The Covid map showing the rate of new positive cases in Glasgow shows a stark difference north and south of the River Clyde.

Cases in the city continue to rise as Nicola Sturgeon is due to announce the decision on whether Glasgow can move down to level 2 with the rest of Scotland or stay in level 3 with a travel ban in and out of the city.

The latest seven day data, which gives the rate of positive cases per 100,000 population, a key indicator in officials deciding on lockdown levels, shows Glasgow is still rising.

For the seven days up to May 24, there were 924 new cases reported, a rate of 145.9 per 100,000. For comparison, the Scotland wide figure is 49 per 100,000.

The week before, in Glasgow it was 711 new cases, a rate of 112.3 per 100,000.

There were 12 areas with the highest rate, of more than 400 per 100,000, shown on the map as the darkest purple.

Those with the highest were Ibrox East and Cessnock, Pollokshields East, Kingston West and Dumbreck, Darnley north, Pollokshaws, Pollokshields West, Maxwell Park, Carnwadric East, Mount Florida, Laurieston and Tradeston, Darnley West and Kinning Park and Festival Park.

All are in the south of the city.

At the other end of the scale there were 43 areas where there were between zero and two positive cases in the last seven days.

Most, but not all, were in the north of the city.

There were 38 north of the Clyde and four south of the Clyde.

The only areas in the south where “the virus is considered suppressed” are Penilee, Cardonald West and Central, Carmunnock North and Kings Park South.

Ahead of her announcement due today, Nicola Sturgeon warned any lockdown easing in Glasgow must be done “responsibly and safely” and said it would be “dangerous” to ease too quickly.

She responded in Holyrood to Scottish Tory leader, Douglas Ross, asking for more support for businesses in the city hit by lockdown.

Ross said: “Glasgow has been under Covid restrictions for 269 days, during which time businesses have been struggling to survive.”

Sturgeon replied: “I know how long the city of Glasgow has been under restrictions because, unlike Douglas Ross, I am a resident of the city of Glasgow, and the restrictions apply to me just as they apply to others.

“I know how difficult the situation is for residents and businesses across Glasgow, but I also know how dangerous it would be if we were to ease restrictions too quickly and allow a new variant of the virus—a variant that we know is spreading perhaps even more quickly than the variant that we saw at the start of the year—to take a grip again. ”

Earlier, Paul Sweeney Glasgow Labour MSP, said that it was unfair to put the whole city in lockdown.

He said on twitter: "Can we not consider a levels system for Glasgow that is more granular than the blunt instrument of shutting down a whole city to Level 3?

"Ultimately we need to ramp up mass vaccination within Glasgow, and that includes drop-in clinics."

Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf, replied: "We have discussed this, and will continue to keep under review. However, it would be challenging to prevent (and certainly enforce) anyone from a hotspot area such as G41/42 travelling to meet someone indoors in G12 if, for example, the West End of City was in Level 2."

He added: " Challenge is there are areas in the Southside that are not hotspots & also postcodes on the other side of the River that have clusters.

We have a mobile walk-in vaccination bus touring Southside, but urgently exploring making more available."