MOVING to Level 4 restrictions for a short period could see an easing of measures at Christmas, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The First Minister said at her press briefing that the prevalence of the virus, particularly in the west of Scotland, was “stubbornly high”.

Cases in Glasgow were up by 7% last week. West Dunbartonshire was up 6%, while East Dunbartonshire saw a rise of 4%.

In East Renfrewshire cases jumped by 13%.

Sturgeon said: “A stubbornly high prevalence means that we might have less flexibility to offer some limited and careful easing of restrictions over the Christmas period, which we are very keen to do.”

Moving to the most strict restrictions “for a limited period”, Sturgeon said, would help the Scottish Government address the issue of Christmas as well as ensuring NHS capacity is protected.

Speaking ahead of the announcement of changes to the framework on Tuesday, Sturgeon urged people to adhere to local measures, saying: “Every time we stop someone, especially someone who is older and more vulnerable, then we give them a chance of living into the era – which is firmly on the horizon – where better therapies, vaccines, testing and treatments will be available.

“I think that motivation as we are living under these restrictions right now is important to bear in mind.

“The end is not quite with us but we can see hope on the horizon now that we couldn’t see just a few weeks ago.”

Sturgeon's comments come as a leaked briefing provided to business chiefs found most of central Scotland is likely to be placed in lockdown this week.

The tough new rules are expected to be in force in 12 local authority areas for around two weeks from Friday.

READ MORE: Covid: Speculation of Scottish lockdown in 12 areas fuelled after leaked briefing

The Scottish Daily Mail reported that business leaders were told "it is likely/probable that on Tuesday the First Minister will say that a number of Scottish local authorities will be put into Level 4 of the Covid strategic framework". 

The areas affected will be Glasgow, the three Ayrshire councils, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, West and East Dunbartonshire, North and South Lanarkshire, Inverclyde and Stirling, the paper said. 

John Swinney hinted yesterday that ministers were set to place parts of the country into a Level 4 lockdown on Tuesday in a bid to "suppress the virus and give us as much control as we possibly can do before we go into the more acute period of winter”. 

READ MORE: 'Stubbornly high' coronavirus rates fuel speculation of Scottish lockdown

Nicola Sturgeon was asked about the speculation at the coronavirus briefing and whether it was encouraged.

The FM said: "I'm going to be pretty blunt with you here. I've got a choice and the Government has a choice. We can take a vow of silence and consult with nobody in these decisions and I can stand up in Parliament tomorrow out of the blue and tell people what the decisions are. Local health boards, authorities and businesses can wait with no discussion or insight into our thought process. If I did that I'm pretty sure I would get lambasted rightly for not consulting those who need to be consulted. What we choose to do is consult local authorities. Sometimes the information on that leaks out of these discussions. That's just the nature of these things, there's no point in complaining about that.

Sturgeon added: "I also try to stand here day after day and give people an insight into the issues we're grappling with so that when I do stand up in Parliament and say what the outcome of these discussions and decisons are, people have some understanding of why we've got to that point and what the factors are and what the reasons are. We're not taking these decisions lightly so you can take your pick as to which approach you prefer.

"The first approach would mean there is no speculation but it would mean nobody would know what we are doing and why we are doing it until we announced it. I don't think that would be particularly sensible. We could do what we do and I think that does lead to some speculation but hopefully it's informed speculation that gives people a deeper understanding.

"What we don't do which some other governments do is brief one newspaper a titbit ot another newspaper a titbit and you all know we don't do that on the general direction of travel here. I think being as open as we can be about the complexities of this and the factors that drive out decision making, I think has stood us in reasonably good stead."

Sturgeon then went on to address Swinney's comments, adding: "Saying something is likely but not inevitable ... these two things are not contradictory. You can have something that is not inevitable but still quite likely. I think it is likely that we will see some areas go to level 4 this week but is it inevitable until we've taken that final decision? No, of course it's not."