NICOLA Sturgeon will not be updating Scots on the latest coronavirus figures today, though the daily briefing will go ahead.
Instead Heath Secretary Jeane Freeman will lead the televised briefing and Q&A alongside chief nursing officer Fiona McQueen.
There are no briefings over the weekend, so we can expect to see the First Minister back at the podium presenting her update on Monday.
No major announcements on the current lockdown restrictions are expected this afternoon.
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Speaking at her daily Covid-19 briefing earlier this week Sturgeon said there is “early evidence” that lockdown restrictions are working.
All of mainland Scotland was placed in level 4 restrictions on Boxing Day, before the rules were strengthened to “stay at home” at the beginning of January.
When the First Minister implemented the restrictions she indicated they could be eased by early February – last week she confirmed they would be in place until mid-February at least.
“We are seeing some early evidence that these restrictions are working, which is positive,” she told the briefing.
"We think they are starting to reduce case numbers and while it will take a bit of time yet to feed properly into admissions to hospital and ICU, we also hope that we might be starting to see some early positive signs too."
Jeane Freeman will present today's briefing
People must continue to adhere to restrictions, however, as she stressed that will be the only way to drive down infections further.
Under current coronavirus rules people must stay home unless they have a reasonable excuse to go out.
Those excuses can include work, education, essential shopping and accessing healthcare services, among others.
For the full Covid-19 restrictions visit the Scottish Government website.
The BBC will broadcast the briefing while the Scottish Government's social media channels will show it too. The National will bring you live updates on all the key details.
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