| Good afternoon,
Welcome to a coronavirus update from The Scotsman. Before we begin, please consider taking out a digital subscription with us from just £3 a month for unlimited access to all our stories. Or you can now give the gift of a digital subscription to a loved one here. Readers of this newsletter can get a 20% discount on gift subscriptions with the promo code SCOTGIFT20. Nicola Sturgeon says schools to remain open next week despite rising Covid-19 cases Nicola Sturgeon has said schools will remain open next week across Scotland despite being urged to “think again” by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie. Speaking during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon said the public health advice showed it was more important for children to be in schools than out of school and that there were no plans to shut schools ahead of Christmas next week. Read the full story here Furlough scheme extended for another month The furlough scheme will be extended for another month, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced. The scheme was due to expire at the end of March but the extension suggests the Government believes the economy will still be struggling to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full story here The Scottish areas where police have had to repeatedly break up house parties Police officers in Scotland are repeatedly visiting the same houses to break up parties, new data from Police Scotland reveals. The statistics show officers have been called out nearly 5,000 times since they were granted new powers in August 2020. These areas were the worst offenders More Covid headlines Thanks for reading, Sam Shedden, sam.shedden@jpimedia.co.uk | 
