Scots are warned to avoid complacency

The first minister said Scotland should not lull itself into a “false sense of security” despite a comparatively lower death rate than England.

Nicola Sturgeon said the country is at an “earlier stage” of the spread of the virus than England, but it was not true to say it was on a “different path”.

Figures from 9am yesterday showed there were 3,001 positive cases in Scotland with 172 deaths, compared to 31,797 cases and 3,302 deaths in England.

The first minister was “hopeful” the stage at which lockdown measures were applied in Scotland may mean the peak of the virus is lower than it will be in other parts of the UK.

During her press conference yesterday the first minister warned that the coronavirus peak is still some time away as she announced the death toll had increased by 46 on the previous day to a total of 172.

She said: “I want to be very clear that nothing I have seen gives me any basis whatsoever for predicting the virus will peak as early as a week’s time here in Scotland.”

Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said people should stick to the lockdown measures.

She said: “I have not been able to find that the peak will be as soon as we’re hearing in the media today.

“Now is not the time to think that perhaps it will all be over soon.

“We have always said that many months will be needed before we can get on top of this virus and be sure that we’re not going to have a worse scenario later.”