THE First Minister has announced that a number of towns in the Scottish Borders will face further restrictions this weekend despite planned relaxation of lockdown rules as a result of an outbreak in the area.

Speaking at the daily briefing, Nicola Sturgeon explained that while the Scottish Government is “very hopeful” the outbreak will be contained, there is a large amount of contact tracing going on – and until that has been done, nobody can be sure of the risk.

READ MORE: Coronavirus cluster identified near Scottish Border

People in the areas will continue to follow the five-mile travel limit, despite plans for it to be lifted tomorrow, and care homes will not be able to allow visitors in yet either.

Here’s what Sturgeon explained:

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You will recall that yesterday we reported on an outbreak of the virus in Annan and Gretna.

So far 10 positive cases have been identified and a significant number of contacts are being traced and tested. As a precaution staff at three workplaces with connections to positive cases are also being tested today and mobile testing units have been deployed.

We are very hopeful that this outbreak will be contained and I should stress that there is no evidence at this stage to suggest otherwise. But until contact testing and tracing has been completed we cannot be absolutely sure about that.

As a result the advice and guidance to people in the areas of Annan, Gretna, Dumfries, Lockerbie, Langholm and Canonbie, is to continue to follow the five-mile travel restriction over the weekend until the testing and contact tracing process has been completed and we are able to assess if the outbreak has indeed been contained.

We’ll publish the particular post codes that this guidance applies to on social media later and we’ll provide a further update on Monday. If you have plans to travel into these areas over the weekend to visit or stay, you should follow the travel advice while you’re there. If you run a business in these areas, including at the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village, please be extra vigilant about hygiene and physical distancing.

In addition care homes in these areas will unfortunately not be able to welcome visitors over this weekend. And generally to people in these areas, until we conclude the management of this outbreak please assume that there is a higher risk of infection right now and take particularly care to follow all public health advice.

And remember, and I’m sorry about this, but the five-mile limit means you should not travel to pubs south of the Border over this weekend. I know this will not be welcome news to people in these areas and I am genuinely sorry about that but this outbreak is sharply reminding us just how highly infectious Covid is and how vital it is that we proceed with real care and caution.