COVID-19 is more widespread in Scotland than at any time during the pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday, as she announced a potential cut to self-isolation times for those testing positive north of the border. 

The First Minister told MSPs her government would publish a new roadmap for Covid-19 in the coming weeks, as she warned that Scotland’s NHS continues to be under pressure.

The announcement saw the SNP leader outline new self-isolation rules, which mean that Scots who test positive for Covid-19 will be able to leave self isolation on day seven if they return two negative lateral flow tests and do not have a fever.

Asymptomatic Scots who return a positive lateral flow test will not have to confirm their result with a PCR, with the changes in place from Thursday.

The First Minister said that the country will have to “adapt our thinking about how to manage the virus and become more resilient to it in future.”

She said there were three key impacts on the health service, adding the increasing pressure is being managed by a “depleted and ever more exhausted workforce.”