A nationwide lockdown could still be on the cards for Scotland, the First Minister admitted today while setting out localised rules under the new five-tier framework.
Nicola Sturgeon was addressing the Scottish Parliament, and revealing which areas fall under which lockdown tier from levels 0 to 4 - placing Glasgow and the central belt in Level 3.
Having laid out new restrictions and asked Scots not to travel to or from their local areas the FM added that failure to comply with the new rules - which start at 6am on Monday (November 2) - could result in another Scotland-wide lockdown.
Nicola Sturgeon commented: “The levels we will put in place from Monday require more sacrifice at a time when all of us are tired of making these sacrifices. I recognise that and I again thank everyone across Scotland for all they are doing.
“But these sacrifices continue to be essential. If we all dig in and stick with it, this proportionate approach has a real chance of being sustainable and keeping Covid-19 under control in the winter.
“If we succeed, we open the prospects in all parts of the country of being able to lead slightly less restricted lives in the future - hopefully in the reasonably near future.
"However, the other side of this is equally true and I must be open with Parliament and with the country about it. We are, as of now, making progress in Scotland, but cases are still rising and the situation we face is fragile.
“Across Europe, the pandemic is accelerating, so I cannot rule out a move back to nationwide restrictions in the next few weeks - including level 4.
“That could happen if, for example, cases in part of the country start to rise faster again, to the extent that controlling spread with travel restrictions will not be effective."
At present, no areas of Scotland have been placed in Level 4 lockdown - although the FM admitted that the situation in North and South Lanarkshire, where cases and hospital admissions are high, is a “fine balance”, after days of speculation about where those areas would fall.
The Scottish Government will review levels for each area weekly, from next week.
Follow our coronavirus blog for more on today's lockdown announcement, including a breakdown of which areas fall into which tier - and what that means for you as of next week.
