GLASGOW and the surrounding areas will be lifted out of level four restrictions in three weeks' time, Nicola Sturgeon has said. 

The city and the likes of North Lanarkshire are set to be placed into the toughest restrictions from 6pm today in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

This means all non-essential shops, hospitality, gyms and hairdressers will be forced to close and people will be told to stay at home as much as possible.

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And the First Minister said they will be lifted on December 11 at 6pm as she admitted she is "scunnered" with them as well. 

Ms Sturgeon said: "These restrictions are difficult and we are all scunnered and fed up and I'm not going to stand here and pretend otherwise because I feel that same sense of being utterly scunnered and fed up as the rest of you do.

"But we do now see a possible end in sight and I think it's really important that we don't forget that.

"Level four restrictions will be lifted on December 11, they come into effect at 6pm today and they will be lifted at 6pm on December 11 - that full three week period.

"The key decision we'll have to make before then will be what level different areas go into." 

Speaking during the Scottish Government’s daily coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon said 32 deaths from coronavirus and 1,018 positive tests had been recorded in the past 24 hours.

Glasgow Times: Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon

While she said infections rates have stabilised in recent weeks, they had stabilised at a stubbornly high level in some areas.

She said the new restrictions will help infection rates come down further before the Christmas period.

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“The fact is the fewer people who are in the population who have Covid by the time we get to Christmas, the lower the risk of people being infected with it during that period,” she said.

“It’s very important for me to be clear that the risks would not be zero – which is why we must be very careful about any relaxation over Christmas and people will have to think carefully themselves, even with any relaxation, about what they want to do or not.”