Coronavirus – Parliament to be recalled on Monday

UPDATED AT 11.42

The Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh is recalling parliament on Monday when the First Minister will address MSPs on the latest coronavirus situation.

Glenn Campbell of the BBC tweeted the news this morning although there has as yet been no official word from The Scottish Government*, the First Minister has just announced this:

1/5 The rapid increase in Covid cases, driven by the new variant, is of v serious concern. The steep increases & severe NHS pressure being experienced in other parts of the UK is a sign of what may lie ahead. So we must take all steps to slow spread while vaccination progresses

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) January 3, 2021

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3/5 Following a meeting of @scotgov resilience committee y’day to assess latest situation, the Cabinet will meet tomorrow am to consider further action to limit spread & I’ve asked for @ScotParl to be recalled tomorrow afternoon so that I can set out our decisions in a statement

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) January 3, 2021

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5/5 For now, please continue to take Covid seriously – it is a real threat to life and health and, if it runs out of control, it damages the economy more too.
Please stay at home as much as possible and avoid non essential interactions with other households. Thank you.

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) January 3, 2021

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*At 11.42 The Scottish Government announced the recall formally.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:

“The recent, rapid increase in COVID cases in Scotland, driven by the new variant of the virus, is a very serious concern. The even steeper rises and severe pressure on the NHS that is being experienced in some other parts of the UK is a sign of what may lie ahead in Scotland if we do not take all possible steps now to slow the spread of the virus, while the vaccination programme progresses. 

“The First Minister has therefore asked that Parliament be recalled from recess on Monday afternoon to allow her to make an urgent statement on further measures to supress transmission. This will come after a meeting of the Cabinet on Monday morning. The Education Recovery Group will also meet on Monday.

“The strong message remains people should stay at home as much as possible and avoid non-essential interaction with others.”

Date	Newly reported cases	New positive tests	Test positivity rate	Newly reported deaths	Intensive Care patients with confirmed Covid-19	People in hospital with confirmed Covid-19
2 January 2021	2,137	21,451	10.8%
1 January 2021	2,539	28,313	9.7%
31 December 2020	2,622	28,295	10.1%	68	70	1,174
30 December 2020	2,045	19,722	11.3%	43	69	1,133
29 December 2020	1,895	14,179	14.4%	7	65	1,092
28 December 2020	967	8,819	12.2%
24 December 2020	1,314	27,872	5.3%	43	56	1,008
23 December 2020	1,190			47	56	1,025
16 December 2020	689		5.9%	38	49	1,031