First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Hello, everybody. Welcome to today's update. I will start with the usual update on the Covid statistics."

NS: "I can tell you that an additional 44 positive cases were confirmed yesterday, which is 0.8% of people newly tested. It means the total number of cases now is 19,921."

NS: "The full health board breakdown will be provided later. My provisional information is that 7 of the 44 new cases are in Tayside, where we are dealing with the cluster involving the 2 Sisters food processing plant."

NS: "I can also confirm that a total of 243 patients are in hospital with confirmed Covid, which is 5 fewer than yesterday. One person is currently in intensive care - that's the same as yesterday."

NS: "In the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients who had tested positive in the previous 28 days for the virus, which means the number of deaths under that measurement is still 2,492."

NS: "This week's more comprehensive figure, which includes deaths where Covid was either confirmed through a test or presumed, will be published by National Records of Scotland tomorrow."

NS: "These figures obviously continue to be a stark reminder of the impact Covid has had. Again, I want to express condolences to everybody who has been bereaved as a result of it."

NS: "And again today, my thanks go to everyone who is working hard in a whole number of ways to help us through this difficult period."

NS: "There are three issues I want to cover today. Firstly, I'll give just a bit more detail on the main clusters we are dealing with right now."

NS: "In Aberdeen, there are 261 cases associated with the cluster linked to pubs in the city. That's an increase of 2 since yesterday, but it's worth noting that one of those cases had already been reported but has only now been linked to the original cluster."

NS: "These figures generally point to the good progress that has been made in containing this outbreak, and I'm very grateful to everyone in Aberdeen for their patience and their compliance with the restrictions that have been in place."

NS: "In relation to the outbreak linked to the 2 Sisters plant in Coupar Angus, as of yesterday there were 152 positive cases linked to it."

NS: "134 of those were workers at the factory and 18 were contacts of those workers. The process of contact tracing there continues and so I would expect we'll see these numbers rise a bit more in the days to come."

NS: "Just to give you some context, over the past 6 days the mobile testing unit at the 2 Sisters plant itself has tested more than 900 people, and other testing sites in Dundee, Forfar, and Perth, have between them tested more than 2,500 people."

NS: "The bit I want to stress - although I would repeat that we're not complacent about this - but at this stage there is still no evidence of wider community transmission from this outbreak."

NS: "That, of course, is positive, given the scale of the outbreak that we have been dealing with."

NS: "I want to thank everyone involved in managing it. It's a huge amount of work that is being done. Let me thank, also, employees at the factory, and their households, who are now self-isolating."

NS: "Let me stress how important it is that people in those households do self-isolate for the entire period advised, and that is until Monday 31st August."

NS: "I can understand there might be a temptation to nip out, maybe to go to a shop, or to see other people, but please do not do that."

NS: "Even if you've had a negative test in the last few days, it is still possible that you could develop and spread the virus, so please follow all of the guidance and stay at home."

NS: "It is because people are complying with that, that so far we are managing to avoid this outbreak seeping into the community. Please bear with it, and stick with it, so that we can continue with that success."

NS: "Finally, there are a number of cases, not least in Lanarkshire, involving individuals who attend schools. The health protection teams locally are dealing with these cases."

NS: "Where necessary, they have and will continue to write to parents and carers of children in relevant classes, advising them that their children should self-isolate."

NS: "I want to stress, in relation to all of these outbreaks that we're dealing with just now, and indeed the situation with schools, we are not unduly concerned by any of these situations right at this moment."

NS: "That said, we're not complacent either. As you'll appreciate, we continue to monitor all cases, clusters and outbreaks very, very closely indeed."

NS: "The second issue I want to talk about today concerns some issues that people have been having over the last day or so in booking tests through the UK-wide booking system."

NS: "Over the weekend, there was a major spike in demand for testing - not just in Scotland, but we think across the UK. That led to some constraints on the booking portal throughout the day yesterday."

NS: "That, in turn, resulted in a surge of calls to our Covid-19 helpline. I know this will have been frustrating for people trying to book a test so I want to thank everyone for bearing with us as we've worked to address these issues."

NS: "I want to just run through some of the work that is being done to do just that. Some of what I would describe as 'technical issues', for example people in Scotland being offered tests at centres outside Scotland, are being resolved."

NS: "That shouldn't be happening. Where any technical issues do arise, as unfortunately with a system of this scale and complexity, might sometimes do, we will endeavour to have those sorted as quickly as possible."

NS: "On the issue of capacity, which is the more significant issue, we've always known there will be fluctuations in demand for testing. That's why we have contingency plans in place, and these contingency plans are already being activated."

NS: "For example, over the course of this week we will be deploying three additional mobile testing units across the central belt of Scotland. The first of those will be operational in Glasgow today, this afternoon, and the other two will be operational later this week."

NS: "In total, they will increase capacity by around 1200-1500 tests every day. We're also over the course of this week further increasing the number of tests that can be carried out at the regional testing centres across the country."

NS: "We're also utilising additional NHS testing capacity. NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde will be activating drive-through facilities to help manage demand in their local area."

NS: "In the more medium-term, but already this is work that has been in process, we are also establishing 11 local walk-through testing centres."

NS: "The first of these will be housed in the Victory Memorial Hall in St Andrews. Together, they will help to increase sampling capacity by more than 3,000 tests a day."

