Coronavirus restrictions 'unlikely' to be eased this week

Coronavirus restrictions are “highly unlikely” to be eased when the new alert system is reviewed for the first time.

Ministers will meet on Tuesday to discuss which tier of the five-level system each of Scotland’s 32 councils should be allocated.

The new system came into force last week, with central Scotland and Dundee currently in level three and the rest of the country split between one and two.

Speaking at her daily coronavirus briefing, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the system was helping to control the spread of Covid-19.

She said: “The final decisions I will set out tomorrow will be taken by the cabinet at its meeting tomorrow morning.

“I’m not going to pre-empt those decisions because they haven’t finally been taken yet.”

She insisted measures already in place in Scotland were “undoubtedly” having a positive impact on the spread of the virus.

The First Minister said: “The number of new cases was rising pretty steeply in the first half of October but that has now pretty much levelled off. We are in a far better position than we would have been without the current restrictions in place.”

She said while there were “positive signs”, it was “really important we start to see these translate into a significant and sustained decline in Covid cases”.

Sturgeon added: “We cannot be sure we are yet seeing that and while no decisions have been taken, I think it is highly unlikely that we will see any significant easing of restrictions announced tomorrow.”