Covid-19 R number has fallen in Scotland
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the rate at which coronavirus infections are being passed on has fallen marginally in Scotland.
It came as the country's daily death toll dropped to single figures for the first weekday since just after lockdown began in March.
The R number, which measures how many people an infected person passes Covid-19 on to, has reduced from between 0.7 and one to between 0.7 and 0.9 in a week.
Ms Sturgeon said this does not take into account the impact of the changes to lockdown announced last week.
The First Minister said 2,395 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up nine from 2,386 on Wednesday.
She said this marks the first weekday since March 27 when the number of deaths is in single figures.
Speaking at the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing , she said: "I think that demonstrates the progress we're making against this virus but also underlines why we all continue to need to comply with the public health guidance - so we continue to make this progress and don't allow it to go into reverse.''
Ms Sturgeon added nine deaths is still too many, with each one representing a person and a family left "shattered and grieving''.
She also sounded a note of caution, saying "we cannot and should not read too much into any one day's figures''.
Ms Sturgeon said 15,553 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up 49 from 15,504 on Wednesday.
There are 1,021 patients in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a fall of 96 in 24 hours.
Of these patients, 28 are in intensive care, down by six.
Despite the change in the R number, the First Minister warned against "complacency''.
She said: "I can't stress enough how fragile it still remains because we are seeing new cases in most health board areas every day.
"It remains relatively steady which underlines our caution and care which we need to take.''
Ms Sturgeon also addressed the loss of jobs at the Rolls-Royce plant in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, where 700 redundancies were announced on Wednesday.
She said: "That announcement will have been devastating news for the workforce and their families at what is already an anxious time.
" Unfortunately, it may not be the last of its kind in the period ahead.
"I want to stress that the Scottish Government will do everything we can to secure as good an outcome for those whose jobs are at risk.''
The First Minster told the briefing the Scottish Government is looking to help companies diversify into producing personal protective equipment (PPE).
She said in contrast to the 57,000 face masks needed by the health sector weekly before Covid-19, 4.5 million are now needed.
Imports from overseas have been brought in to meet demand, she said.
But the First Minister said she is looking for firms across Scotland to produce the equipment.
She hopes they will be able to grow the capacity for the creation of PPE to the point where it not only supplies the NHS north of the border but can also export items to other countries.
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