A 99-year-old woman is recovering at home after being admitted to hospital with coronavirus.

Carrie Pollock tested positive at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, in early March after she was admitted with hallucinations and suspected pneumonia.

The former Special Branch officer is now back at home in Hayling Island with her family and says she's feeling "much better".

Watch more personal stories during the coronavirus outbreak: Your Coronavirus Stories

Aberdeen City Council now says it is not in fact sending workers to a testing facility in Dyce, as reported earlier.

The coronavirus testing centre was opened at Aberdeen International Airport initially on a piloted basis on 11 April.

It was set up in a car park, so non-NHS key workers could get a drive-in by-appointment test for coronavirus, with results within days.

The council has now clarified that it is sticking with its "established process" in place with NHS Grampian for testing of critical workers.

• total number of deaths in Scotland linked to coronavirus has risen to 1,616
• these NRS figures include deaths with suspected and confirmed coronavirus
• the number of deaths with confirmed coronavirus is less at 1,062
• 651 deaths were registered between 13 and 19 April - up from 610 the previous week
• a third of the deaths were recorded in care homes

Image source, bbc

• the number of deaths linked to the virus in care homes has more than doubled in a week, from 237 to 537
• 384 care homes have current outbreak - where individual has symptoms in last 14 days
• 9,038 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Scotland
• over 1,800 people who had Covid-19 have been discharged from hospital
• the first minister says hospital and intensive care admissions are a 'source of optimism'
• there are ten coronavirus clinical studies taking place in Scotland with four more being set up

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has said she and other ministers would take a 20% pay cut for the next six months. Tom Martin of the Daily Express asks if Scottish ministers would do the same.

The first minister replies: "I already take a pay cut and have done throughout my time as first minister.

"Ministerial salaries in Scotland are frozen at 2008 levels. That's a decision we took back during the financial crash and have never undone that.

"I don't take my full salary anyway and every month there will hundreds of pounds from my salary go directly into public funds. In a sense we're already doing what, to their great credit, the New Zealand government has recently announced."

Image source, AFP

Severin Carrell of The Guardian asks whether expert medical care or critical care nurses will be place into care homes.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman highlights many care homes employ nurses and all will have direct links to primary care. Further guidance and leadership has also been provided to carers, she adds.

Mure Dickie from the Financial Times wonders about the reason for the disproportionate increase of deaths in care homes.

Ms Sturgeon says it could be because transmission happens faster in care homes and there is some suggestion community transmission is falling.

Tom Gordon from The Herald asks if care homes are being too slow at referring people to hospital. Ms Sturgeon says if a person required hospital treatment they must be sent there.

It is often not appropriate for an older person to go to hospital, but this is a clinical decision to be taken on an individual basis she says.

Vivienne Aitken from the Daily Record suggests the Scottish government yesterday "bowed to pressure" and announced there would be testing of all new residents in care homes and asks if it time for the Scottish government to readjust its stance on the testing of all symptomatic people and not just as part of a future exit strategy.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon rejects the suggestion of bowing to pressure and suggests it is a case of "listening carefully and learning as we go".

She says the testing strategy pursued so far is based on seriously ill people in hospital, key workers and surveillance testing - and this has been expanded to care homes.

"We are asking everyone who is symptomatic to stay home and testing everyone who is symptomatic would not change what we are asking them to do," she says.

Ms Sturgeon.says that, meanwhile, the government is still in the process of building the testing capacity for when it moves into an exit strategy that will allow an easing of the lockdown.

Marc Ellison
Data journalist, BBC Scotland

Craig Penman from PA points out that Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw called this morning for mobile testing and wonders whether this is something the Scottish government is considering. How many people have been tested at testing hubs.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says that the test numbers being published are of key workers who have been tested by their local health boards - and have not had to go to drive-through centres, such as in Glasgow.

She points out that the drive-through centres are part of a UK scheme and the figures of tests from those have not yet been broken down by locality.

Image source, Getty Images

Peter MacMahon from ITV Border suggests people with relatives in care homes may be wondering if now is the time to take them out.

The first minister offers assurance that everything is being done to increase protection at care homes, including preventing cases reaching them in the first place and preventing transmission.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman says guidance for care homes issued in March is critical and steps have been taken to deliver more PPE.

