Nicola Sturgeon said the UK government was about to announce “more stringent measures” for London last night sparking the fears the capital city could be locked down. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was questioned on why the SNP leader spoke “outside her brief”. It comes as the number of Scots who have died after contracting COVID-19 has increased from three to six.

Sky News host Niall Paterson said: “Yesterday we had the First Minister of Scotland of all people talking about a lockdown in London, talking about more strict measures. Why is Nicola Sturgeon making public health announcements out of her brief?”

Mr Williamson said: “What we have seen is we are having a high level of cooperation.

“We recognise that we have to work together in order to stop this spread.

“This spread is going to effect everyone in the UK and working together to stop it is everyone’s top priority.”

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Nicola Sturgeon has said she needs the help of every person in Scotland as the country tries to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

The First Minister said the pandemic has left her “acutely aware” of the “inability of Government alone to deal with this challenge”.

A total of 266 people are now confirmed as having the infection in the country.

Describing the outbreak as being “incredibly difficult and challenging” to deal with, she called for a “national endeavour” to get through the weeks and months ahead.

“I, as First Minister, will do my best to lead this operation in the months ahead but I need the help of everybody across Scotland.

“So what I can do is share as much information as possible but sometimes that will involve being frank where I don’t know the answer to something immediately or have to be honest that certain things take some time to be put in place.

“This has to be a collective national endeavour. It will not be easy but if we do that, all of us pulling together – Government, the public, all parts of the economy and the public sector – then I do have confidence, notwithstanding how incredibly difficult and challenging this situation is, that the country will be able to get through it.”

She made the plea as she answered questions from opposition leaders about the Scottish Government’s response to Covid-19.