Coronavirus update: Case numbers rise as National Incident Management team set to meet
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Scotland recorded 775 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours representing 12.6 per cent of newly tested individual.
At total of 324 of the cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 164 in Lothian, and 102 in Lanarkshire.
There will be a meeting today of the National Incident Management Team and they will be taking a look obviously at a range of issues but in particular at the current situation in Glasgow and Lanarkshire.
The remaining 185 cases were spread across nine other health board areas with 34 in Grampian and 12 in NHS Highland.
Speaking at her daily briefing, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "Obviously these numbers today, not just of cases, but perhaps more particularly hospital admissions, numbers in intensive care and the numbers of people dying, really should remind us that this resurgence of Covid is something we have to take very seriously."
She added: "The Scottish Government has now added Poland and Turkey to the list of those countries subject to quarantine restrictions.
"We have also added the three islands of the Caribbean Netherlands – Bonaire, Saba and Staysha.
"That means from 4am tomorrow, people travelling to Scotland from these places must self-isolate for 14 days, upon their return.
"Madeira and the Azores will be removed from the list of places which are subject to quarantine restrictions.
"However, if you have arrived from those places in the past two weeks – or if you arrive later today or tonight – you will still have to self-isolate for 14 days.
"These changes are yet another reminder that levels of the virus – in any country or any area – can change quite rapidly."
She also stressed for more people who could to use the track and trace app: "I’ve said before that the app is not a magic solution – it doesn’t replace the need for the hard work being done by our test and protect teams.
"But it is a really important additional tool in tackling Covid, and it is already proving its worth.
"More than 1.3 million people have downloaded the app.
"In the past three weeks, more than a third of the people who have tested positive have been app users.
"And during that time, more than 2000 contacts have been advised to self-isolate through the app and these are people who might not otherwise have been identified.
"However there are three points that I want to stress which might make the app more useful.
"The first applies to everybody who currently has it.
"If you test positive for Covid, you will receive a code which you are then meant to enter into the app.
"Please make sure that you do that, because it is necessary for you to do that for the app then to automatically notify people you have been in close contact with.
"Now that might sound very basic and obvious, but we know that at the moment not everyone who has the app, and who receives a positive test result, is actually doing that.
"Now, enough people are doing it for the app to be making a difference – but it would obviously be better if everyone entered the code when they test positive.
"So please remember to do that.
"The second point is that we issued an update to the app this week which some people may wish to take advantage of.
"It allows the app to be paused, without Bluetooth being disabled in your phone.
"Now, let me stress first of all, that I don’t want people to pause the app when you are going about your day to day activities – because that would remove the point of having it.
"But this is a feature that is especially useful for some groups of people, in particular perhaps, clinical staff in jobs that often involve being within two metres of other people, but where significant measures are in place to reduce the risk of infection - for example wearing medical grade protective equipment.
"We are also looking at other improvements that can be made to the app.
"For example we are working really hard just now with NHS England and the NHS in Northern Ireland on linking up Protect Scotland with the apps in those countries, to support people who travel, to make these different apps interoperable.
"We are also looking at whether the age limit for use of the app can change – right now you have to be over 16 and we’re looking to see whether it will be possible to reduce that in the future.
"The final point I want to stress is that if you haven’t downloaded the app yet, and you are able to do so, please do it."
