Tighter quarantine and school reopening plans to be unveiled

Further measures to control coronavirus will be announced at the Scottish Parliament later on Tuesday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will also provide an update on the latest plan for the reopening of schools and nurseries.

The Scottish Government has already said that the current restrictions will last until at least the middle of February.

At the moment schools are closed to all but vulnerable youngsters and the children of key workers.

At the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 briefing on Monday, Sturgeon said the review of restrictions will set out “how and when we might be able to start to resume in-person learning and childcare”, as well as expanded testing arrangements for these.

The First Minister’s statement to MSPs will set out how Scotland intends to go further than measures already proposed by the UK for quarantine hotels.

Speaking on Monday, Sturgeon said: “We have already agreed, with other countries across the UK, to introduce supervised quarantine from some countries.

“However, in our view the current UK-wide proposals don’t go far enough, so tomorrow we will provide some more information about the extent to which we intend to operate supervised quarantine here in Scotland.

“Tomorrow’s statement is also going to cover some of the measures we will be taking to help us control the virus as we continue to suppress it, and in time gradually start to ease the lockdown restrictions.”

The death toll of those who tested positive currently stands at 6112, however weekly figures on suspected Covid-19 deaths recorded by National Records of Scotland suggest the most up-to-date total is at least 7902.

On Monday, Sturgeon said the current lockdown was “working” as infections seem to be falling.

Announcing 848 new cases, the First Minister added: “That said, case numbers are still high, too high, much higher than we would want them to be, so we need to get them down further – then we need to keep them as low as possible.”

The Scottish Government also confirmed that 575,897 Scots had received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. It added that 7849 people had received their second dose, a rise of 55.

Just 9628 patients received their first vaccine dose on Sunday – the fewest since the Scottish Government began publishing daily figures on January 11.

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross said: “The SNP’s slow Covid vaccine rollout is lagging miles behind the rest of the UK.

“They’re letting Scotland down at the biggest challenge facing us.”

Facing questions about why Scotland appeared to be rolling out its vaccination programme at a slower pace than across the rest of the UK, Sturgeon said: “There’s a long way to go in this programme and it’s really important we do it methodically, sustainably – concentrating on the most vulnerable first.

“That’s what we have been doing and I think as we go through this week we will see further evidence that is what is happening.”