• New coronavirus restrictions for Scotland will be announced by the first minister at Holyrood tomorrow from 2.50pm - but there will NOT be another full lockdown
• Nicola Sturgeon says people will not be told to stay at home, there will be no national travel ban and schools will remain open
• Options for a so-called "circuit-breaker" to slow the spread of the virus were discussed by the Scottish cabinet on Tuesday morning
• The leader of the Scottish Conservatives says he understands MSPs will get to vote on any additional restrictions coming in.

• Douglas Ross also warns “we are not on top of the virus” and calls for supporting businesses to be a priority
• A further 800 people have tested positive for Covid-19, that is 13.2% of those newly tested yesterday
• There are 44 more patients in hospital with Covid, taking the total to 262, with 25 being treated in intensive care (up three).
• A further two people who tested positive have died, taking the total to 2,532 deaths in Scotland by that measure

That's all from us here on the live page. Join us tomorrow for the announcement of new restrictions from the first minister. Until then please take care and stay safe.

New coronavirus restrictions for Scotland will be announced on Wednesday - but it will not be another full lockdown, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Options for a so-called "circuit-breaker" to slow the spread of the virus were discussed by the Scottish cabinet on Tuesday morning.

The first minister said people would not be told to stay at home, and there would be no national travel ban.

And schools will only close for the October holidays.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister was asked to comment about significant outbreaks of Covid at two care homes in the Lothians.

Alan Smith from Bauer said residents at Redmill in West Lothian and Millford House in Edinburgh had died of the virus and some 80 residents and staff had tested positive.

Ms Sturgeon said she would not comment on the specific care home outbreaks because she "did not have all of the detail in front of me".

However, she did say: "We have taken, and continue to take, a range of measures, not least the testing programme in care homes, to firstly try to stop the virus getting into care homes and making sure there are very robust infection controls in care homes.

"The fact that we are seeing cases in care homes again is another reason why we have to be very vigilant and not be complacent about the situation we are facing."

Image source, Getty Images

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives says today’s figures show “we are not on top of this virus”.

Douglas Ross says the number of those infected continues to rise and the virus is still taking lives.

He says the first minister went further today than in the briefing to him last night and faces “difficult decisions”.

The Scottish Conservative leader says there was a meeting yesterday between all four governments across the UK and adds “we want to see our governments working together to get on top of this virus once more”.

Douglas Ross tells BBC Scotland his understanding is that there will be at least a two-hour debate in the Scottish Parliament this week and a vote on any additional restrictions coming in.

The Scottish Conservative leader points out there will also be a further debate at Westminster next week.

He adds that whatever the first minister announces tomorrow should be backed up by support measures, like his suggestion of a hardship fund.

The Scottish Growth Fund has only distributed half of the funds available, he adds, calling for support for businesses to be the Scottish government’s priority.

Image source, PA Media

Dr Smith says he has asked other scientists what the long-term plan is. He says they tell him the answer is we keep doing this until we have a vaccine.

He says that is unlikely to happen for another nine months and wants to see more data and more of a Plan B of what we do if we do not have a vaccine. He asks if there is a middle ground of trying to protect the most vulnerable while learning to live with the virus.

Dr Smith says the key thing is having a good tracing system and making sure we do not lose results.

Cambridge University virologist Dr Chris Smith, who is otherwise known as the Naked Scientist, notes the steeply rising numbers.

He tells BBC Scotland this is the pattern we are going to see for a while. He says what we see today is a legacy of what happened a few weeks ago, so behavioural changes now will not be felt for weeks to come.

Image source, Google

Peter McMahon from ITV Border says the boss of Peebles Hydro, Stephen Leckie, claims lockdown did not work and this is his last chance to be busy before winter sets in. Mr McMahon asks if the FM can offer the hospitality sector anything to help. Ms Sturgeon says she is carefully weighing up all factors, including the economic impact, and hopes her earlier comments offer reassurance.

She says she understands how difficult it is for someone who has built a business over the years and feels heartbroken seeing them now struggle. Ms Sturgeon says the lockdown did work, in bringing infection levels down in the summer, and says she is trying to find ways to bring the virus under control, but there is no magic formula.

