• Scotland's current lockdown is "very unlikely" to be lifted at the end of the month says Nicola Sturgeon
• The first minister will update MSPs tomorrow on decisions taken on Scotland's restrictions following discussions by her cabinet this morning
• More than 5,000 people have now died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19
• A further 54 deaths with the virus have been recorded in the past 24 hours - bringing the total to 5,023

• The number of people in hospital with Covid is 1,717 which is higher than the peak of about 1,500 in the first wave in April
• 133 patients are in intensive care units and Ms Sturgeon says the virus is putting "very acute pressure" on hospitals

• 175,942 people in Scotland had received their first vaccine dose by Monday
• The Scottish Conservative leader says Scotland is "behind the curve" in terms of vaccination
• Pre-departure PCR testing for people who are travelling into Scotland will be required from Friday
• £3m is announced for business support on Scotland's islands
• The Scottish government is calling for volunteers to participate in its Covid surveys
• National clinical director Prof Leitch encourages everyone who is invited for screening to take up the offer

• The Scottish government is “continuing to liaise with Microsoft" to ensure home schooling issues are resolved as quickly as possible

That's all from us here on the live page today. Please take care and stay safe.

Mr Sarwar calls for more support for people to self isolate.

He says employers have to be fair in helping staff get the pay they deserve but that government has to also support businesses and families so that people can follow restrictions and go by the rules.

He says some people have to make a tough choice in going out to work and provide for their families. He adds that he wants to work with the government to help these people and says that 11 months into the pandemic there are "too many gaps".

Labour MSP Anas Sarwar tells the BBC One programme that even though he does not like the restrictions, he supports further restrictions in order to supress the virus.

But he says restrictions are only one part of the response. He says the Scottish government is responsible for two levers that still need work - the tracing system and the testing regime.

He says the last lockdown was about giving us time to create the systems required to stop us going into further lockdowns.

Mr Ross turns to vaccination and says: "We are still behind the Scottish government's own targets on a daily basis.

"So we've really got to ramp this up. We're still behind the curve."

Mr Ross says he welcomes yesterday's announcement from Finance Secretary Kate Forbes on business support, that some of the UK government money is going to go into new schemes.

However, he points out that seven out of the 30 schemes that have been announced since December have not paid out a penny.

"We still don't know how businesses can get that support," he says.

The Scottish Conservative leader says there are "hundreds of millions of pounds that the Scottish government have received from the UK government that has not been spent yet".

He argues it is not reasonable for the Scottish government to "delay this funding any further".

Douglas Ross says he wants to see what is announced by the first minister tomorrow in the Scottish Parliament and the evidence to back it up.

The Scottish Conservative leader says: "I don't want to see further restrictions put in place if we don't have the evidence they will actually have the desired effect."

He says there should not be days and days of trailing changes to restrictions as we have seen with click and collect.

Jason Leitch takes a question on vaccinations.

He says the vaccination programme is going "better than he expected". He says it is going smoothly and there will be bumps in the road, but so far he is pleased with the operation.

He thanks those who have helped with logistics and says that the numbers will increase now because the vaccines are taking place in GP surgeries who are now tackling the next group - the over 70s - in the next three weeks.

Prof Griffiths says we don't want to see people starting to relax because they think the figures are getting better.

"We are still in the pandemic, there are still pressures on the NHS. It is still necessary to stay home which is the key message across the UK," she says.

The public health expert says there is not a huge impact in wearing a mask outside, but if two people wear masks outside the spread of infection is less than if they did not.

She says she tends to wear a mask when out on the streets.

Public health expert Prof Sian Griffiths says: "The stabilisation of the figures is obviously good news."

The academic adds: "I think we still need to reinforce the messages about personal behaviour. We see a lot of people trying to bend the rules, get around the rules."

Prof Griffiths says restrictions will be with us for a while, but she hasn't heard there is going to be a ramping up of restrictions or new ones introduced.

Instead she thinks a tightening of the existing restrictions is most likely.

Having been asked about the "big picture" and the next steps, Nicola Sturgeon says she has a "very initial sense of optimism" that there is a stabilisation in the numbers of cases.

She says going back a week, she feared she would be reporting more than 3,000 cases a day at this point.

She adds that test positivity is still far too high but it hasn't gone as far as, for example in London.

But she says people should not be complacent and we should keep to restrictions.

The next steps, she says, will be the review of the current lockdown at the end of January but she says it is very unlikely that any restrictions will be lifted as soon as the end of January.

Gordon Chree from STV has the first question. He says a week on from the tougher lockdown restrictions, people in the takeaway food industry are asking why they are being considered for tougher measures.

Ms Sturgeon says that restrictions are imposed for reasons of restricting interaction. She says she won't be picking on any particular sectors but is looking at places where people go and the way they operate to see if things can be changed to limit the potential for people coming together.

She mentions takeaway and click-and-collect and hints that restricting non-essential click-and-collect services may be a way to reduce the opportunity for interaction while the more transmissable variant is prevalent.

National clinical director Jason Leitch steps up to talk about NHS screening programmes.

He says that adult screening programmes were paused during the first lockdown in March but staff had worked hard to get them all up and running again during the summer for catch-up and regular appointments.

These include those that detect cervical, breast and bowel cancer, as well as diabetic eye screening and for abdominal aortic aneurism.

He says all have infection control measures in place and he encourages everyone who is invited for screening to take up the offer.

He says travel to appointments is classed as essential and warns that getting appointments might take a bit longer than usual.

He ends by urging people to seek immediate medical help if any lumps, bumps or symptoms emerge.

As the first minister draws to a close she tells the briefing: "Our main message at the moment is a very simple one – stay at home."

Here's a reminder of the restrictions and guidance:

1. Scottish government: Coronavirus (COVID-19): what you can and cannot do, external

From Tuesday 5 January, mainland Scotland moved from Level 4 to a temporary lockdown, with new guidance to stay at home, external except for essential purposes. Some islands remain at Level 3, external.

The cabinet considered this morning whether these restrictions need to be tightened.

2. Postcode checker, external for Covid restrictions by protection level in areas of Scotland

3. NHS Inform, external

The latest from NHS Scotland and the Scottish government, including social distancing, face covering and stay-at-home advice.

The first minister says going out to exercise should be just that, not going out to socialise in a park or on a beach.

"So please - stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives," she says.

She calls on people to work from home if they can and to follow the FACTS:

Image source, Scottish government

Ms Sturgeon says that in August, the Scottish government established two online surveys.

They have enabled the government to identify – and respond to - emerging issues.

For example, knowing whether people are meeting up more often or less often, is an early indication of whether transmission rates might rise.

The first minister says the government is now seeking a further 3,000 volunteers for the surveys.

If you are interested in taking part, please look at the Scottish government’s twitter feed, for further details.

Image source, Getty Images

Ms Sturgeon reminds the briefing that she announced yesterday details of the top-up grants that are being made available to businesses in the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors.

These are worth up to £25,000 for larger premises.

The first minister confirms some one-off additional support available in level 3 areas - affecting businesses in Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and some Hebridean islands such as Mull, Jura and Islay.

She highlights the allocation of approximately £3m to local authorities so they can support affected businesses.