The update on tiers which local authority areas will be placed in took place today, 17th of November, announced by the FM Nicola Sturgeon to the Scottish Parliament.

Orkney is to remain at level 1 where there has also been an easing of restrictions. The reasons are as follows :

• numbers continue to be low and will be monitored to see if recent changes to indoor socialising rules have any impact
• allocation unchanged

The new increased levels for parts of Scotland from tier 3 to 4 come into effect from Friday 20th of November.

The areas where the transmission rate of Covid has remained high and which will for a short period go into tier 4 are:

• Glasgow City
• East Renfrewshire
• Renfrewshire
• East Dunbartonshire
• West Dunbartonshire
• North Lanarkshire
• South Lanarkshire
• East Ayrshire
• South Ayrshire
• West Lothian
• Stirling

Two areas will move to Tier 2: East Lothian and Midlothian

Remaining at level 2 : Scottish Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Argyll & Bute,

City of Edinburgh, Inverclyde, Clackmannanshire, North Ayrshire and Falkirk – will remain at Tier 3

At level 1: Orkney, Shetland, Moray, Highland and Na h-Eileanan Siar

There will also be travel restrictions brought into law which up to now have been advisory. This is to prevent the virus spreading and applies to non-essential travel.

You can find out more details here: Coronavirus (COVID-19): allocation of levels to local authorities – 17 November 2020

Contact tracing remains a vital component for limiting the spread of Covid. You can download the NHS Scotland free app here: Protect Scotland

Scottish numbers for Covid: 17 November 2020

• 1,248 new cases of COVID-19 reported
• 37 new reported death(s) of people who have tested positive
• 95 people were in intensive care yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 1,249 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 14,941 new tests for COVID-19 that reported results – 9.7% of these were positive

Click on this link to check which area you are in and which restrictions are in place: Postcode checker for COVID restrictions by protection level in areas of Scotland