LANARKSHIRE has been thrown back into partial lockdown after Nicola Sturgeon warned the surge in Covid-19 cases was a "particular concern". 

With all gatherings across Scotland to be restricted to a maximum of six people from two households from Monday, Lanarkshire residents are now barred from having visitors to their homes and from visiting other households – with exemptions for those within extended household group bubbles. 

The restrictions are already in place in Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire. 

They have been extended to the two additional local authority areas after 205 positive cases of Covid-19 were identified by Test and Protect officials in Lanarkshire since September 4 – sparking the extra concern. 

Indoor visits to hospitals and care homes are limited to essential visits only in these areas to protect the most vulnerable. 

The restrictions, recommended by the National Incident Management Team chaired by Public Health Scotland will be reviewed in seven days. 

Ms Sturgeon said: “It is clearly regrettable that these restrictions need to be extended to people living in Lanarkshire. 

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"I understand that this will not be welcome news for people living in these areas, especially ahead of the weekend, but we must act now to protect people and get more control over the virus in the area. 

“Local public health teams have looked at where cases are being identified and, by restricting indoor meetings, we are helping to protect those who are most at risk from Covid-19 - as they are more likely to be meeting others in a household setting rather than in a public setting." 

She added: “I would ask everyone in the affected areas to be extra vigilant, to follow all guidance and to isolate and book a test if they have any symptoms. Above all, I want to emphasise that getting a test – and even getting a negative result – is not a substitute for self-isolating. 

"If you have symptoms, or if you are contacted by our Test and Protect team and told to do so, you will need to self-isolate.” 

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he First Minister called on the public to adhere to the Scotland-wide restrictions – to prevent stricter measures being needed. 

But Ms Sturgeon acknowledged that the latest rules, limiting gatherings to six people from a maximum of two households, "is a really tough restriction". 

She added: “I want to assure you the decision we made on this wasn’t taken lightly. At the moment we believe this is necessary to try to limit and restrict as much as we can the transmission of the virus between different households.” 

Children under the age of 12 do not count towards to gatherings limit. 

Ms Sturgeon said while children from several households should not currently meet up, she had asked for “additional expert advice to see whether in some circumstances we could exempt children from the two household rule as well, so for example children’s birthday parties could go ahead, even on a limited basis as long as adults complied with the limits”. 

The First Minister admitted that the rules introduced "sometimes seem to be inconsistent", pointing to concerns raised by her niece asking “pretty forcefully why she could be with her friends at school all day to today but can’t be with her friends after school”. 

Ms Sturgeon added: “The basic answer is this – we’re having to restrict interactions in the population generally to try to keep the virus at a low enough level to keep schools open, because we know being at school is so important for young people. 

“So what can sometimes appear to be inconsistencies are actually just the essential trade-offs we need to make to avoid going back into lockdown more completely and to avoid if it all possible having to close schools again.”