THE number of people testing positive for coronavirus in Scotland is increasing "day by day" despite lockdown measures, the chief medical officer has said.
It came as it was confirmed 60 people have now died north of the Border, a rise of 13 since Monday.
As of 9am on Tuesday, 1,993 people had tested positive for the virus, an increase of 430 on the previous day.
However, Nicola Sturgeon said 108 of these positive tests came from a lab which was unable to submit data over the weekend.
The First Minister said there are 1,073 suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus cases in hospitals.
Meanwhile, 135 people are now in intensive care, an increase of 27 on yesterday.
Ms Sturgeon stressed the actual number of coronavirus cases in Scotland will be higher than figures show.
She said just over 6 per cent of NHS staff in Scotland are currently off work due to the virus, either because they have symptoms or since someone in their household is self-isolating.
Speaking during a Scottish Government briefing, she added: "That number is relatively low, and it's important to be very clear that we would expect to see that number rise in the weeks to come.
"But it's also important to note that we have now begun testing of key workers, and as we continue to expand that capacity, we will be able to get people back to work as quickly as possible."
Ms Sturgeon said: "I very much hope that it will not be too long before we are standing here at one of these briefings talking about the slowing down of this virus.
"But we are not yet at that stage, and when we do reach that stage it will only be because people have been doing the right thing by staying at home."
Dr Catherine Calderwood, Scotland's chief medical officer, said more tests have been done in the past few days as capacity is increased.
She added: "But the increased number in positive cases in Scotland today is not simply because we are testing more people.
"The proportion of those tests which are positive is increasing day by day.
"This shows us that within Scotland at the moment, despite how well people are complying with the measures, despite the stringency of those measures we have put on the population...numbers of cases every day in Scotland continue to increase.
"So the proportion of people we are seeing is increasing day by day, even with these measures in place.
"Obviously we don't know how fast it would increase without these measures, but I want to emphasise that despite what we're doing the virus is still being transmitted in our communities."
Dr Calderwood said the only group not showing a sustained increase is those under 15, in common with other countries around the world.
Elsewhere, Ms Sturgeon announced more than £1.5 million of funding for Scottish Women's Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland.
She said: "There is, as I think everybody understands, a real risk that women and children who are already subject to domestic abuse will feel even more isolated and vulnerable during this crisis, so this funding will help ensure that they have access to support services."
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