CORONAVIRUS is not going to "simply disappear" and living with it will require some restrictions on normal life for the foreseeable future, Nicola Sturgeon has warned.

The First Minister made the remarks as she confirmed Scotland's lockdown measures will continue for at least another three weeks, in line with moves elsewhere in the UK. 

But she said the restrictions appear to be working and slowing the spread of the virus.

She said: "Earlier indications are that the lockdown restrictions have resulted in a slowing down in the rate of community transmission of the virus, and while of course we cannot be complacent, that slowdown appears to be reflected in a stabilisation of the numbers being admitted to hospital and intensive care. 

"While of course it's hard to be optimistic when everyday we are reporting significant numbers of people who have died from this illness, and sadly that is likely to continue for some time yet, we do hope that as result of the slowdown in the rate of transmission, we will also see the number of deaths decline too. 

"In short, the very difficult sacrifices you are all making are working. 

"They are slowing the spread of the virus, they are helping to protect our NHS, and they are saving lives.

"From the bottom of my heart, thank you to each and every one of you."

However, Ms Sturgeon said experts are not yet confident that transmission has slowed sufficiently to ease lockdown measures.

She said: "Our advice is clear – if we were to lift any of these restrictions now, we would risk an immediate and potentially exponential resurgence of the virus, and that could result in our NHS being quickly overwhelmed. 

"It could result in even more cases in our care homes, and it would also mean much more loss of life.

"It could of course also lead to the reintroduction of even more stringent restrictions in future, with substantially more damage to the economy as a result.

"In short, all of the progress we have achieved together in these last few weeks, through high compliance with the lockdown restrictions, would be lost."

The First Minister said officials must be confident the virus is "well and truly" in retreat before lifting restrictions. 

She said she will set out more details over the next week or so about the work being down to "plot a way forward" and potentially ease restrictions.

Ms Sturgeon added: "Let me share just a few brief thoughts right now.

"First, the hard part. This virus is not going to simply disappear. 

"Unfortunately, we are going to have to live with it for some time to come."

She said she hoped scientific advances would offer solutions, such as a vaccine or tests indicating immunity. 

She added: "But for now, all of that is in the future. 

"Until then, and for the foreseeable future, living with this virus is likely to mean some form of restriction on our normal way of life. 

"But our challenge is to find, if we can, a better balance than the one we have now."

Ms Sturgeon said the current restrictions have consequences for the economy, for living standards, and for physical and mental health. 

She said: "We have to consider if and to what extent we can continue to suppress the virus and minimise the harm it can do while restoring as much normality as possible to our everyday lives.

"Let me be clear: that will not be easy and these decisions will be complex."

Elsewhere, she said: "When we do incrementally ease any of these restrictions, we must consider what we need to do instead to keep the virus under control, for example testing and surveillance, contact tracing and isolation of people with symptoms."