Glasgow and Moray will stay in a higher tier of lockdown when the rest of the country s restrictions are eased on Monday, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
Scotland s First Minister told MSPs a surge in coronavirus cases needed to be contained to prevent further restrictions.
The rest of the country is due to drop to Level 2 from May 17, when those in other parts of Scotland will be able to stay overnight in other people s homes and meet up to six people from three households indoors.
Meanwhile Boris Johnson will lead a press conference today in which he is expected to address the outbreak that has struck 15 towns and cities.
Boris Johnson was tonight accused of being reckless, misguided and dangerous for not shutting Britain s borders with India earlier after four people died from the new Indian covid strain.
The country was only added to the UK s travel red list late last month, despite earlier concerns over transmission of the fast-growing variant, which has since made its way onto British shores.
Some have suggested that Prime Minister was keen to keep relations strong with India, having planned a visit - which subsequently had to be cancelled - as part of efforts to negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal.
As a result, while flights were banned from neighbouring Pakistan early last month, borders between the two countries remained open for two more weeks, with as many as 8,000 people from India jetting into Britain on daily flights across that fortnight.
The dire SAGE warning that Indian variant could put 10,000 in hospital a day within months - which puts end of lockdown in peril and led scientists to BACK regional vaccine surges
SAGE model warns that up to 10,000 people per day could be hospitalised in summer in worst-case scenario
But scientists are optimistic vaccines will work against the strain and still no evidence it is more dangerous
Public Health England report showed cases in the UK more than doubled in a week from 520 to 1,313
Britain s chief medical officer has inspired thousands more school leavers to apply for careers in medicine during the pandemic, a new report says.
A surge dubbed the Chris Whitty effect saw a record-breaking number of teenagers apply for university courses in the medical field for 2021 entry.
Applicant numbers jumped by a fifth compared to the previous year for medicine and a quarter for nursing, data from the Medical Schools Council (MSC) and UCAS shows.
This will drive up competition for limited places, despite Matt Hancock last year pledging to lift the cap on medical school spaces available in England.
A report by UCAS noted that the arrival of Covid-19 had an immediate impact on applicant behaviour , adding this continues to unfold as we move into the 2021 cycle.