 in 24 hours.

Of these patients, 73 are in intensive care, a rise of three.