People travelling to Scotland from Ethiopia, Oman, Qatar and Somalia will face new quarantine restrictions.
Scottish Government ministers have agreed the new travel rules which will require those entering Scotland from the four countries within 10 day to enter quarantine.
The rules include people travelling on from elsewhere in the UK or in Ireland.
Exemptions will be available to a short list of essential workers.
The decision was reached on the basis of advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre.
However, the Joint Biosecurity Centre also assessed that risk of travel from Portugal and Mauritius is reduced, and they are removed from the list of acute risk countries.
Travellers arriving in Scotland will still enter managed isolation, but additional roles will be considered for exemption.
Flights from Qatar will still operate, but Border Force will refuse entry to the UK, using reserved immigration powers, for travellers from those countries who are not British, Irish, or have the right to reside in the UK.
It has also been confirmed that aviation and maritime crew will not be required to enter managed isolation.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: “The virus continues to pose real risks to health and to life here and around the world and we need to interrupt the rise in cases, meaning we need to limit the importation of variants of concern.
"We need to continue the comprehensive approach to managed isolation to reduce risk from new cases and strains entering the country, particularly associated with the variant first identified in South Africa in the case of these countries.
“These changes are essential preventative action and address the risk of new variants entering Scotland with the potential to increase the numbers of cases testing positive or reduce the effectiveness of vaccine.
“Our message remains clear that people should not currently be undertaking non-essential foreign travel. People need to stay at home to help suppress the virus, protect our NHS and save lives.”
