Scotland to legally require citizens to stay home

The stay-at-home order comes with the exception of citizens going out for "essential purposes."

"In the past two weeks there have been two significant game changers in our fight against this virus," Sturgeon said. "One, the approval of vaccines is hugely positive and does offer us the way out of this pandemic. But the other, the new faster spreading variant of the virus is a massive blow."

The new variant of coronavirus was first noticed in England in December of 2019. While it does not appear to be more deadly than other variants, data suggests that it spreads far more quickly. Despite efforts to contain it, the new variant has since spread to other countries.

"The government will be doing everything we can to vaccinate people as quickly as possible," she continued.

The comments come as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce new plans to help "protect the NHS and save lives" as the virus continues to spread across the country. According to Johnson, the plans will include stricter lockdown rules, a move supported by Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.