The first minister says she is wary of talk of a virus peak after Prime Minister Boris Johnson used the phrase at the UK government briefing on Thursday.

Ms Sturgeon adds that does not want the public to "take the foot off the gas" in complying with lockdown measures, especially going into this weekend.

Expanding on the antibody testing programme, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman says initial samples will be distributed across six participating health boards - Lothian, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Tayside, Highland and Grampian.

An extra 270 samples will also be collected from smaller health boards, with further expansion planned.

Only tests currently validated will be used, and to ensure comparability, similar methodology will be used to that of Public Health England

Health Protection Scotland anticipates this testing will start next Wednesday, 6 May, and run for at least 16 weeks.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon says she will set out plans for the Scottish government's "test, trace, isolate" strategy for dealing with the outbreak next week as ministers look at ways to relax the lockdown.

She says that approach will require an increase the testing capacity even further.

Nicola Sturgeon announces that eligibility for testing will also be extended at UK-wide drive-through centres and mobile units.

It will now include all those over the age of 65 with symptoms and those in their households.

It will also include anyone who is not a key worker but is required to leave home to go to work.

Ms Sturgeon she recognises that demand for the service may require a queuing system.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman gives an update on the antibody testing programme, which is a "further important tool" to monitor the proportion of people with Covid-19. The test indicates if a person has been infected or not.

Ms Freeman reports that Health Protection Scotland has been gathering blood samples in anticipation of a fully validated test becoming available.

Approximately 500 residual samples from labs submitted from primary care will be tested per week at the Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratory in Inverness.

Nicola Sturgeon says that testing in care homes will include testing of all residents and staff - whether or not they have the virus - in homes where there has been a confirmed case.

Up until now, testing was for residents with symptoms, those admitted to homes and symptomatic care home staff.

The enhanced outbreak investigations will include other homes if that facility is part of a group or chain.

The first minister says 2,537 NHS tests were carried out yesterday, with 74,984 NHS tests in total since the start of the outbreak.

In addition, 2,124 tests were carried out yesterday in regional drive-through centres.

Ms Sturgeon says these have not been included previously in the figures for testing, but they will be from now.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon says that Scotland was realising its promise to benefit from UK-wide efforts to reach 100,000 tests per day.

The lighthouse operation at Glasgow University became operational last week and is one of three centres across the UK, testing samples taken from drive-through centres and mobile units.

The current capacity of that is now 4,000 tests per day taking the total capacity for testing in Scotland to 8,350.

Ms Sturgeon expects that to rise to more than 10,000 next week and to 12,000 by the middle of next month.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the Scottish NHS reached its target capacity of 3,500 Covid-19 tests per day, which she set at the beginning of April.

She says it has moved from having two NHS labs that could carry out 350 tests per day to one in each of the 14 health board areas.

The capacity for tests is now 4,350 per day and Ms Sturgeon predicted that this will rise further to 6,500 per day next week.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirms 11,654 people have tested positive for Covid-19, an increase of 301 from yesterday.

1,809 patients are in hospital with a suspected or confirmed case (up 61), with 110 being treated in intensive care (up one).

2,659 people have been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment for the virus since 5 March.

A further 40 people who tested positive have died, taking the total to 1,515 deaths in Scotland by that measure.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Gail Ross MSP reports to the Scottish Parliament education committee that a focus group of teachers had this week expressed concern about the use of ranking pupils and students against their classmates in deciding on grades following the cancellation of exams.

She says it was the main concern of the teaching profession and the group had described the system of ranking as "abhorrent, repulsive and goes against the values of teaching" as it pits "pupil against pupil".

Scottish Qualifications Authority chief executive Fiona Robertson is concerned to hear of that, suggesting her own feedback from teachers had been more positive.

"For teachers involved for a number of years, ranking was a feature of the system previously," she says. "It's not new for the Scottish system and was part of the appeals process a number of years ago."

Ms Robertson says ranking was reintroduced to help teachers assess grades more accurately.

Joining First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at 12.30 BST will be Health Secretary Jeane Freeman and Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Alasdair Allan MSP suggests to the Scottish Parliament education committee that it could be the autumn before the next school term begins and wonders whether contingency plans are being put in place for that.

Scottish Qualifications Authority chief executive Fiona Robertson admits that there was no "off-the-shelf" contingency plan for the cancellation of this year's exams because the "scale, complexity and challenge" of the current crisis "was unprecedented".

However, she points out that the Scottish government had established its "education recovery group" to start planning for the new school year.

Image source, Police Scotland

Police in Dumfries and Galloway captured a double rainbow over the region during Thursday night's tribute to NHS and other key workers.

Road officers spotted the scene at Whauphill near Newton Stewart at 20:00.

Police described them as "beautiful photographs captured during a special moment".

Image source, Scottish Parliament

During the Scottish Parliament's education committee, external, Jamie Greene MSP asks how the Scottish Qualifications Authority can ensure that, with exams having been cancelled, grades this year will have the "same value as qualifications in previous years or future years".

Chief examiner Fiona Robertson recognises it is a major challenge but replied: "It is really important that the class of 2020 will get qualifications that will stand the test of time. I believe we can do that."

Image source, Chas

Dr Who star Jodie Whittaker and Scottish actor Brian Cox are the latest celebrities to back a new campaign supporting children and families in isolation under the current lockdown.

Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor recently sent a video launching the Children's Hospices Across Scotland (Chas) Share Your Joy campaign., external

Now Whittaker, external and Cox, external have made their own messages, encouraging people to wear their favourite "geeky" T-shirt and upload uplifting videos of their own.

The campaign starts on 4 May, often referred to as Star Wars Day, external, a play on the movie's "May the Force Be With You" catchphrase.

Image source, Chas

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Pupils and students have been told that "fairness" will be at the forefront of teachers' and lecturers' minds as they assess grades after this year's Scottish exams were cancelled because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Rona Mackay MSP expressed concern to the Scottish Parliament education committee, external about what weight would be put on a students' circumstances considering some have poor home environments for learning or might be disadvantaged technically or motivationally.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority's Robert Quinn replied that it would be the "quality of the work" and consistency of performance that would be reviewed, "not so much the quantity".

Mr Quinn said a guide for estimating results had been updated, and an online academy launched, to help teachers and lecturers make good decisions and that the feedback had been positive.

Image source, Youri Muraoka

The 10th annual Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival is starting in the Borders.

Although the public elements of the Hawick-based festival have had to be cancelled this year due to coronavirus, organisers have worked to ensure that as much of the festival’s content as possible can be delivered online.

More than 70 films will be showcased free over the weekend, including 18 world premieres and 11 Scottish films. Details are available online., external