MOST of cases of the new Covid variant in Scotland have been detected in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region. 

Scotland's interim chief medical officer, Dr Gregor Smith, confirmed that 18 cases of the mutated coronavirus have been found in Scotland so far, although he stressed this is likely to be an underestimate. 

Dr Smith said cases were all in the Central Belt, and when asked by the Herald confirmed that "the majority" are in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region with "a smaller number" in Lanarkshire. 

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Dr Smith said: "The current figure for Scotland is we have 18 cases that meet this case definition - that's an additional one from the number we reported over the weekend. 

"All of those are associated with the Central Belt. 

"I and others would feel that this is quite an underestimate of the likely cases that there are in Scotland.

"It's a sample of cases that go through this time of [genomic sequencing] surveillance."

Asked by the Herald whether they were concentrated in particular areas, Dr Smith confirmed that the known cases have been found in two health board regions. 

He said: "My understanding at this point is time is that of those 18 cases that we have in Scotland, that meet the case definition for this new variant, all of those are from the Central Belt and are spread across two board areas. 

"It's Greater Glasgow where the majority of these come from, but there's also a number that come from neighbouring Lanarkshire as well."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon added that when she had first announced the presence of 17 known cases of the variant in Scotland as of Saturday "16 of them were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde".  

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The variant - which is up to 70 per cent more transmissable - is believed to be behind a sudden upsurge in virus cases in London and the South East of England. 

It is understood to have first emerged in the Kent area in September, and now accounts for around 40-60% of cases in the south-east of England.

The UK and devolved governments are stressing that at this stage there is no evidence that the mutated strain is more deadly or will not respond to Covid vaccines. 

However, alarm over the potential danger posed by the new strain has led to Christmas relaxations being severely curtailed across the UK, including in Scotland. 

Household mixing will be permitted on Christmas Day only, although Ms Sturgeon urged people to remain in their own homes instead "if possible" and avoid family get togethers. 

Cross-border travel between Scotland and England, and between local authority areas within Scotland, is prohibited and Scotland will go into a full lockdown for at least three weeks from one minute past midnight on Boxing Day. 

Ms Sturgeon said: "Right now we know that this new strain presents a real risk of much faster transmission so we've got to act accordingly. 

"These Level Four restrictions will be in place for three weeks, we will review them after two, and keep people posted along the way."