Parents and pupils face uncertainty about the start of the new school term after Nicola Sturgeon warned that tougher lockdown measures are required to fight the new strain of coronavirus.
The First Minister has summoned an emergency cabinet meeting this Monday morning and will recall MSPs to hear a statement on the covid crisis in the afternoon.
The cabinet is certain to consider keeping schools closed for the rest of January and the possible return of restrictions that are closer to the stay-at-home lockdown in March.
Schools re-open this week for children of key workers and vulnerable children. Other pupils will return to remote learning from 11 January.
Schools in Scotland are due to return full-time on January 18th after an extended Christmas break but the situation is being reviewed daily.
Sturgeon signalled on Twitter that a harder lockdown could be on the way as she confirmed Parliament would be recalled to discuss further measures due to “a rapid increase in Covid cases” causing “very serious concerns”.
Scotland saw seen an increase of 2,464 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday , up from 2,137 new cases on Saturday.
The daily test positivity rate was at 15.2 per cent, up from 10.8 per cent on Saturday.
No further deaths were recorded on Sunday as the register offices are closed over the public holidays.
In a series of tweets Sturgeon warned that the government would have to act “quickly and decisively in the national interest” raising fears that schools may remain closed for the whole of January.
The First Minister said: “The steep increases and severe NHS pressure being experienced in other parts of the UK is a sign of what may lie ahead. So we must take all steps to slow spread while vaccination progresses."
Monday will be only the fifth time Holyrood has been recalled outside the parliamentary term, and the second occasion during the covid crisis.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has called for the “evidence and the reasoning behind a tightening of restrictions” to be published ahead of parliament meeting.
Leonard added: “It is also clear that financial support from government has simply not been nearly sufficient to make up for the damage that lockdown measures have done to jobs, livelihoods and businesses. The SNP government must distribute additional funds to the front line now.”
Rapid testing in schools is being considered but the new strain is spreading so fast that ministers may need to extend the lockdown and close schools until February.
All mainland Scotland and Skye are under level 4 restrictions, while the other islands are in level 3. Shetland is on the brink of moving to level 4 amid an outbreak that has infected more than 70 people.
The developments came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson signalled that tougher restrictions to deal with the coronavirus crisis could be on the way in England the next few weeks. But he insisted parents should send their children to primary schools in England on Monday as long as they are open in their area.
In Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford said plans for schools in Wales will be kept “under consideration” following concerns about the new strain of coronavirus.