NS: "We will continue to implement these plans to further increase capacity as we head into winter, as we have always been preparing to do."

NS: "But we'll also work to ensure appropriate contingencies are in place for periods when we have higher than expected demand for testing, which is likely to happen as we go into winter..."

NS: "..but at any point, if there perhaps is another virus circulating - a cold leading in particular to children having symptoms similar to Covid - then we know we will see these spikes in demand."

NS: "That's why we need to have these contingencies in place - to deal with them."

NS: "But let me take this opportunity just to remind everyone that you should only book a test - either for yourself or for a family member - if you or they do have one of the Covid symptoms."

NS: "A new persistent cough, a fever, or a loss of or change in your sense of taste or smell."

NS: "The exceptions to that general position of only booking a test if you have symptoms are firstly, if you are advised to do by Test & Protect, sometimes Test & Protect will advise people who have been contacts of confirmed cases but who don't have symptoms to go for a test."

NS: "Secondly, if you work in a profession with agreed access to testing - for example, staff working in schools. But otherwise, only book a test if you have one of the symptoms that we often and regularly remind you of."

NS: "The third issue I want to cover today is the use of face coverings in schools. As I said yesterday, our scientific advisory group has been looking closely at this issue, particularly in light of the new WHO guidance published at the weekend."

NS: "As a result of that work the advisory group has recommended changes to our current guidance in Scotland. Their recommendations are based on the latest scientific evidence, as well as the real-life experience of schools since they reopened a number of days ago."

NS: "The Scottish Government consultation with the Education Recovery Group has now agreed the changes being proposed."

NS: "It's possibly worth reminding people of what the current guidance says, before I set out what the changes to that guidance are."

NS: "In general, the current guidance advises that face coverings in the classroom are not necessary, however it says that staff should wear them if they can't physically distance and are having face to face interaction with pupils for more than around 15 minutes."

NS: "The guidance also emphasises that staff and pupils should be supported to wear face coverings if they wish to do so."

NS: "That advice remains unchanged. However, the new guidance will now include two additional situations where face coverings should be worn."

NS: "Firstly, as I indicated yesterday, adults and pupils in secondary schools should wear face coverings when they're moving around schools in areas where distancing is challenging."

NS: "For example, in corridors, or in communal spaces. Secondly, adults and children age 5 and over should wear face coverings on dedicated school transport. That simply mirrors the situation on public transport more generally."

NS: "In both of these situations, there is a greater potential for different groups to mix. There's more chance of voices being raised, resulting in the creation of aerosols."

NS: "And, of course, there's less scope for distancing and effective ventilation. We believe face coverings could provide an additional layer of protection in mitigating some of these factors."

NS: "The guidance will also emphasise how face coverings can be used to address specific issues - for example, where there is concern about a particular school, or where there is an outbreak or greater transmission in a particular area."

NS: "All of these changes will apply from next Monday, 31st August. Before then, schools will be expected to provide pupils with clear instructions on the use of face coverings."

NS: "We expect that most children and young people will have access to face coverings already as part of their daily lives, however we will work with local authorities to ensure schools also have supplies, so that no child is disadvantaged."

NS: "There are of course people for whom wearing a face covering is not appropriate, which is why there are exemptions already in place for people with breathing difficulties, or certain disabilities when it comes to wearing a covering in places like supermarkets."

NS: "So there will also be young people for whom it's not appropriate to wear a face covering in school, and schools will of course discuss that with pupils and parents."

NS: "But let me be clear. Nobody should be stigmatised in a school because they cannot, for one of those reasons, wear a face covering."

NS: "We hope that these changes provide some additional assurance to pupils, staff, and parents. We know it's not easy. None of what we're having to live with right now generally or in schools is easy, but it's all about trying to minimise the risks of transmission."

NS: "We will, of course, continue to keep the guidance under review."

NS: "I want to emphasise, though, and this applies not just in schools, it applies more generally."

NS: "Face coverings are just one additional layer of protection. They are not a substitute for the other things we're asking people to do."

NS: "All of the other safety measures - good hand hygiene, regular cleaning, where possible physical distancing, remain vitally important."

NS: "Of course, that applies not just in schools but to all of us. So, to close today, I want to just quickly remind everyone again of the key public health guidance."

NS: "We know indoor transmission is a risk. We've always known that, and we see evidence of that coming through in our data right now."

NS: "So can I take the opportunity to remind everybody that, when you're indoors, no more than 8 people from a maximum of 3 households should be meeting up."

NS: "That applies whether you're in somebody's house, or in a pub, a bar, or a restaurant. You should at all times physically distance from members of other households, and remember to wash your hands and hard surfaces."

NS: "All of this, if we all follow these rules it minimises our chances of getting the virus and also minimises the risks of us passing the virus onto others."

NS: "And, as I said yesterday - it's worth everybody bearing this in mind as Test & Protect operates around the country - if you follow all of these rules, particularly around physical distancing, you are less likely to be a close contact of someone with Covid."

NS: "So you're less likely to get that call from Test & Protect advising you to self-isolate for 14 days."

NS: "Let me bring my remarks to a close now by just reminding everybody of the FACTS rules. The five golden rules everybody must follow to try to keep this virus under control."

NS: "Face coverings in enclosed spaces.

Avoid crowded places.

Clean your hands and hard surfaces regularly.

Two-metre distancing remains the overall rule.

Self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms."