GLASGOW will stay under level 3 restrictions for another week, the First Minister has said.

The city is the only area in the UK to be kept under strict restrictions. 

Nicola Sturgeon said that the Incident Management Team said it would be "premature" to move Glasgow out of level 3 immediately while the situation remains "so fragile".

It is expected that Glasgow will move down to level 2 next weekend, with the First Minister stating she will confirm the decision by Wednesday 2 June, if the number of cases and rates of hospitalisation remain stable. 

It comes as the First Minister said the case numbers in Glasgow are currently "uncomfortably high". 

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In the past week, case numbers in Glasgow have risen by around 30% from 112 people per 100,000 of the population to 146. Test positivity, which was hovering around the 4% mark last week, is now around 4.4% the First Minister said. 

During a Covid-19 briefing at St Andrews House, Edinburgh, this afternoon, Sturgeon said: "I can tell you that in the postcodes that were initially in the heart of the outbreak in the southside, new cases have fallen in recent days and fewer of them appear to be symptomatic, so that is a hopeful sign that these efforts are paying off.

"We also think in recent days we are seeing a stabilisation in numbers across the city as a whole, so they have increased, but not as fast as might have been expected.

"Also the number of Covid patients in hospital in Glasgow has remained broadly stable over the past week and the number of patients in intensive care thankfully remains low."

The National:

The First Minister said weighing up all the factors was "inevitably really difficult".

She continued: "Case numbers in Glasgow, I can’t say anything other than this they are uncomfortably high, but we are seeing signs of progress.

"The view of the Incident Management Team is twofold. Firstly that it would be premature to move Glasgow out of level 3 immediately while the situation remains so fragile.

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"However, secondly, if incidents continue to stabilise and assuming levels of hospitalisation remain reasonably stable the Incident Management Team has made clear to me that they would support a move to level 2 from the end of next week, so this time next week.

"Of course it’s necessary that we see progress continue, we will be watching the critical statistics carefully everyday, but if the massive public health efforts continue to have an impact, if our collective efforts to drive the virus back continue, then from next Friday into Saturday 5th of June then the plan would be for the city to move into Level 2. 

The National:

"I want to be clear here, I’ve always tried to be frank with everybody, we do need to see these positive signs continue to make that a reality, so to give as much advance notice as possible, because I know the lack of notice is one of the frustrations for people and businesses in particular, I intend to confirm any decision no later than Wednesday next week. 

"My message to the people of Glasgow is don’t lose heart, on the contrary take heart in the progress that we’re seeing."

More to follow....