NICOLA Sturgeon has warned that the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 restrictions could be toughened up in a bid to tackle the new mutant strain of the virus.

The caution came as the First Minister revealed that 14% of Covid infections in Scotland could likely be a result of this new variant.

While there’s no evidence that it causes more severe disease or will be resistant to Covid-19 vaccines, it is reportedly 70% more transmissible.

Scotland is set to enter an effective lockdown on Boxing Day, with the mainland being placed under level 4 restrictions and the islands moving up to level 3.

Yesterday, Sturgeon urged Scots to stay at home, and moved to tweak existing rules over essential retail.

Currently, hardware stores and garden centres are allowed to remain open, even if they are in areas in level 4.

But speaking in Holyrood, Sturgeon said she needed to try and limit interactions between people as much as possible.

That change means chains like Ikea, and Dobbies will all need to close from Saturday.

The First Minister told MSPs she may need to go further: “To be blunt with Parliament and the public, the current level 4 restrictions are not as stringent as the March lockdown. 

“However, it seems that we are facing a virus that spreads much faster now than in March, so we need to consider whether the current level 4 restrictions will be sufficient to suppress it.

“This will be analysis that the Government undertakes urgently as our understanding of the new strain of the virus develops, and I will keep Parliament updated as necessary.”

The First Minister said she believed the restrictions were necessary.

She said: “I know many people may question if these measures are strictly necessary, especially given Scotland’s relatively low level of prevalence, compared to other parts of the UK. 

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“My firm judgment is that they are necessary.

“They are not simply a response to our current situation, but necessary precautionary measures to avoid a significant deterioration in our situation, caused by this new strain, over the next few weeks.

“In short, these measures are necessary to protect our NHS and save lives.

“I do not expect a single person to be happy about them. But I ask everyone to try to understand that these decisions would not have been taken if we did not consider  them essential.”

The new strain can be detected through PCR testing by looking for a proxy marker in the virus’s molecular code, known as the S-Gene dropout.

Though it’s not definitive that every case with this marker is the new variant.

A Covid infection survey carried out by the Office of National Statistics, based on a random sample of the population in Scotland, found in the week beginning December 9 that around 14% of positive cases in Scotland already had this S-Gene dropout.

“This compares to just 5% at the end of November,” the First Minister told MSPs.

“And it is not unreasonable to assume that the proportion may be higher now. Public Health Scotland is carrying out further analysis.

“Fourteen per cent is, of course, still a significantly lower level than England, where it is thought that the new variant accounts for 36% of cases, and will be even higher in London and the south east.

“However, the very rapid spread in London and the south east serves as a warning of what we will face here if we do not take firm action to suppress the virus.”

The First Minister reported yesterday that Scotland had recorded 43 deaths of coronavirus patients, taking the death toll under that measurement to 4326.

An additional 1316 people tested positive, taking the daily test positivity rate to 7.5%, up from 6% on Monday.

The First Minister told MSPs that coronavirus is “still circulating” at “a higher level than we would wish”.

She said case numbers were “now more volatile” and pointed to a slight rise in the number of people with Covid who are in hospital and intensive care.