SCOTLAND'S First Minister has said she has made the "difficult decision" to keep Glasgow and Moray in Level 3 Covid restrictions for another week.

Nicola Sturgeon told Holyrood that due to the increasing level of infections the two areas will remain at Level 3 as the rest of the Scottish mainland moves to Level 2 from Monday, May 17.

The First Minister said that coronavirus cases in the Glasgow city area were at 80 per 100,000 people with a test positivity rate of 3.5%. She told MSPs that the outbreak here was centred in the south side of the city and evidence suggested it is "being driven by the so-called Indian variant".

She also said that there is cause for "cautious optimism" in Moray but cases there sit at 69 per 100,000 with a test positivity of 1.9%.

In order to contain the spread of the virus and return both the areas back on track with the rest of the country, the Government is asking people not to travel in or out of Glasgow and Moray for the next week except for permitted purposes as the situation is assessed. 

She added that Moray Council will receive £375,000 and Glasgow City Council £1.05 million per week to allow businesses in the areas to be supported financially under the restrictions.

Both situations will be reviewed at the end of next week.

Sturgeon noted that in Moray these measures are declining and the situation is "improving as a result of the public health interventions that have been taken.

However, she added that case numbers in the north-east area remain "more than double" the Scottish average and the judgement of the local incident management team - that informed the decision - was that it is "prudent to remain at Level 3 for a further week to be confident that the situation is under control.

The situation for both areas will be reviewed at the end of next week.

Sturgeon said: "I know this will be disappointing for residents and businesses in Moray ... However, in my judgement, it is sensible, though difficult, to be cautious now and allow Moray to move with more confidence to Level 2 rather than ease restrictions prematurely and risk having to go backwards later."

In relation to the situation in Glasgow, the First Minister told parliament: "The Government is applying similar reasoning to the situation in Glasgow City - which I must say is causing even more concern at this stage.

"On the latest available data, the number of cases per hundred thousand in Glasgow City has increased to 80 and test positivity to 3.5 per cent. Both of these measures suggest an increasing level of infection in the city of Glasgow. However, an additional and very significant factor in Glasgow is evidence suggesting that the outbreak, which is heavily centred at the moment in the south side of the city, is being driven by the so-called Indian variant."

Sturgeon told MSPs that there is not yet a full understanding of the impact of this variant including on the protection given by Covid vaccines, but stressed "nothing at this stage suggests that it is causing more severe illness".

She added however that the new variant could be "significantly more transmissible" and that alone calls for an "appropriate degree of caution".

She said that public health teams are "optimistic" that enhanced testing and vaccinations will be capable of getting the situation under control and that the Scottish Government will be contacting all Glasgow MSPs with full details of the interventions.

Advice from Scotland's chief medical officer said that a few more days were needed to assess the data and build confidence that the situation can be brought under control or that it is at least not causing an increase in hospitalisations and severe illness.

Sturgeon said: "Accordingly, and very reluctantly, we have decided to err on the side of caution and also keep Glasgow City in Level 3 for a further week. Again, I know how disappointing this will be but pressing pause for a few days will hopefully avoid a situation in which we have to impose even more restrictive measures over the next few weeks."