NICOLA Sturgeon will set out “other steps that we are planning to take” to further suppress the Covid-19 pandemic when she addresses MSPs in Holyrood tomorrow.

The announcement will also address “how much longer the current restrictions may need to continue”, with a commitment the lockdown will last until at least the middle of February.

The First Minister said additional measures will include tightening UK-wide quarantine proposals for overseas arrivals as well as other methods to make the current travel rules “more effective”, stressing that the existing set-up “doesn’t go far enough”.

Ms Sturgeon said Tuesday’s announcement will “provide some more information about the extent to which we intend to operate supervised quarantine here in Scotland”.

She added: “As we suppress the virus more and more within our own borders, we need to do all we can to prevent new cases and especially new strains, entering the country.

“The threat of new variants remains a real one.”

She will also update Holyrood on asymptomatic community testing after pilot projects were run towards the end of last year, with councils having put forward plans for making “much more extensive use” of community testing.

Ms Sturgeon added: “We have been assessing these pilots over the last few weeks and at the same time, local authorities have been sending us their proposals for much more extensive use of community testing.

READ MORE: Vaccine rollout fears after 'lowest daily total yet' for Scotland

“In parallel to that, we have been considering whether routine testing can help reduce the risk of outbreaks in certain workplaces and businesses where transmission is a particularly risk – food processing plants being an example.”

The review of restrictions will set out the Scottish Government’s position on schools and nurseries, and “how and when we might be able to start to resume in-person learning and childcare”, as well as expanded testing arrangements for these.

Ms Sturgeon said: “Tomorrow’s statement is also going to cover some of the measures we will be taking to help us control the virus as we continue to suppress it, and in time gradually start to ease the lockdown restrictions.”

She said “the current lockdown is working” as infections are falling – with 848 new cases recorded in Scotland in the past 24 hours, with a daily test positivity rate of 9.5 per cent.

Ms Sturgeon added: “That said, case numbers are still high, too high, much higher than we would want them to be, so we need to get them down further – then we need to keep them as low as possible.”

Scotland has recorded six deaths of coronavirus patients in the past 24 hours taking the death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – to 6,112.

There are 1,958 people in hospital confirmed to have Covid-19, up 17 in 24 hours. Of these, the number of patients in intensive care remains unchanged at 143.