First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Good afternoon. I'll start as always with an update on the current position in relation to Covid-19."

NS: "As at 9am this morning there have been 15,418 positive cases confirmed, an increase of 18 since yesterday."

NS: "A total of 1,046 patients are in hospital with either confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents a total decrease of 27 from yesterday, including an increase of 3 in the number of confirmed cases."

NS: "A total of 27 people were last night in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That is the same as yesterday."

NS: "I'm also able to confirm that since 5th March a total of 3,695 patients who had tested positive and required hospital treatment for the virus have now been able to leave hospital."

NS: "Unfortunately, in the last 24 hours, 1 death has been registered of a patient who had been confirmed through a test as having Covid-19, and that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland under that measurement to 2,363."

NS: "That figure should be treated with some caution. Although deaths can be registered at weekends, registration numbers are usually relatively low at weekends and especially low on a Sunday."

NS: "To illustrate that point, last week I reported 3 deaths on Monday but then reported 18 deaths on Tuesday. That should be taken into account when considering today's figure."

NS: "Of course, we must always remember that these numbers are not just statistics. They represent irreplaceable individuals whose loss is mourned by many. As always, I want to send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus."

NS: "I also want to express once again my deep thanks to our health and care workers. You are doing incredible work in exceptionally challenging circumstances, and all of us owe you a real debt of gratitude."

NS: "The statistics I've just read demonstrate the real progress we have together made against this virus."

NS: "There are now far fewer people in hospital and intensive care than at the peak of the outbreak. But these statistics also demonstrate how fragile that progress is. There are still hundreds of people in hospital suffering from this virus."

NS: "There are still new infections in many health board areas. And of course, it is still the case that every day I have to stand here and confirm further loss of life."

NS: "The fact is, the virus is being suppressed, but it has not gone away. It is still extremely dangerous."

NS: "Indeed, a routemap out of lockdown expressly recognises that during Phase 1, which of course we entered on Friday, there is still a high risk that the virus is not yet contained."

NS: "We must all understand that, and continue to remember it. I know in the last three days, many of you have had long-awaited reunions with family, friends, and loved ones."

NS: "I really hope you all enjoyed that, and enjoyed the lovely weather too."

NS: "I also know that the vast majority of people stuck to the rules when having those reunions, and I want to thank you sincerely for that. You stayed outdoors in small groups and you stayed more than 2m from other households."

NS: "Again, my thanks to you for that. However, it's also clear that over the weekend not everybody stuck to the rules. I'm told by the police that on Saturday alone there were 797 dispersals. That is people being moved on for not complying with the rules."

NS: "To give some context to that, that 797 is 5 times higher than the figure the previous Saturday."

NS: "There were also clearly situations where, despite the guidance we issued, people were driving more than 5 miles to beauty spots. In some cases, we know that people were staying overnight in tents, camper vans or motor homes."

NS: "Some of the early statistics we have from Transport Scotland also give us some cause for concern."

NS: "Overall, transport was 70% up from the previous Sunday, and transport on Saturday was 60% up on the week before. In some places, Loch Lomond and Glencoe, for example, the increase was even more dramatic than that."

NS: "On Saturday, on the A82 by Loch Lomond, traffic was around three times higher than it was the previous Saturday, and we saw a similar picture around Glencoe."

NS: "So I'm going to be very blunt here. It is very hard to see how all of that can have been caused by local residents or by people travelling a reasonable distance to meet loved ones."

NS: "So we will be considering all of this as we continue, as we must do, to assess the impact of the Phase 1 changes."

NS: "Last week, we deliberately allowed some flexibility as we changed the lockdown restrictions. We recommended people don't travel more than 5 miles for recreation but left room for some discretion so you can go further to visit family."

NS: "We also strongly recommended when two households meet there should be no more than 8 people in total in a group."

NS: "But, again, we put that into guidance rather than into law because we do trust, and continue to trust the majority to keep those groups small and stay within the rules."

NS: "But it is worth being clear - indeed, I have a duty to be clear with you. If there is continued evidence of even a minority not abiding by these guidelines and traveling unnecessarily..."

NS: "..if people meet up in larger groups or they're making journeys which risk spreading the virus, we will have to put these restrictions on group size and travel distance into law."

NS: "And we won't hesitate to do that if we think that is necessary for the collective safety and wellbeing of the population."

NS: "I should make clear that the stipulation that no more than two households meet at any one time is already the law, and if need be it will be enforced by the police."

NS: "I also want to remind you that the two households should keep 2m apart from each other, not share food or utensils and not go inside each other's houses."

NS: "The reason I'm stressing all of this - the real danger we still face - is not because I want to be imposing these restrictions, but it's because the progress we've made so far in tackling Covid-19 is simply not guaranteed, and it is not irreversible."

NS: "Cases could increase again. It wouldn't take too much for that to happen, rather than continuing to decrease. If that happens then that will result in more loss of life."

NS: "And if all of that happens, restrictions will have to be reimposed rather than being further relaxed. None of us want that to happen, but the only way of avoiding it is for all of us to comply with the rules."

NS: "The fact is, unless you're an essential worker, or working in one of the categories now permitted to be at work, you should still be spending the majority of your time at home."

NS: "You should still be seeing far fewer people than you normally do. And those meetings that you are now able to have, and your life more generally, should still not be feeling normal."

NS: "And that basic point applies to everyone, across the population. I know from my own experience that young people, for example, are firstly, hugely frustrated after weeks indoors, and desperate to spend more time with friends, in the park or at the beach."

NS: "And I know that young people might also think that they are less likely to become seriously ill as a result of this virus. But I want to say very directly to young people - this virus can still be very harmful to you."

NS: "Even if you, yourself, are not adversely affected, you can still pass the virus on to other young people, including your friends, and then some of them may pass it on to, for example, parents or grandparents, who are at a greater risk of becoming seriously ill."

NS: "Please think about that wider interest when you're considering your own behaviour in the days and weeks to come."

NS: "The fact is, all of us want to be able to lift more restrictions so that we can meet friends and family in much more normal circumstances."

NS: "We want to be able to restart NHS services, as the Health Secretary talked about yesterday, and to allow people more generally to get back to work, school, or study."

NS: "But we can only do this if we keep driving down the overall level of Covid infections and if we continue to suppress the spread of the virus. And we will only do that if all of us continue to stick to the rules."