Infected Scots were passing virus to six people before introduction of lockdown

People in Scotland who caught coronavirus in the early stages of the outbreak were each infecting up to six others before national restrictions were brought in, officials have revealed.

Roger Halliday, the Scottish Government’s chief statistician, said modelling suggested that the nation’s R number was between four and six before social distancing and other measures began.

The R number, defined as the average number of people a person carrying coronavirus infects, must be kept to below one in order to prevent the disease spreading rapidly out of control.

Mr Halliday said he and other officials had been gathering data on infection rates since the end of February and were now confident that the R number peaked at between four and six near the beginning of March, before the beginning of lockdown.

He added that the current number was estimated to be between 0.7 and one after falling dramatically since the start of the lockdown, with ministers now aiming to push it down even further.

Scottish Government analysis has suggested that the nation’s R number is higher than in other parts of the UK, partly explaining why lockdown restrictions are tighter north of the Border.

Mr Halliday said Scotland’s higher R number could be explained by the nation’s demographics, as well as the fact that the virus had taken hold slightly later than in England.

“There’s two factors: one is the age structure that Scotland tends to have, it has slightly older people than other parts of the UK, particularly London,” he added.

“The second factor is about people’s underlying health conditions and underlying health. Relative to other parts of the UK that’s also not as good.”