Thread by @theSNP

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us today. Let me give you, as usual, today's statistics. The number of positive cases reported yesterday was 1,330. That represents 6.2% of the total number of tests carried out."

NS: "The number of confirmed cases in Scotland overall now stands at 175,432. 394 of today's new cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 245 in Lanarkshire and 135 in Lothian. The remaining cases are spread across 9 other health board areas."

NS: "I can also tell you that, by 8:30 this morning, 462,092 had received their first dose of the Covid vaccine, and that includes 56% of over-80 year olds living in the community."

NS: "You'll recall that already, 95% of people in care homes, older adults in care homes, have also been vaccinated."

NS: "In addition, I can report that 2,016 people are currently in hospital, which is 6 more than yesterday, and 145 people are in intensive care, which is four fewer than yesterday."

NS: "I'm also very sorry to report that a further 92 deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days."

NS: "That means the total number of deaths under this daily measurement is now 5,888."

NS: "However, National Records of Scotland has just published its weekly update which, you will recall, includes cases where Covid is a suspected or contributory cause of death even if it hasn't been confirmed through a test."

NS: "Today's update shows that, by Sunday, the total number of registered deaths linked to Covid under that wider definition was 7,902. 448 of those deaths were registered in the past week, which is 75 more than in the previous week."

NS: "294 of the deaths last week occurred in hospitals, 111 occurred in care homes, 8 in a different institutional setting, and 35 deaths occurred at home or in another non-institutional setting."

NS: "Now, that number I've just reported to you, 7,902, is a difficult one for any of us to grasp and to properly comprehend."

NS: "And, of course, yesterday, the death toll across the UK as a whole passed 100,000. Those numbers should make anyone in a position of authority, and I know they certainly make me, think very hard about more we could have done and what lessons we must continue to learn."

NS: "I know that I and everyone in my Government have tried every day to do everything we possibly can, but I don't think any of us, reflecting on numbers like these, can conclude that we have always succeeded."

NS: "If any mistakes we have made, firstly, I take responsibility for that and I am and I always will be truly sorry for any mistakes we have made or any reflection that we could have done things differently."

NS: "Now, I say every day that none of the people who have died are statistics. They were human beings who were loved and are right now being mourned by friends and families."

NS: "We should never, ever forget that - but somehow, it feels more important than ever today to remember that. When the immediate crisis of the pandemic is over I know that we will want to formally commemorate and remember those who have died."

NS: "But I want to take, today, just a moment to pause and remember. So, please, join me for just a few seconds of reflection in memory of all those who have died in this pandemic so far and in sympathy with all those left behind."

NS: "Thank you. To those of you who are grieving, I know this won't be any consolation to you at all, but I want you to know that your loss weighs heavily on me, and it always will."

NS: "Now, there are two other points that I want to update on today, the first is that Public Health Scotland has published a report on shielding during the first wave of the pandemic."

NS: "That report gives some detailed statistical information on issues such as whether the advice to shield was followed and what evidence there is that shielding was effective."

NS: "It also provides details about the value and, in some areas, the shortcomings of the support offered to shielders during the first wave."

NS: "It's important to remember of course that, by the middle of February, in just a couple of weeks' time, people who are on the shielding list and who are over 16 years of age will have received their first dose of the vaccine."

NS: "That will not guarantee anyone's safety, for reasons we've set out before, but it will start to provide valuable protection after two weeks of receiving the vaccine."

NS: "That will be taken into account in our future advice for shielders. In addition, the Scottish Government no longer issues advice to people on the shielding list which is quite as restrictive as it was in the first wave of the pandemic."

NS: "This is in line with the recommendation in the report that we should not return to full shielding - instead, we must help people who are shielding to make an informed choice about their actions."

NS: "But today's report is a reminder, if anyone needed, of the scale of the sacrifice that we asked from people who were shielding during those early months of the pandemic."

NS: "Staying at home completely without going out at all, even for exercise, was incredibly tough, I know, for people who were asked to do that."

NS: "So I want to take the opportunity today to thank everyone who is on the shielding list for everything you have done over the past few months - not just to keep yourselves safe but also to help us collectively in this fight against Covid."

NS: "I want to reassure you that you will continue to be central to our thinking and our decision making as we move through this next stage of the pandemic that we are living through."

NS: "Now, the second point I want to cover today relates to travel, since there is a lot of speculation about a UK Government announcement that will be made on this later today."

NS: "Let me just reiterate some of the points the Deputy First Minister made to Parliament yesterday that some of you may have heard."

NS: "Travel restrictions will be vitally important in the coming months. Travel restrictions will be a key way in which we help to stop new cases and, in particular, new variants of this virus being imported into Scotland."

