COVID-19 “doesn’t care if it is Christmas”, a top public health expert and expert adviser to the Scottish Government has said.

Professor Devi Sridhar, who is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, said it was “risky” for people to meet indoors – particularly when there are elderly relatives around and alcohol could be involved.

But she said recent vaccine breakthroughs could mean the country is in a “fundamentally different” position in March.

“People emotionally want to hear reassuring messages,” she told a joint meeting of the Health and Social Care Committee and the Science and Technology Committee.

“They wanted to hear it over the summer that there would be no second wave, and they want to hear it now that Christmas will be normal.

“I guess I have to speak bluntly – the virus doesn’t care if it’s Christmas.

“We still have pretty high prevalence across the country.

“It is risky for people to mix indoors with alcohol with elderly relatives at this point in time.”

But Sridhar added: “I think for people there is a glimmer of hope, I think, by March, we’ll be in a fundamentally different position than now.”

She said said the UK public has not had a “pay-off” for their sacrifices during the crisis as seen in some other countries.

“The countries that suppressed, eliminated, took a zero-Covid approach, their populations got a pay-off.

“New Zealand had a really hard lockdown for three weeks but they got back to their big rugby games. Norway and Finland had early harsh lockdowns but then they released most of the restrictions.

“And I feel like with the British public, they haven’t had that

pay-off.”

But when asked what she would advise in terms of Christmas, Sridhar added: “What I would say to people, because I get asked all the time, is ‘do you want to infect the people that you love, or be responsible in your home or bring it into their home over Christmas?’

“We’re in a pandemic, you can still see your family, you can still celebrate with your communities, but in safer ways. So get outside – we know outside is so much safer than inside, go for a walk, have a meal outside.”

Meanwhile, Scotland recorded 41 deaths from coronavirus and 771 positive tests in the previous 24 hours, latest figures show.

It brings the death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – to 3544.

The Scottish Government statistics show 90,081 people have now tested positive in Scotland, up from 89,310 the previous day.

The daily test positivity rate is 8.6%, the same figure as on Monday.

Of the new cases, 247 are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 156 in Lanarkshire, and 108 in Lothian. There are 1197 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, a decrease of 11 in 24 hours. Of these patients, 84 are in intensive care, no change on Monday.

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that for most council areas there would be no change in levels. The only exception is one already announced, for East Lothian, which has moved from level 3 to level 2.