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MORAY and Scotland went back into a full lockdown at midnight last night
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement in the Scottish Parliament yesterday afternoon.
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The move back to a legally enforceable lockdown for the rest of January, similar to the original lockdown last March, comes in the face of rising cases of coronavirus.
"We are now in a race between the vaccine and the virus, and all of us must do whatever we can to slow down the spread of the virus," she said.
"Our duty is to act quickly to save lives and protect the NHS. Prevarication in the face of this virus almost always makes things worse."
People must stay at home wherever possible and can only leave home for outdoor exercise, the provision of essential care to someone in another household or to do a job they cannot do at home.
Pupils at primary and secondary school will remain at home until February 1 at the earliest, with online learning from January 11.
Ms Sturgeon said the spread of the new variant coronavirus among children was one of the factors in closing schools for the whole of January, except for the children of key workers and vulnerable children.
She said the new variant was 70 per cent more transmissable and is putting the NHS under increasing pressure.
"It is driving the very serious situation we now face," she added.
"We are now seeing a steeply rising number of infections. I am more concerned about the situation than I have been at any time since last March."
The number of people in hospital in Scotland is now approaching the peak of last April and above the normal winter levels.
"We can expect to see significantly increased pressure on the NHS over the course of this month."
People who were previously shielding have been told they should not be at work and everybody who can do their work from home must do so.
The rule on outdoor gatherings has been tightened and only two people from up to two households can meet outdoors, and that includes children aged 12-17 years.
Children aged 11 and under are not included in this ruling and can meet and play in groups outdoors. Access to outdoor exercise is not restricted.
All non-essential retail will remain closed, although cafes and restaurants can carry on with takeaway.
Ms Sturgeon said grants remain available to businesses forced to close due to lockdown, in addition to the UK Government furlough scheme.
From this Friday, churches must also close, except for funerals, weddings and civil partnerships, with no more than 20 people allowed to attend a funeral service and wakes are not allowed.
There can only be five people at a wedding or civil partnership.
In the last 24 hours there have been 1905 new positive cases across Scotland, which represented 15 per cent of all tests.
Since before Christmas there has been a 65 per cent increase in cases, which has risen from 136 per 100,000 to 225 per 100,000.
Ms Sturgeon said the two vaccines now approved for use in the UK - Pfizer/BioNtech and Oxford/Astrozeneca - offered a way out and by the end of January the Scottish Government hopes to have over 900,000 cumulative doses available.
The government will look to speed up the roll out of the vaccines across the country and by early May she hopes all people aged over 50 and those under 50 with underlying conditions will have received a first dose vaccination.
Ms Sturgeon likened the current situation to a race, with the vaccines in one lane and the new variant coronavirus in another lane.
"We must slow the virus down and tougher restrictions are absolutely necessary," she said.
