NICOLA Sturgeon has announced that Scotland is "now on lockdown" as she warned Holyrood would enforce the emergency measures if necessary.
Speaking at Holyrood, the First Minister confirmed two more coronavirus patients have died and said the total number of diagnoses has risen to 584 – though Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has warned the true figures are probably closer to 2500.
Sturgeon reiterated instructions that people should only leave the home for basic necessities once a day, to exercise alone, for medical reasons or to support a vulnerable person or to travel to work if essential.
Social events of two or more people are prohibited, she said, though children under 18 can continue to move between households, but should take precautions.
Those who work in care or who have care responsibilities should continue to carry them out, she said.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Number of deaths in Scotland rises to 16
She added: "People must stay at home. I know how hard this is for everybody but people should not be meeting friends or family members outside home.
"Life should not be feeling normal – if it is, you are not sticking to the rules."
Sturgeon warned the Scottish Parliament will use enforcement powers if people do not comply with the new measures.
She said: “The overall message is clear: people must stay at home. I know how hard this is for everybody but people should not be meeting friends. They should not be meeting family members who live outside of their home and as I have said previously, for all of us right now, life should not be feeling normal. If it is then you are almost certainly not sticking to the rules that we are asking people to abide by.
“I am confident that the vast majority of people will comply with these rules and I want to thank everyone in advance for doing that.
“However, later this week the emergency legislation that Parliament will discuss shortly will give us powers of enforcement. I want to be very clear: we will use these powers as necessary.”
READ MORE: Coronavirus: UK Government rejects demand for universal basic income
The SNP leader told MSPs the Scottish Parliament will only meet one day a week rather than three "until the Easter recess at least".
The Easter recess is due to start on April 4.
On the business impact of the crisis, the FM said the UK Government had taken “significant” steps to protect wages, though it does not come into forces until the beginning of April.
She added: “I hope that by working with lenders, businesses will now be able to do the right thing and not lay staff off unnecessarily.”
Sturgeon confirmed the application process for the Small Business Grant scheme, announced by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes last week, is now live.
The Scottish Government was also pushing for the UK Government to introduce more comprehensive protections for self-employed and freelance workers, Sturgeon said. It comes after Scotland’s finance and economy secretaries urged Downing Street to extend its emergency job retention scheme to the self-employed.
The FM then sought to clarify confusion over whether some people should go into work, urging employers to make the decision for staff.
“It should not be for employees to anguish over whether they should be going into work,” she said.
Sturgeon said that it wouldn’t be possible for Holyrood to offer “bespoke” guidance for all business in Scotland.
Government advice for businesses is that if staff can work from home they should, the FM said, adding that businesses should ask themselves if their work "is contributing something essential to the fight against coronavirus" or the wellbeing of the nation.
Businesses that cannot operate in line with social distancing should not be open, she said.
Sturgeon added that construction sites should be closed unless the building work is essential, for instance work on a hospital. Gardeners and window cleaners who can go about their business safely are "encouraged to do so", she said.
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