First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is set to give her weekly Covid-19 update to the Scottish Parliament today, with schools and the national lockdown on the agenda.
She will be spending much of the morning and early afternoon in discussions with her cabinet, as they look over the latest data and decide what action should be taken.
When is the update?
Ms Sturgeon will address parliament this afternoon around 2pm, however, the update may be delayed if other business overruns.
Where can I watch?
The address will be broadcast live through the Scottish Parliament website and will also be live on the BBC.
It has been a week since the first minister announced new restrictions on takeaways, drinking alcohol outdoors and click and collect services, alongside changes to the law regarding working from home, working in a private home and the ‘stay at home’ regulations.
Those who would like to hear news of a significant easing of the lockdown affecting the entire Scottish mainland are likely to be disappointed.
Yesterday’s coronavirus statistics showed over 1,400 new cases and a 12.3% test positivity rate – significantly above the 5% rate used as a benchmark for showing the virus spread is under control.
Those numbers are starting to stabilise, but the cabinet will need to determine whether they have declined enough for restrictions to be lifted.
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At yesterday’s coronavirus briefing, Nicola Sturgeon said: “We are seeing some positive signs from the numbers that lockdown is starting to stabilise things and hopefully starting to tip them into decline, but transmission is still higher than we would want it to be.”
However, she emphasised that decisions would only be made during the cabinet meeting.
A decision will also be announced on whether schools can be reopened for all students as originally planned on February 1.
Ms Sturgeon has said she would not “raise expectations” of a reopening, while deputy first minister and education secretary John Swinney has described doing so as a “tall order”.
John Swinney: Schools returning on February 1 is ‘tall order’
At the briefing yesterday, the first minister said: “I’m not going to raise expectations about schools being back on February 1 but nor am I going to stand here and make assumptions about a decision we’re not going to take until tomorrow.
She added: “We want to get schools back as quickly as we possibly can, it is not in the interests of kids to be out of school for any longer than is absolutely necessary but community transmission has always been a key factor in these types of decisions.”