RECAP: Nicola Sturgeon holds unscheduled Covid briefing amid rising Omicron cases in Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon is giving a Covid update on the emerging Omicron situation in Scotland – and you can follow along on everything she says here.

The first minister is addressing Scots alongside chief medical officer Gregor Smith and national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch.

The statement follows advice from Public Health Scotland for Christmas parties to be deferred.

Since the end of November, 109 cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed in Scotland, with four in the NHS Grampian health board area and nine in NHS Highland.

Dr Nick Phin, the medical director and head of public health science at PHS said: “There is much that we still need to learn about Omicron, but early evidence suggests that this new Covid variant is much more transmissible.

“The impact of this transmissibility has been seen in recent weeks, with a number of Omicron outbreaks linked to parties.”

Earlier this week, Scots were urged to “redouble efforts” to reduce the spread of the virus in the lead up to Christmas.

Follow everything Nicola Sturgeon says at the Covid briefing below: