NICOLA Sturgeon will today provide a coronavirus update in a statement to the Scottish Parliament.
In what will be her first address to MSPs in the Chamber since October Recess, the First Minister is to give an update on the state of the pandemic in Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon is likely to touch on a number of topics, including vaccine passports, the booster programme and COP26.
It comes as hospitality groups claimed the first weekend of the passport scheme was an "unmitigated disaster".
And one of the Scottish Government's key advisers on the pandemic warned the climate summit could trigger the return of restrictions.
Professor Devi Sridhar said the climate summit would likely increase the spread of coronavirus in Scotland, putting further stress on the health service.
COP26, which will take place from October 31 to November 12, is expected to draw around 30,000 people to Glasgow, including world leaders such as US President Joe Biden.
This weekend, Humza Yousaf said that “of course” there will be a increase in coronavirus as a result of the conference.
The Health Secretary said there was “absolutely a risk of Covid cases rising thereafter”, but said the Scottish Government would do all it could to keep them to a minimum.
Asked if he expected a COP26-related Covid spike to lead to a reintroduction of restrictions, Mr Yousaf said: “We’ll do everything we can to make sure we keep [cases] to a minimum.
“But there’s no public health expert in the world who would say there’s no risk, in the midst of a global pandemic, to have tens of thousands of people descending onto largely one city.
“So there is absolutely a risk of Covid cases rising thereafter, but we’ll do everything we can to mitigate that.”
What time is Nicola Sturgeon's Covid statement today?
The First Minister is expected to address the Scottish Parliament at around 2.30pm.
Where to watch Nicola Sturgeon's Covid statement?
The statement will be streamed live on Scottish Parliement TV here and also on the Scottish Parliament Facebook page.
We'll also provide all the updates as they happen on our website.
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