NICOLA Sturgeon has warned cases of coronavirus are rising in all age groups.
The First Minister said a significant majority of the new cases in Scotland are in the under 40s.
The "bulk" of these are in the under 25s, many of whom have recently returned to university.
However Ms Sturgeon warned transmission is rising across the age ranges as a record 806 new cases were registered north of the Border.
READ MORE: Coronavirus Scotland: 806 new cases recorded with no more deaths
This represents 11.5 per cent of those newly tested for the virus.
Ms Sturgeon said: "The majority – the quite significant majority – are in the under 40 age groups, with the bulk of those in the under 25 age group.
"That of course is affected by the university clusters that we've been seeing in recent days."
Ms Sturgeon insisted this "mustn't give rise to complacency" among the general population.
She said young people can still become seriously unwell from the virus.
She added: "The other point about this is that while we're seeing a significant amount of cases right now in the younger age groups, which is a phenomenon we've seen across Europe in this latest surge of Covid, it is the case that transmission amongst older age groups is also rising, and let's not pretend that that is not the case.
"Around a third of today's cases are actually in the over 40 age group and there are a number in the over 60 age group.
"Transmission is rising across the spectrum of age ranges."
Ms Sturgeon said there will be different trends in different age groups when it comes to how the virus is contracted.
Universities will now be a "significant driver" in younger age groups.
For older people, the First Minister said, the "two significant themes continue to be household mixing and hospitality".
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