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The new coronavirus restrictions for Scotland will be announced on Wednesday, but it will not be another complete lockdown, Nicola Sturgeon said.
The Scottish cabinet on Tuesday morning discussed options for a so-called “circuit breaker” to slow the spread of the virus.
But the prime minister said that people would not be told to stay home and that there will be no national travel ban.
And schools will only close during the October break.
However, the prime minister did not rule out the introduction of local travel restrictions, or the possible closure of pubs and restaurants, in areas with higher rates of the virus.
Sturgeon spoke up when 800 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Scotland.
The number of people hospitalized with the virus increased by 44 overnight and now stands at 262, with 25 patients being treated in intensive care.
The virus continues to spread across Scotland, but particularly in central belt areas such as Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Lothian, Forth Valley, and Ayrshire and Arran.
Some parts of the country are currently experiencing infection levels in excess of 50 per 100,000 people. A local lockdown was imposed on Aberdeen in August when it had 20 cases per 100,000 residents.
When new measures were imposed two weeks ago prohibiting people from visiting each other inside their homes, an average of 285 new cases were reported each day.
That number now stands at 729 cases per day, which, according to Sturgeon, shows how the pandemic had “accelerated.”
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The prime minister said Scotland faced “the most difficult decision point yet” if it wanted to suppress the virus before winter.
He said the country was facing a “sharply rising infection rate again,” with cases ranging from the youngest age groups to the older and more vulnerable population.
However, he said the government needed to “strike a balance” between the cost of public health and the broader costs of blocking the economy and people’s lives.
Some tourism and hospitality companies have warned that they may never recover from the effects of other restrictions that affect them.
Sturgeon said the broader damage from the lockdown “weighs heavily” on her, and said she hoped the fact that this was being “carefully considered” would reassure companies.
- What new rules have been introduced in other countries?
The prime minister will lay down new measures in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday after further talks with ministers and advisers, but has stressed that “we will not go back to where we were in March”.
She said: “We are not proposing another lockdown at this stage, not even temporarily.
“We are not going to ask them to stay inside their own houses like we did in March.
“And while we’ve been asking people to think carefully about non-essential travel, and while travel restrictions can sometimes be an option and necessary for hotspots, we are not going to impose restrictions across the country.
“This is not about shutting down the entire economy or stopping the mobilization of the NHS.
“And apart from the October holidays, we are not proposing to close schools even partially.”
Sturgeon declined to be guided by the specific measures being considered, but said his statement would address whether they should be imposed across Scotland or more locally.
He said he would “lay out the rationale” and scientific basis for any decision in his speech to the MSPs.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said any additional restrictions should be backed by more action to safeguard jobs and businesses.
Ross said: “There has not been a single SNP policy anywhere near as ambitious as the one that (UK Chancellor) Rishi Sunak has followed.
“All the SNP has done is try to turn the tables on the UK government. So far, they have given companies and people who fear losing their jobs nothing but empty words.
“The money is there for the SNP to act. We heard this week that the £ 500 million Growth Plan delivered half of the promised funding. The remaining millions should be turned over to businesses now, this week, before it gets too much. late”.
