Nicola Sturgeon says coronavirus has the "capacity and potential" to take more lives in the future if tough decisions are not made.
The First Ministers comments come ahead of an announcement on the current Level Three lockdown situation in Glasgow.
Cases in Scotland's biggest city have increased over the last month which led the Scottish Government to take the decision to keep it at Level Three.
Although the cases rate is still high the SNP leader says there is some optimism that the level of infection in some areas is starting to fall.
The south side of the city, in particular the postal areas of G41 and G42, have seen portable testing units flood the area in an attempt to catch the spread of the virus. The vaccine programme has also been expanded in the area.
Earlier this week Sturgeon announced she would hold a government briefing on Friday to speak about the situation in Glasgow.
It's not expected the city will move down to Level Two like the rest of mainland Scotland. As of May 25 there were 144 cases per 100,000 in Glasgow.
Sturgeon issued a note of caution on the increase in cases in some parts of the country and the consequences of them.
Speaking at First Minister's Questions, she said: "This country like much of the world now is in the grip of a global pandemic and it has taken too many lives already.
"It has the capacity and potential, if we don't take the decisions, to take more lives in future.
"This is very difficult for everybody, businesses and individuals. My responsibility is to try to take those decisions in the best way possible to get the country through this and as safely as possible.
"That's the responsibility I will continue to take with the upmost seriousness."
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