Nicola Sturgeon has urged people to "stay at home" this Hogmanay amid a huge rise in covid cases.
Speaking to the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, the First Minister provided an update on the current state of the pandemic.
The number of covid cases in Scotland have soared to a new daily record of 15,849. The previous recorded was recorded three days ago on Boxing Day with just over 11,000 cases recorded.
Ms Sturgeon urged people to stay at home "more than normal".
She said: "While we better understand the impacts and while more and more of us get the added protection of booster vaccinations - which will help reduce the impacts - we must try to avoid the sheer volume of cases overwhelming us.
"That is why it is prudent, indeed essential, that we slow transmission as much as possible.
"This is why additional protections were announced last week and are now in force. I will summarise these shortly.
"And it is also why, over Hogmanay and New Year’s day, and for at least the first week in January, we are advising everyone to stay at home more than normal, to reduce contacts with people outside our own households, and to limit the size of any indoor social gatherings that do take place so that they don’t include people from any more than three households."
Despite her plea, Ms Sturgeon also confirmed there would be no changes to the current restrictions in place.
It comes after Deputy First Minister John Swinney urged Scots to not to travel to England to celebrate Hogmanay where more relaxed covid measures are in place.
Mr Swinney said while there is nothing to stop party-goers from heading south of the border, where nightclubs are still open, for their Hogmanay celebrations, this would go against the "spirit" of the regulations put in place by the Scottish Government.
