Nicola Sturgeon gave her weekly update to Parliament today amid concerns surrounding the Omicron variant, describing the situation as "another serious moment" of the pandemic. 

Last week the Scottish government urged people to tighten their compliance with the rules in order to curb the spread of the variant. 

Scotland also introduced travel restrictions in a four nation approach with the other UK countries. 

Earlier on Tuesday prime minister Boris Johnson said that preliminary indications suggested the new variant was more transmissible than Delta. 

This was addressed by the first minister today who outlined what scientists so far understand about Omicron. 

As Omicron continues to cause uncertainty in the run-up to Christmas, here's what we learned from Nicola Sturgeon's Covid update today...

1. Current protections to remain in place

No changes will be made to the current regulations, however the Scottish government wants the public to tighten compliance with the regulations.

The rules will be monitored daily due to the new variant, with the government able to bring in further measures if required.

The first minister said the Scottish government will seek to do what is necessary to prevent the problem, and will therefore "strive" to act both proportionately and preventatively even if at the cost of popularity.  

"For the Scottish Government, our first principle will be to seek to do what is necessary to keep the country as safe as possible, even if that is sometimes at the expense of being popular.

"And second, we will strive to get the right balance between acting proportionately and acting preventatively."

2. Rise in overall number of cases 

Cases have risen over the past 7-days, in all age cohorts under 60. 

The first minister said: "In total, cases amongst under 60s increased by 13% in the past week - and since people under 60 currently account for more than 90% of cases overall, that has inevitably driven an increase in the total number of cases recorded."

3. More details on confirmed Omicron cases in Scotland coming tomorrow 

More detailed information on the number of Omicron cases in Scotland is due tomorrow. 

In the coming weeks, more data will become available on the hospitalisations and deaths linked to the Omicron variant, with the first minister saying: "In weeks to come - and as the quality of data allows - these reports will also provide details on the vaccination status of, and hospital admissions and deaths associated with, Omicron cases."

4. Ten fold increase in Omicron in a single week

Omicron cases in Scotland have increased from 9 to 99 cases in the space of a week. 

Like Boris Johnson this morning, Nicola Sturgeon also said that early evidence suggests that the Omicron variant is more transmissible than Delta. 

She warned to expect a rapid rise of cases in the coming days. 

5. People asked to work from home

The first minister urged employers whose employees were working from home earlier in the pandemic to allow them to do so again. 

This working from home advice will remain in place until the middle of January when it will be reviewed. 

6. 3,060 new Covid cases

Over 3,000 Covid cases were recorded over the past 24-hours, however this higher number of cases was due to a backlog of results which Public Health Scotland expects to clear today. 

576 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19, while 38 were in intensive care.