Scotland will go into a full lockdown from midnight this evening (4 January) as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
The Scottish Cabinet met this morning to discuss whether the country should return to a March-style lockdown.
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This comes after Scotland recorded 2,464 new cases of the coronavirus. This, as well as the new variant of the virus has led to 'very serious concern'.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced today (4 January) that schools will remain closed until at least 1 February. There will be exemptions for the children of key workers and the SNP leader said that this was the most difficult decision for the government to take.
People will only be allowed to leave their homes with a reasonable excuse and should work from home if possible.
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From midnight tonight going forward only a maximum of two people from two households will be allowed to meet outdoors. With non-essential travel in and out of Scotland banned.
As well as this, from Friday (8 January), places of worship will have to close and up to 20 people will be allowed to attend a funeral - with wakes cancelled for the remainder of the month.
It's unclear what impact this will have in England but just yesterday Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 'tougher' coronavirus measures may be introduced over the next few weeks.
Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Johnson refused to 'speculate' about a potential tier five or what such stricter measures would involve. However, he said he was 'reconciled' to the fact that restrictions may need to be changed in the 'next few weeks'.
Johnson referred back to the last time he was on the show in October, telling Marr: "You said, 'How does it look?' And I said, 'We were going to have a very bumpy period at Christmas and beyond'.
"But I thought that by spring things would be better. I stick to that. I think that's roughly how it's going to be.
"It may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country - I am fully reconciled to that."
When Marr pressed him about what a potential tier five might entail, Johnson said: "You've spoken about tier five, I haven't said that. But there's obviously a range of tougher measures that we would have to consider."
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He was pressed again for more detail, but he continued: "I don't want to speculate. I'm not going to speculate now about what they would be, but I'm sure that all our viewers and listeners will understand what the sort of things [are]."
Johnson did say that that this included the possibility of keeping schools closed, but said this was not 'something we want to do'.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: UK News, News, Scotland
