LIBRARIES, museums and leisure centres in some parts of the country are shutting as a precaution amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The closures include the shutdown of all services run by Glasgow Life – such as sporting activities, museums, concert halls and libraries – and the closure of council-run museums and theatres in Edinburgh as well as the National Museums of Scotland.
Meanwhile, the popular Edinburgh Science Festival, due to run from April 4-19, is another casualty.
V&A Dundee is among the venues to have closed its doors after the UK and Scottish governments urged people to reduce social contact.
A spokesman said: “During these exceptional times, the health and safety of our visitors and staff is our number one priority. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and look forward to welcoming visitors back to V&A Dundee as soon as we are able.
“All scheduled exhibitions and events will be postponed until further notice, including the display of the Declaration of Arbroath.”
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The Scottish Parliament is not closing but “only parliamentary service staff required to deliver key essential business onsite should attend work at Holyrood” with all others to work from home until further notice”.
In the Western Isles, the local authority said sport and leisure facilities, libraries and museums will close “indefinitely” from last night.
Stirling Council said its libraries, ticket offices, gig venues and community centres will close “until further notice”.
A Western Isles Council statement said: “Following the advice from Scottish Government that all
non-essential social contact should be avoided – as a precautionary measure – all sport and leisure facilities, libraries and museums throughout the Western Isles will close indefinitely by 5pm today, Tuesday, March 17.
“Harris and Lionacleit sports centres will close at 4pm. All after-school lets are also cancelled until further notice.
“It is important to reiterate that these are precautionary measures, which are being taken in order to follow Scottish Government guidelines.”
National Museums Scotland closed all of its venues from 5pm last night – the National Museum of Scotland, the National Museum of Flight, the National Museum of Rural Life and the National War Museum at Edinburgh Castle.
Glasgow Life closures will affect all museums – including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum –public libraries, sports centres and community facilities. The Gallery of Modern Art Riverside Museum and the People’s Palace will close, as will the Mitchell Library, Royal Concert Hall, Tramway, City Halls, Kelvingrove Bandstand and the Old Fruitmarket, plus swimming pools including Scotstoun, Drumchapel and Whitehill.
Edinburgh Science Festival said in a statement on its website: “We have taken the sad but necessary decision to cancel this year’s Edinburgh Science Festival. With the festival less than three weeks away and a programme of over 270 events, this has been a complex process for the organisation to manage, but the health and well-being of our visitors, participants and staff remains our number one priority.
“The majority of our programme has been produced and paid for. As a charitable organisation, this puts us in a difficult situation. If you are in a position to do so, please read our full statement regarding refunds and consider donating to support our work using the links below.
Both North and South Lanarkshire councils announced services will remain closed for the foreseeable future.
North Lanarkshire Council said leisure memberships and direct debits “will be temporarily suspended automatically”, while South Lanarkshire Council said memberships will also be “frozen”.
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