The Care Inspectorate will be conducting inspections of care homes to provide additional support and assurance to staff and families she adds.

Ms Sturgeon highlights 65% of care homes don't have any cases.

Fiona Walker of BBC Radio Scotland asks if too many NHS procedures has been cancelled and whether this might be behind the "worrying number of excess deaths".

Ms Sturgeon says two-thirds of excess deaths are due to Covid-19 but about 200 deaths are not. She says more research needs to be done into the reasons.

"We had to take decisions to ensure that our NHS could cope," she adds.

A key part of our thinking as we move forward will be how we restart services and a key message for now is for people to get help from the NHS if they need is, the first minister says.

Dr Smith reiterates the NHS remains open to anyone with urgent or life-threatening illness, as only scheduled routine care has been reduced.

Alan Zycinski from Global says guidance for people aged 70 and over is leaving people over-60s at risk.

Mr Zycinski asks if over 60s should not move into that higher risk category and if there are other vulnerable groups who should also be moved there.

The first minister says there is shielded category which means total isolation, but beyond that everyone has been told to stay at home unless it is essential to leave.

"If you are not in the shielded group you still have to comply with the general rules on social distancing and staying at home.

"Of course we continue to keep all of this under review."

Hamish Penman from Original FM asks what discussions the Scottish government have had with the oil and gas sector.

The first minister says there are ongoing discussions with the sector and indeed with every sector of the economy.

Ms Sturgeon says the goverment has a net-zero position enshrined in law and adds the climate emergency has not gone away.

There must be a balanced and just transition to achieve net-zero and it will be a priority going forward, she adds.

Ross Govans from STV says last week the Scottish government promised to increase testing in care homes and asks how many more people have been tested this week compared to last and whether "the new testing regime came too little too late".

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon replies that the information about tests in care homes was being collated and would be available soon.

Yesterday, around 2,000 tests were carried out overall, an increase over the last few days.

She rejects the suggestion that the new testing regime in care homes came too late as it is "as much as anything to provide greater assurance and certainty to residents and their families" over whether or not they have had the virus.

"It does not change the clinical management of those residents," she stresses.

David Cowan from BBC Scotland asks if there anything in today's figures that provide an indication when the deaths might start to fall in Scotland and, given a third of the deaths were in care homes, does that suggest you were too slow to respond to that threat?

Ms Sturgeon says she hopes to see a fall in the rate of deaths "very soon" but points out that this will be the last figure to reduce after hospital admissions and admissions to intensive care.

However, she stresses that the progress is "fragile" and encouraged the public to stick to the guidelines over social distancing.

She rejects the suggestion the Scottish government was slow to react to the risk to care homes but admits that the authorities continue to learn daily about the threat from the virus.

Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith's statement focuses on research into treatment of and care for Covid-19 patients.

He outlines the four main research areas:

1. treatment options
2. vaccine development
3. understanding how and why the virus affects people in different ways
4. surveillance and transmission

The pace of work and commitment of research teams across Scotland has been outstanding he states and he also thanks the 800 patients participating.

There are 10 clinical studies taking place across Scotland now, with a a further four in set-up phase Dr Smith confirms.

He says one area of study is looking at the use of existing drugs, including HIV medication and steroids, while another is considering the genetics of susceptibility and mortality.

"There is much about this virus we still don't know," the interim CMO says, but he adds research is helping to advance understanding.

The first minister says figures for the total number of deaths in Scotland include 200 deaths that can't be explained by Covid-19.

This is well above the average for the time of year, and says some of the difference appears to be more people dying of cancer and dementia.

"Clearly this is an issue we need to do further work on to make sure we understand it fully."

She says reporting these numbers is "really horrible" and the most difficult task she has had as first minister.

The first minister stresses that none of us is powerless, by following the rules, staying at home and following the guidelines we are all making a difference.

The statistics on hospital and intensive care admissions do show that we are making progress, they are a source of optimism.

Soon, she hopes, a fall in the number of people dying will confirm that too.

Ms Sturgeon says 384 care homes today have a current outbreak, where one resident has displayed symptoms in the last 14 days.

The first minister points out that older people in care homes require as much, if not more, support.

She thanks all the care staff for doing an incredible job.