Scotland's Christmas lockdown rules to stay in place despite warnings from experts

Covid-19. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday said the rapid spread of the new strain had forced her to take serious and immediate action as Scotland faced an "extremely serious" situation.

emergency statement at Holyrood today that tough new rules were required to prevent the NHS becoming overwhelmed by a rising number of patients with Covid-19. The First Minister announced that almost half of all virus cases in Scotland were linked to a new strain first discovered last month, which can spread more quickly.

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.Scotland is being plunged back into a tougher lockdown to deal with soaring levels of COVID-19 infection.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the harsher measures in an emergency statement at the Scottish Parliament, telling the public to "stay at home".She said: "The Cabinet met this morning to assess the up-to-date COVID situation - which is extremely serious - and discuss what further action is

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterMainland Scotland will go into a full national lockdown from midnight in a bid to get to grips with the rising number of coronavirus cases.The grim news was delivered by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon this afternoon at the Scottish Parliament after MSPs were recalled for an emergency sitting.She described the current Covid situation as "extremely serious" with decisions made at a cabinet

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterSeven people died from coronavirus in Scotland over the Christmas period, new figures show.

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.University Hospital Wishaw will feature in the BBC Scotland Christmas Celebration programme this year.Sally Magnusson, will, as ever, be presenting the show which will be aired on Christmas Eve.

direct to your inboxNicola Sturgeon has apologised after she breached coronavirus lockdown rules.Scotland's First Minister took off her face mask at a funeral wake to chat to three women in a bar, a photograph published in the Scottish Sun showed.While Ms Sturgeon kept her distance, under Scottish Government Covid rules, customers in hospitality venues must wear a face covering except when seated and must wear one when moving around.Ms Sturgeon was attending a funeral wake for a Scottish

First Minister said the strain is spreading much faster and the Scottish Government will need to look at whether level 4 restrictions are sufficient.Governments across the UK scaled back plans to loosen the restrictions during Christmas due to the new covid variant.In Scotland, Sturgeon announced level 4, which is effectively lockdown, would be imposed from Boxing Day onwards for three weeks.This includes the near total shutdown of hospitality.Speaking at Holyrood, she referred to data which

direct to your inboxFamilies across the UK have had to dramatically scale back their Christmas plans after the government introduced changes to restrictions.Plans to allow a five-day period of relaxations have been scrapped amid a rising number of infections in the south of England, which is believed to have been caused by a new highly transmissible strain of coronavirus.Health secretary Matt Hancock said the country was facing an “enormous challenge” in bringing the latest outbreak under

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.Renfrew has recorded the eighth highest number of illegal lockdown parties in Scotland.Officers were called out to break up a total of 84 boozy bashes.Surprisingly, the figure was above that of its larger neighbour.Paisley recorded 66 callouts - which made it the tenth highest party hotspot in the country.The figures - put together by BBC Scotland data journalist Marc Ellison - spanning the period August 28

Jason Leitch said further research was required on the latest mutation of the virus but added experts were so far confident it would not be able to resist the jabs currently being rolled out to health workers and care home residents. It comes as UK health secretary Matt Hancock warned today the country faced an “enormous challenge” controlling the new strain after scientists found it was able to spread more rapidly.

jobs could be secured with small changes.They claimed an extra two and half hours of opening hours and allowing alcohol sales with “strict controls” would increase turnover from £419m to £1.1bn in areas covered by restrictions.Scottish Labour MSP Alex Rowley raised the claims yesterday with Scottish economy secretary Fiona Hyslop.Rowley said: "In order to effectively recover and rebuild from the effects of the pandemic, we must protect valuable industries such as hospitality."It is my view

Jeane Freeman said nothing on sale in shops could be worth the "risk" of mingling in large crowds. But the SNP minister - standing in for Nicola Sturgeon at today's media briefing - remained tight-lipped when quizzed on the likelihood of tougher lockdown restrictions being introduced in late December or early January.

direct to your inboxChristmas is now just around the corner - and, once again, the public will have a whole new set of rules to get used to.Guidelines for what will be allowed over the festive period were thrown into confusion this week amid rising infection rates in parts of the country and warnings that the NHS could soon become overwhelmed.The escalating situation has led the government to hammer down on its advice during Christmas.Christmas bubbles will still be allowed - but the devolved

Scroll down for the latest updates.Nicola Sturgeon has backed the Christmas lockdown easing plan while at the same time strongly recommending people stay in their own homes.The First Minister said if people make use of the five day loosening of the rules, her advice is to limit the duration of the stay and the numbers of people.She also recommended that people from “high prevalence” covid areas do not travel to low prevalence parts the UK.Read the full story.A Scots mum has spoken of her

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Greater Glasgow & Clyde health board region - which covers a large geographic area in the west of the country - this week.