The current lockdown has been extended to 'mid-February', the First Minister has confirmed.
In her address to parliament today, Nicola Sturgeon said the statistics show there is room for cautious optimism as cases are declining, but that Scotland remains in a 'precarious position'.
The whole of mainland Scotland will remain under almost a full lockdown with schools, non-essential shops and most hospitality businesses closed.
The 'stay at home' message, which is now in law, will remain so.
Ms Sturgeon said "We believe that the lockdown restrictions - and the sacrifices everyone continues to make - are now beginning to have an impact.
"Case numbers, which had been rising rapidly, appear to have stabilised and even declined. In the week to 14th January there was an average of around 1,900 confirmed cases per day. That is an 18% reduction on the previous week."And while the new faster-spreading variant is now the dominant one circulating in Scotland, the proportion of new cases with the S gene drop-out that is indicative of this new variant appears to have stabilised at around two-thirds of all new cases.
"All of this is encouraging, and we think it is a signal that the lockdown restrictions are working - even against the faster-spreading variant."
"Any relaxation of lockdown, while case numbers, even tho they might be declining, nevertheless remain very high, could quickly send the situation into reverse - especially with the faster spreading variant now being so dominant."
Ms Sturgeon added that schools will remain closed until mid-February for all pupils other than the children of key workers and more vulnerable children.
There are 1,165 new cases of coronavirus in Scotland reported in the last 24 hours.
