A ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown is reportedly set to come into force in Scotland by the end of this week.

Medics are understood to have been told to prepare for a two-week lockdown from Friday, following a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.

It comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said further restrictions could be announced in the next few days to ‘get the virus back under control’.

She said yesterday that officials had not yet decided on what those measures could be, but added: ‘Given the numbers we’re seeing… it is possible that we will have to do more’.

But an NHS source told The Sun they have been told a ‘stay at home’ order will come into force across Scotland this week, adding: ‘We’ve been told to expect it from 7pm on Friday.’

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The Scottish Cabinet is meeting today to discuss enforcing ‘short, sharp shock’ restrictions to try and reverse the trend of the virus.

National Clinical Director Jason Leitch said a fortnight of people staying at home could push the course of transmission back by 28 days and buy the NHS more time to prepare for winter.

He told the BBC: ‘Not full lockdown like 23 March – so you might make some choices in there about schools or about further education – but fundamentally a short, sharp shock to the R number.’

‘You get the R number down, you get the numbers down to a reasonable level and then you can bring to reintroduce some of the things that you’ve closed,’ he added.

Scotland recorded 697 new cases on Monday, with the number of hospital cases rising by eight to 218. There were no new deaths.

Meanwhile, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data revealed the number of weekly coronavirus deaths in England and Wales has risen for the third week.

A total of 215 fatalities registered in the week ending September 25 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate – up from 139 deaths in the week to September 18, increased from 99 deaths in the week to September 11, and 78 deaths in the week to September 4.

Boris Johnson is facing a Tory rebellion over his ‘rule of six’ and the widely criticised 10pm pub curfew.

Ministers say children should not be included in the rule of six, while many have argued that the curfew is not based on evidence but is further damaging the hospitality industry.

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