Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone has confirmed that Holyrood, despite still being in recess, will set today (Wednesday January 5) for “an update and questions on Covid”, adding that the session “will be entirely virtual”.
The First Minister’s Cabinet is expected to meet before she updates MSPs this afternoon.
Ms Sturgeon will make her statement after more than 51,000 of confirmed Covid-19 cases were reported back in the first few days of 2022 and a further 17,000 cases were reported yesterday.
More than 1,100 people were in hospital on Tuesday night, having recently tested positive for the virus.
On Monday, daily cases reached a record new high at 20,217, with a test positivity of 34.9%.
What time is Nicola Sturgeon’s update?
Nicola Sturgeon will give an update MSPs today (Wednesday, January 5) as Holyrood will reconvene virtually despite still being in recess.
She will give the virtual update at around 2pm.
CONFIRMED: Parliament will sit at 2pm on Wednesday 5 January.
The meeting – for an update and questions on COVID – will be entirely virtual.
— Alison Johnstone (@POScotParl) January 3, 2022
How can I watch Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid briefing?
The Covid update will be streamed on the Scottish government’s social media channels.
It can also be watched on their official TV website, and is regularly broadcast live on BBC Scotland.
And we’ll bring you all the updates on our website.
Will more restrictions be introduced in Scotland?
It is not yet known if any changes to public health rules will be made.
Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Scotland last week, Prof Leitch failed to rule out further restrictions.
He said: “I hope we can get away without anything too dramatic on top of what we’ve already done.
“I’m very conscious that there are people in the economic advice space, the mental health advice, the social policy, the education, of course, and those who have businesses and employees who have taken a hit in the few weeks leading up to Christmas.
“We don’t want that to last any longer than it needs, but the public health advice is that Omicron remains a danger to the country, in fact the WHO advice is that it remains a danger to the whole world, and therefore you should act very cautiously if you decide to remove protections.”
What are the current Covid restrictions in Scotland?
Before Christmas, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged people to “stay at home as much as possible.”
New limits on large public gatherings forced the cancellation of New Year’s Eve street parties, for the second year, including the one planned for Edinburgh which attracts tens of thousands of people.
Hogmanay street parties across Scotland were cancelled, with crowds at outdoor public events capped at 500 since Boxing Day, for at least three weeks, and numbers at indoor public events limited to 100 standing or 200 seated.
Ms Sturgeon said the restrictions were aimed at cutting down transmission of the Omicron coronavirus variant and because “large events put an additional burden on emergency services”.
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