SCOTLAND'S national clinical director warned civil servants against booking foreign holidays this summer in a leaked video.

Professor Jason Leitch warned the country needed to change its perceptions around the numbers of coronavirus cases.

In the video, shown on Monday to civil servants on the Scottish Government's intranet, and seen by the Scotsman, it was warned the easing of restrictions could be 'very very slow'.

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Professor Leitch said: “I wouldn't book a non-refundable summer holiday if I were you.

"I might book a holiday in the autumn or Christmas time but even then I'm not entirely sure what the world will look like in terms of freedom of movement.”

He added: “I think we'll be in this version of lockdown for a little bit longer and then gradually – as we came in gradually – we'll go out gradually.

"But it'll be slow - very very slow because we've learned now twice we've learned how quickly it is to go up and how slow it is to come down.”

Professor Leitch warned it was likely Scotland would have to “learn what the post-Covid world looks like” and highlighted how the world learned to live with Spanish flu but added the process “would take a little while”.

He also suggested it would take cases dropping significantly before restrictions would begin to be eased due to concerns around public perception of the pandemic.

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He said: “One of the things we're worried about is resetting the country's expectations at 1,500 [cases per day] being a good thing - 1,500 is not a good thing.

"It's awful and it has awful implications for those who get seriously unwell so we need to drop that number further down.”

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.