Thread by @theSNP

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Hello there, thanks for joining us again today. I will give you today's statistics, as usual. The number of positive cases reported yesterday was 752. That is 8.6% of the total number of tests carried out."

NS: "The total number of confirmed cases is now 172,953. 224 of the new cases were in Greater Glasgow & Clyde, 138 in Lanarkshire, and 87 in Ayrshire & Arran. The remaining cases were across 10 other health board areas."

NS: "In addition, I can tell you that 2,016 people are in hospital, that's 6 more than yesterday, and 151 people are in intensive care which is 6 fewer than yesterday."

NS: "I don't want to overstate this because the pressure on our NHS continues to be acute and is likely to be so for some time yet, but we think we may have some cautious grounds for optimism that admissions to hospital are starting to tail off slightly."

NS: "I'm also sorry to report that four additional deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of a patient who first tested positive over the previous 28 days."

NS: "But let me remind you again that the figures we report on a Monday are often low because registration offices are largely closed over the weekend."

NS: "Since the last briefing on Friday, we've recorded 81 new deaths, which takes the total number under the daily measurement to 5,709. Again, today, I want to send my sincere condolences to everyone who is grieving a loved one because of this virus."

NS: "I'm joined today, as you can see, by the Chief Medical Officer who'll help me answer questions shortly. Before then, though, there's a couple of issues I want to highlight. The first of those is progress on the vaccination programme."

NS: "I can confirm first of all that, by 8:30 this morning, 415,402 people had received their first dose of the vaccine."

NS: "From today, we're going to be publishing more detailed vaccination figures on a daily basis. These will include breakdowns of the number of people who've been vaccinated, in particular, categories."

NS: "So for example, the figures will show today that, in addition to 95% of residents in older adult care homes and 95% of frontline health and care workers, we've also now vaccinated 46% of all over-80 year olds in Scotland."

NS: "That's up from the 34% that I indicated when I stood here on Friday. We are well on track to meet the target date we had set to complete all over-80s in the population."

NS: "In addition, from today letters will start to be sent out to people age 70 to 79, inviting them to receive their first vaccination jag."

NS: "The letters being sent out this week, contrary to what we indicated over the weekend, will be in white envelopes and will have the NHS logo clearly shown on the right hand side of the envelope so look out for those in the mail."

NS: "You will be receiving, if you are over 70, you will receive one of these letters over the next couple of weeks, starting from today."

NS: "It's in your interests, and obviously, everybody else's interests, for you to accept the appointment and get vaccinated as soon as possible."

NS: "Today therefore marks a further important milestone in a vaccination programme which is making good progress and we remain on track to vaccinate everybody who is over the age of 70 by the middle of February."

NS: "Just a word of clarity for everyone over 80, you will not be getting one of these envelopes because as has been the case with those in the over 80 category already vaccinated, you will be contacted directly, either by letter or telephone, by your GP with your appointment."

NS: "But if you're in the 70 to 79 age group, make sure you look out for one of these letters. I want to add a reminder to everyone that, once you've received the first dose, while it will be a relief, I'm sure, to you, it doesn't start protecting you immediately."

NS: "That's a really important point to get across. The first dose will reduce your chances of becoming ill from Covid after around two weeks. Even then, we don't yet know, the scientific community doesn't yet know whether it will stop you passing Covid on to other people."

NS: "So for both of those reasons, it's very important for you still to stick to the current rules and guidelines, even after you receive your first vaccination dose."

NS: "Getting the jag will bring a justified sense of relief to many people, but it is really important for now to remember that it doesn't mean you should stop sticking to the other advice about avoiding getting or passing on Covid."

NS: "Second point I want to highlight relates to support for businesses. Businesses across Scotland, as we know, have been badly hit by the pandemic - and one of the sectors which has been particularly severely affected is the wedding industry."

NS: "Covid restrictions have caused many couples to postpone their weddings or their wedding celebrations, and of course, the only weddings that have proceeded have been very small-scale affairs."

NS: "For that reason, we announced targeted support for the wedding sector in December, and I'm pleased to confirm today that applications for support open on Thursday this week - and the size of the support fund is being increased by £10m. It's going from £15m to £25m."

NS: "The fund will be administered by our enterprise agencies and will provide grants of up to £25,000 for businesses directly affected by the cancellation and postponement of weddings during the pandemic."

NS: "And of course these businesses could include events venues, photographers, and caterers. Details of how to apply to the fund will be available on the findbusinesssupport.gov.scot website."

NS: "I would encourage any eligible business to make an application. We know that businesses involved in weddings employ thousands of people across the country, and of course, they play a really big role in making sure couples enjoy the wedding day of their dreams."

NS: "So it's really important that we support the sector now so that it is able to operate again once restrictions start to ease. So I hope this support will provide some welcome help and reassurance to a sector that has found things particularly tough."

NS: "The final point, I don't want to cover in any particular detail, just to acknowledge that today is the 25th of January, which, of course, is Burns Day, and I know that over the weekend there were some virtual Burns celebrations taking place."

NS: "I'm sure there will be a few more taking place this evening. I want to thank everyone who helped to arrange those, whether they were major online events for the public or small-scale virtual events for family and friends."

NS: "Virtual Burns suppers, like virtual events more generally, aren't the same as getting together physically to celebrate special occasions. But they are a really good way of enabling us to stay safe while still marking important occasions in the calendar."

NS: "That point, about virtual Burns night celebrations, is a further reminder, if anyone needed, of the restrictions that remain in place right now. We are seeing some early evidence these restrictions are working, which is positive."

NS: "We think they're starting to reduce case numbers and, while it will take a bit of time yet for that to feed properly into admissions to hospital and ICU, we also hope we might be starting to see some early positive signs there too."

NS: "But this is only happening because so many people are complying with these restrictions - and for us to maintain this progress at the moment, we must all continue to stick with it."

NS: "Let me close, as usual, by summarising what we're asking people to do. The most important thing right now is we're asking everybody to stay at home except for essential purposes such as caring responsibilities, essential shopping, and exercise."

NS: "If you're meeting up with someone from another household outdoors, that should only be a maximum of one other person from one other household. A group of no more than two from no more than two households."

NS :"Work from home if you possibly can. If you are an employer watching this you have a duty to help facilitate your staff working from home if it is at all possible."

NS: "And, of course, if you are out for essential purposes right now, please follow, very strictly, the FACTS advice."

NS: "Wear face coverings when, for example, you're doing essential shopping. Avoid places that are busy. Clean your hands and surfaces. Use two-metre distancing if you're talking outdoors to someone from another household. Self-isolate and get tested if you have any symptoms."

NS: "Above all, though, our plea, advice, indeed it is the law, is to stay at home right now unless it is essential to be out of doors. This is a hard restriction demanding horrible sacrifices from everyone, but we do believe it is working."

NS: "In other words, it is already saving lives, so please, please, stick with it."