NICOLA Sturgeon rejected calls to follow Boris Johnson’s government in easing all coronavirus restrictions during an update this afternoon.

The UK Government has announced plans to abandon the vast majority of legal coronavirus restrictions by July 19 despite growing case numbers. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said daily case totals could reach 100,000 per day over the next few weeks.

Scotland’s First Minister called for caution as cases, driven by the Delta variant, remain high.

Two NHS Grampian hospitals are also in “code black” status after reaching full capacity due to increasing Covid-19 cases in the area.

READ MORE: Covid: What does code black mean for hospitals?

“This is a moment for care and caution,” she told viewers. “And that’s not true just for us here in Scotland, although we are undoubtedly at the sharp end of this Delta curve. But increasingly we see and hear other countries faced with an accelerating Delta wave also re-emphasise the need for caution.

“It is worth pointing out, and I’m doing this non-pejoratively, just as a statement of fact and because the pressure is always there for Scotland to follow suit. I think it is worth pointing out that the path the UK Government is embarking on for England, which is entirely a matter for them, a path of not just lifting all restrictions from July 19 but also removing the requirement for basis mitigations like face masks, and doing so against the backdrop of sharply increasing case numbers, is something of an exception.

“So while I totally understand the desire that some have for us to follow suit in every single respect, we have to think carefully about the steps we do take at this juncture.

“My job is not to take the easy decisions in a quest for popularity, it’s to do what I think is most likely to keep the country as safe as possible as we get to the end of the vaccination programme.”

Sturgeon stressed how important masks and hand hygiene are, adding: “No matter what our decision is next week about the move to level 0, there wont be an abrupt end to these basic protective measures … I’ll set out more about that in the statement we make next week.”

Sturgeon said the vaccination programme “continues to make really good progress”, adding that this was a cause for optimism.

But she added: “For now though that optimism needs to be balanced by concern at the high case numbers we have seen recently.”

However she said there was a “suggestion that the recent surge in cases may be to some extent levelling off”.

Case numbers are 1432 lower than were reported last Thursday, Sturgeon said, adding that the seven-day average also appeared to show a “slow down in the rise of positive cases”.

The First Minister said: “That is encouraging news but obviously case numbers remain high and that is a worry.”

Sturgeon warned “we cannot simply throw all caution to the wind and no longer worry at all about rising levels of infection”, citing concerns about pressures on the NHS which have already led to some services being cut back.

She also said the majority of cases are in young people and although they tend to have less severe infections, it would be “wrong and irresponsible, because our young people are not guinea pigs, to have no concern at all for young people infected with this virus”.

Sturgeon added that on Tuesday she will set out to parliament whether Scotland will move to level 0 on July 19 as had been planned. She said the decision does not need to be “binary”, suggesting Holyrood could move ahead with some planned changes but not others.

The Scottish Greens welcomed the cautious language. Party health spokesperson Gillian Mackay MSP said: "I particularly welcome her identifying that young people can and are getting sick and should not be treated like guinea pigs.

“There is clear and immediate pressure on our health services, and it is very clear we need continued support for people to stay safe, including to self-isolate. I’m concerned that the Scottish Government is reviewing self-isolation rules for contacts and school children when half the population is not yet vaccinated.

“Global health experts have warned the UK not to ‘tolerate high case numbers’ before the vaccine programme is completed, and it is vital Scotland doesn’t follow this dangerous path.”

In the past 24 hours Scotland has recorded four deaths of coronavirus patients and 2802 new cases, Sturgeon has announced.

The death toll under this daily measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – is now 7744.

Tthe daily test positivity rate is 8%, down from 10% the previous day, while a total of 401 people were in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19, up 14 in 24 hours, with 38 patients in intensive care, up four.