Summary

  • Nicola Sturgeon says Covid restrictions will not change "immediately" but because of new variant Omicron a "daily review" on those rules will be carried out

  • Scotland's first minister tells MSPs at Holyrood: "We can assume already that the emergence of Omicron is a significant challenge for all of us."

  • The Scottish government confirmed more new variant cases, bringing the total to 99

  • Scottish Conservative Party leader Douglas Ross believes the government's NHS winter plan is not robust enough

  • Leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar also focuses on health service pressures, citing growing waiting lists and staff vacancies

  • There are currently 578 Covid positive patients in hospital (down 15); of that total 38 are in ICU (down five). A further 12 deaths of people with Covid have been registered

Live Reporting

BBC Scotland News

  1. Latest vaccination stats

    The latest numbers on vaccinations have also been published.

    At 07:30 on 7 December:

    • 4,355,063 people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination
    • 3,962,203 people have received their second jab
    • 1,922,604 third dose or boosters have been administered

  2. More than 3,000 new cases of Covid-19

    The Scottish government's daily coronavirus statistics have just been published.

    • 3,060 people have tested positive for Covid-19, which is 9.2% of the tests carried out yesterday (However this includes a backlog of UK government pillar 2 tests)
    • A further 12 people have died after testing positive for the virus
    • There are 576 people in hospital
    • There are 38 people in intensive care

  3. How do you detect Omicron?

    So what exactly is the new Omicron variant and how is it detected?

    Swabs from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are sent to labs for analysis, can show if the variant causing the infection looks like Omicron, Delta or something else.

    Between a third and a half of UK labs - but not all - have the required technology to detect suspected Omicron cases. That means some parts of the country may identify more Omicron cases more quickly.

    Confirming that a suspected case is Omicron requires a full genetic analysis, which can take up to a couple of weeks.

    Read more in our explainer here.

    omicron graphic

  4. Schools and businesses 'will be hit by Omicron closures'

    school pupilsPA Media

    The emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus continues to dominate the Covid agenda.

    The Scottish government confirmed on Monday that 23 new Omicron cases had been identified, bringing the total to 71.

    Earlier, Scotland's national clinical director Prof Jason Leitch warned that we should expect school and business closures in the run up to Christmas to allow affected staff and pupils to isolate.

    Read more here

  5. Welcome

    Good afternoon and welcome to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland on Tuesday 7 December.

    Nicola Sturgeon will give her weekly statement to MSPs on the situation at about 14:20.

    The first minister is expected to give further details on the new Omicron variant and how it is affecting the country.

    Stick with us for all the details and analysis and you can watch events in the Holyrood chamber by clicking on the tab above.