Coronavirus in Scotland: 1,149 new cases of Covid-19 reported across the country

The latest figures show that 8.2 per cent of the total number of tests came back positive overnight, according to the Scottish Government.

This brings the confirmed total number of cases to 119,184.

The number of deaths, hospital admissions and intensive care patients are not being revealed over the festive period – the next update will be on Tuesday, 29 December.

A member of the public wearing a face covering shopping on Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Scotland where severe lockdown restrictions have been announced for December and January with most of the country moving into the highest level of lockdown from Boxing Day.

The news comes as mainland Scotland plunges into another lockdown – Level 4 – from Boxing Day in an effort to curb further spread of the coronavirus.

The move means non-essential shops have had to shut, while bars, cafes and restaurants are only allowed to provide takeaway services.

Speaking on Radio Clyde this morning, Professor Jason Leitch said strict measures are expected to last “well into next year” unless the country gets a better hold on Covid-19 and its variants.

“In the long term it’s going to take well into next year before we can think about any form of normality,” he said.

Meanwhile First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged people to stay at home, or close to home, as much as possible.

On Boxing Day she posted a message on Twitter which read: “Level 4 restrictions are now in place across mainland Scotland. Please stay home/local as much as possible, to help stop this new, faster spreading strain of the virus running out of control.”

While mainland Scotland has been placed under the toughest level of the Scottish Government’s five-tier system of coronavirus restrictions, the islands have now gone into Level 3.

The First Minister announced the move after a more transmissible strain of the virus was discovered in the UK which, according to scientific evidence read out in her daily briefing, can be up to more than 70 per cent more transmissible than the current strain.

Ms Sturgeon said at the time that this “is preventative action because we know there is a more rapidly transmitting strain out there and so we’re acting preventatively”.

She added: “Everything we’ve learned about this virus says that you do that – you act quickly and don’t have regrets later, and that’s what we’re seeking to do.”

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