Covid in Scotland: 'Don't meet indoors' on Christmas Day

Summary

Nicola Sturgeon urges people in Scotland not to meet indoors on Christmas Day, although Covid restrictions will be eased on 25 December
The daily positive tally is 1,504 - this is a much higher number which is possibly linked to a processing backlog
From Boxing Day, mainland Scotland will go into lockdown level four rules for at least three weeks
Supermarkets are "well stocked for Christmas" says Ms Sturgeon so there is no need to buy more than you need
The strict travel ban to other parts of the UK will not be eased at any point during the festive season - "not even on Christmas Day" says the FM
Although police patrols will be doubled near to the border, there will not be formal border control points says Chief Constable Iain Livingstone
Boris Johnson is to chairing a meeting of Cobra - after France closed its border with Britain for 48 hours
The industry trade association, Scotland Food and Drink, is describing the freight situation as disastrous for Scottish exporters

Live Reporting

BBC Scotland News

Covid in Scotland: The headlinespublished at 10:40 Greenwich Mean Time 21 December 2020
Image source, PA Media
- Scotland's schools are "safe" and pupils due in this week should be attending says John Swinney
- Scotland's children's commissioner warns closing schools after the Christmas holidays risks harming the wellbeing of young people
- More countries have banned arrivals from the UK because of concerns at the spread of a new variant of coronavirus
- Police patrols on Scotland's borders are to be doubled but there are no plans for checkpoints or road blocks
- Business leaders have called for an "extraordinary" package of support to keep businesses afloat as Scotland faces a looming lockdown
- From Boxing Day the whole of mainland Scotland will be in the country's toughest tier of restrictions for at least three weeks
Schools to remain open this week, says Swinneypublished at 10:35 Greenwich Mean Time 21 December 2020
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Face-to-face learning is due to restart on 18 January after the Christmas and new year break
Scotland's schools are "safe" and pupils due in this week should be attending, the deputy first minister has said.
John Swinney said the prevalence of the virus in Scotland was much lower than other parts of the UK.
The education secretary also told BBC Scotland he wanted to "stick" to 18 January as the date for face-to-face learning to restart after the holiday.
The EIS teaching union had called for schools to be closed this week.
The union's general secretary Larry Flanagan said there needed to be a "firebreak" either side of Christmas.
"One of the issues around this new variant would appear to be that particularly teenagers are involved in the transmission chain," he told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme.
"That's why in Kent and London, even before we identified the new variant, they were looking to close schools because teenagers seem to be fairly critical now."
Good morningpublished at 09:47 Greenwich Mean Time 21 December 2020
Image source, Getty Images
Good morning and welcome to BBC Scotland's rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.