She says there is no country in the world right now that is able to control the virus without doing anything - and that we cannot ignore that with rising hospitalisations we will see rising deaths.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister says that discussions are ongoing with the UK government about providing financial support to those businesses that will be affected by impending restrictions.

Ms Sturgeon was responding to a question by BBC Scotland's Glenn Campbell who asked what financial assistance would be available to sectors which might have to close again.

The first minister hands over to the National Clinical Director, Professor Jason Leitch, who talks about why the situation in October is different from March.

He says we know a lot more now than we did at the start of lockdown on 23 March, and that this should help people accept any new measures.

He said we now know:

• Outdoor transmission is lower risk than indoor transmission
• Children have a less serious course of the disease than adults
• A key risk is transmission between households
• Mitigations done properly can protect workers, patients and customers
• Face coverings provide protection
• Ventilation indoors is crucial
• Compliance is crucial
• NHS and care systems have improved
• Contact tracing has improved
• Treatments have improved

But he says the virus has NOT changed and neither have those who are vulnerable, so we must stick with the regulations.

The first minister says: "Every single one of us has power over this virus.

"And the best way for each and every one of us to exercise that power, every single day, is to abide by all of the rules, regulations and guidance that is in place at any given time."

The current rules, external mean that you must not make indoor social visits to other households.

Pubs, bars and restaurants must close at 10pm.

Scotland is in Phase 3 of the route map, external for moving out of lockdown.

The first minister reiterates her call for people to download the Protect Scotland app, external from NHS Scotland.

And, as always, she stresses the need for all of us to follow the FACTS:

Image source, Scottish government

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister says the government IS considering additional targeted steps.

The overall resilience of the country will be strengthened, she adds, to help reduce the spread of the virus.

"We will, if we announce further measures tomorrow, set out the rationale for them."

The government is considering the extent any measures will have to be country-wide and which could be regional, she says.

Mitigation of any economic impact any new measures may have is also being considered.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister says we now have Test and Protect which is working well and is taking a lot of the strain of controlling the virus.

There is further consideration of the final steps that need to be taken and Ms Sturgeon minister pivots to what the government is NOT proposing to do:

• "We are not proposing another lockdown at this stage, not even on a temporary basis"
• "We are not going to be asking you to stay inside your own homes the way we did in March."
• "We are not about to impose travel restrictions on the whole of the country."
• "We are not about to shut down the entire economy."
• "We are not about to halt the remobilisation of the NHS."
• "We are not proposing to close schools."

Image source, Getty Images

"We are also now beginning to see spread from the younger age groups of the population into the older age groups," continues Ms Sturgeon.

The numbers of people being admitted to hospital, ICU and the number of people dying, are also increasing.

The first minister says the situation is not out of control but is a cause of increasing concern.

She says we've not yet seen the full impact of recent restrictions, but the volume of new cases is the reason why very strong public health advice is calling for action over and above the existing restrictions.

Ms Sturgeon stresses the multi-dimensional nature of the decisions facing the government with, as ever, a balance needing to be struck.

This is between the non-negotiable need to reduce the direct harm of the virus with the economic impact of restrictions, which also impact on people's health and wellbeing.

Image source, Getty Images

"In many ways, this is probably the most difficult decision point we have faced so far," the first minister says.

Ms Sturgeon adds that, like many other countries, we face a sharply rising rate of infection again.

The situation is particularly pronounced in the central belt, in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Lothian and now too in Ayrshire and Arran and Forth Valley.

The first minister points out it is important to recognise that cases are rising everywhere across the country, with most parts of Scotland seeing infection levels higher than 50 cases per 100,000.

The Aberdeen lockdown was introduced at 20 cases per 100,000, she reminds us.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister says she wants to give an insight into the Scottish government's thinking, given the understandable public anxiety that exists right now.

Ms Sturgeon adds that given talk of "circuit breakers" she wants to reveal what the government is NOT proposing to do at this stage.

She says she gave the other party leaders in Scotland a similar update last night.

Their views on the current situation were taken on board by the first minister.

She says she wants to treat the public as grown-ups and include them in the decision making.

The first minister says she has just come from a meeting of the Scottish cabinet.

Final decisions on any further Covid restriction measures have not been made yet, she says.

The first minister tells the briefing a further cabinet meeting will be held tomorrow morning and she will then make a statement to parliament.

Any decisions about further restrictions will be revealed then, she adds.