His words came as stricter new measures are expected to be announced for the North East of England, where cases are on the rise - including a reported curfew on pubs. The PM said people have to be "both confident and cautious" and that it is "crucial" the country does not re-enter "some great lockdown again that stops business from functioning". In an interview with the Sun, Mr Johnson said: "Christmas we want to protect, and we want everyone to have a fantastic Christmas.” "But the only way to make sure the country is able to enjoy Christmas is to be tough now. "So if we can grip it now, stop the surge, arrest the spike, stop the second hump of the dromedary, flatten the second hump." He spoke after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged Scots to “act now” to prevent further Covid-19 deaths. Speaking at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon said: “While the number of deaths is much, much lower thankfully than was the case in the spring and early summer this year, nevertheless the need for me to report deaths is a more regular feature of these briefings now than it has been for quite some time. “Unless we act to stem community transmission now it is highly likely that cases of serious illness and deaths will rise in the weeks to come. “If community transmission continues to rise as night follows day we will see more cases of people in hospital and unfortunately more cases of people dying.” One Covid-19 death was recorded in Scotland over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 2,501. She said 267 positive cases of the virus had been recorded over the same time period, bringing the total to 23,283. This is 3.6% of newly tested individuals. Public health officials in Scotland are also investigating another new coronavirus cluster, this time at university student accommodation. NHS Lothian said a number of people have tested positive at Edinburgh Napier University’s Bainfield student accommodation. A message from the Editor Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website. Joy Yates Editorial Director