NS: "As we found out and have learned to our cost over the summer, the virus travels when people travel, and their will be a need for restrictions on travel - perhaps even after vaccination is more widespread than it is right now."

NS: "Indeed, at a time when there is rightly a focus on lessons that we should be learning from earlier stages of the pandemic, this is one that I would highlight that we perhaps should have done more at an earlier stage to restrict travel across our borders."

NS: "Now, we've been in discussions with the UK Government for some time about improving border controls. In these discussions we have raised the issue of quarantine hotels, where people who are returning to the UK can self-isolate."

NS: "The Scottish Government believes that a comprehensive system of supervised quarantine is required for this next stage of the pandemic - as we suppress cases here to mitigate against the risk of new cases and new variants being imported into the country."

NS: "Now, I've just taken part in a four-nations call and I've been briefed on what the Prime Minister is likely to announce later on."

NS: "I'm not going to pre-empt his announcement, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to do so, but clearly there is speculation in the newspapers."

NS: "I think I do have a duty to say at this point that I am concerned that the proposal does not go far enough, and I've made that point very strongly in the four-nations discussions that we've just had today."

NS: "So, while the Scottish Government will initially emulate the UK Government's steps on enhancing quarantine arrangements, we will be seeking urgently to persuade them to go much further, and indeed to move to a comprehensive system of supervised quarantine."

NS: "Given the obvious practical issues involved, we are very clear that our preference is to have consistent quarantine rules across the UK but if there is no agreement to go further on a four-nations basis, we will be considering going further ourselves..."

NS: "..and we will set out any such additional measures next week. I know that talk of travel restrictions is tough to hear for everybody but particularly tough for many businesses..."

NS: "..and so we're also asking the UK Government to work with us to provide additional support for the aviation sector, which of course is directly affected by further restrictions."

NS: "Fundamentally though, we believe that tougher travel restrictions, however unwelcome they are for all of us, are essential to managing the risk posed by new variants and by new cases coming into Scotland."

NS: "And, as I said, I think they will become increasingly important as case levels in Scotland - we hope - continue to fall. That makes it all the more important that we do everything we can to protect against the risks of reimportation."

NS: "As I say, we are likely to set out steps next week, but for now, let me reiterate that no-one should be travelling overseas right now except for absolutely essential purposes."

NS: "I'm afraid that means you should not, at this stage, be booking holidays overseas. I know that is really hard to hear but again, if I can be frank with people..."

NS: "Our best route back to greater domestic normality right now, as we continue with the vaccination programme, is firstly to suppress the virus here to as low a level as possible, again, as we did over the summer."

NS: "Then give ourselves the chance of better controlling it through Test & Protect, and next, doing much more than we did last year to protect our borders and stop the virus being imported."

NS: "That is not easy for anybody to live with but that is the recipe to get ourselves back within our own borders to being able to have more of a normal life - perhaps see more of our loved ones and of course get children back to school on a sustainable basis."

NS: "For the moment - and this is my concluding point - the single most important thing that all of us need to do to curtail the spread of this virus is to stay at home and that is, and remains, the very clear and overriding message."

NS: "Please stay at home unless you have to be out for essential purposes like caring, essential shopping and essential exercise."

NS: "If you're meeting somebody from another household outdoors, you should be in a group of no more than 2 from no more than 2 households."

NS: "Please work from home if you possibly can. All of us have a duty to do that as far as we can unless we have to be at work because that work can't be done at home."

NS: "That does apply even to those of us in Government. I have to be in St Andrews House to lead the response to this pandemic and to speak directly to you, but even me, when I do get the opportunity, I should work from home because everybody has to lead by example."

NS: "On any occasion where you do leave the house, please remember FACTS. Face coverings, when you're doing extra shopping for example, avoid places that are crowded if you go shopping for essential purposes, and find that it is busy, go somewhere else or go back later."

NS: "Clean your hands regularly, clean surfaces, use two-metres distancing if you are interacting outdoors with somebody from another household, and self-isolate and get tested if you have any of the symptoms of Covid."

NS: "We are, as I said earlier in the week, seeing cautious signs for optimism right now in our case figures. We are starting to see even more cautious signs, given the lag effect but nevertheless some cautious signs for hope in our hospitals and intensive care admissions."

NS: "We are not yet seeing that again, given the infectious path and the lag associated with this virus in the numbers of people dying."

NS: "As we see again, the figure remains horribly high. But hopefully, if we can keep suppressing case numbers, we will also start to see that reduce in the weeks to come."

NS: "But this takes a massive, ongoing collective effort involving each and every one of us, so thank you again, particularly this week when the UK has passed this horrible milestone."

NS: "Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do. Please stay at home, help us protect the NHS, and most importantly of all, help us to save lives."