Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed a new strain of Covid blamed for outbreaks in the south-east of England has now been found in Scotland.
The First Minister said nine cases had been identified in the Greater Glasgow & Clyde health board region - which covers a large geographic area in the west of the country - this week.
During her weekly lockdown review at Holyrood, the SNP leader said: “While the initial analysis of it suggests that it may be more transmissible, with a faster growth rate than existing variants, that is not yet certain.
“It may instead be the case that it has been identified in areas where the virus is already spreading more rapidly.”
Asked about the variant by Tory MSP Ruth Davidson, she said:
"I think it's important to say, firstly, that we have to take this seriously, but it's equally important to say that none of use should prematurely overreact to this."
She added: "It's important to say that none of what is currently known about this yet is absolutely certain."
It comes as Scotland has recorded 24 deaths of coronavirus patients and 854 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours, according to official figures.
The death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – is now 4,135.
Statistics published by the Scottish Government indicate the daily test positivity rate is 7.4%, down from 7.6% on Monday.
A total of 107,749 people have tested positive in Scotland, up from 106,904 the previous day.
There are 996 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down six in 24 hours.
Of these patients, 45 are in intensive care, down by one.
