LARGE parts of the central belt could be faced with strict level 4 restrictions for “a reasonable amount of time” amid a warning the current rules are “not doing enough to suppress the virus”.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney gave the stark warning as he confirmed reports revealed by the Herald that council chief executives in Glasgow and other parts of the west of Scotland could be placed into level 4, the highest tier of restrictions, next week.

Discussions will continue between the Scottish Government and council officials over the weekend before First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces any changes to the levels on Tuesday, following a decision being taken by her Cabinet.

RED MORE: Coronavirus: Central belt could move to toughest tier

Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing, Mr Swinney confirmed that officials “have been in touch with a number of local authorities in the west of Scotland about the possibility of the areas having to be increased from level 3 to level 4."

He added: “Those are in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lanarkshire health board areas. We’re obviously monitoring a number of other local authorities around the country that have been contacted because we are seeing in some circumstances, quite significant increases in the prevalence of the virus at different levels.

“There will be further discussions with local authorities. The national incident management team will be looking at all of that data over the weekend. Ministers will be involved in discussions with local authorities between now and the decisions being taken on Tuesday.”

Mr Swinney was pressed over whether any move to level 4 for some areas would need to be in place for a prolonged period of time to be effective, after he warned “the number of cases being pretty stubbornly high” is of concern.

He said: “I think it would be fair to say that such measures, if they were taken, would have to be for a reasonable amount of time to enable us to see the effect of those measures.

“I don’t think they would just be in for a week, for example, because I don’t think that would have enough of an impact or the interruption on the spread of the virus.

“The hard issue we’ve got to look at about some of the level 3 areas is whether we think level 3 restrictions are making enough of an impact and the numbers are so stubbornly high in some of these areas, it is posing the questions that perhaps these level 3 restrictions are not doing enough to suppress the virus.”

The Deputy First Minister said that with winter fast approaching, the need to protect the NHS and maintain hospital capacity will play an important role in decision-making.

He added: “What we’ve got to be careful about is as we go through the winter, every week that passes will be more challenging in terms of health service capacity – whether that’s Covid or normal winter flu pressures or whatever happens.

“We have to be looking very carefully about health service capacity on a n ongoing basis to be satisfied throughout the winter we’ve suppressed the virus to such a level that we are not adding to the congestion in our hospitals. That will be central to the decision making that we take forward between now and next Tuesday.”