Commenting on the statement made by the First Minister in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth said: “There is no doubt that people in Dumfries and Galloway are very much aware of the dangers of Covid-19. In the past few weeks, we’ve all seen that cases have been going up and this prompted the First Minister to bring in first the ‘circuit breaker’ and then the level system in the region.

“In Dumfries and Galloway, what the Government said was going to be a short, sharp shock to help slow infection rates on October 9 and was meant to last just over two weeks, turned into level 2 restrictions which looks like they’re here to stay for some time to come. My fear is that the inevitable consequence of these rules remaining in place indefinitely, is that people will start to feel frustrated.

“If the First Minister decides in the coming weeks that Dumfries and Galloway must stay within level 2 for even longer, we need even more support for businesses across the region who are already suffering.”