Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

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Nick Kempe, the author of a critical report into the Scottish government's handling of the virus outbreak in care homes, told BBC Radio Scotland that stopping contact tracing at the beginning of the outbreak was the "single most disastrous decision" taken.

He said this meant there was no way to stop the virus getting into care homes.

Mr Kempe is author of a report from the think-tank, the Common Weal.

It claims there are systemic failures in pandemic preparation, delayed intervention and a lack of long-term investment in medical services.

The Scottish government has rejected Mr Kempe's report, saying it paints a "wholly misleading picture" of the issues.

Five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak this morning.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

• The latest figures on the numbers who have died in Scotland with coronavirus mentioned on the death certificate, will be published later.
• A sheriff court will decide on whether to cancel the registration of a privately run care home in Skye at the centre of a Covid-19 outbreak.
• The UK's inflation rate has fallen to 0.8% it's lowest level since August 2016.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Dr Roland Kao of Edinburgh University tells BBC Radio Scotland that contact tracing has to be broad to be effective.

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After questions were raised about a Nike conference in Edinburgh, where there was an outbreak back in February, he said: "If one looks back to the contact tracing that was done at the time, the question has to be asked whether it was extensive enough."

However, he said brief contact in a large environment "is unlikely to have a high chance of transmission".

But - given that there were no cases in Scotland at the time - Prof Kao suggested that if the authorities were acting in a precautionary way, they would have tracked down "as many people as [they] possibly could".

"Especially because at the time we didn't have any cases in Scotland so the resources were there."

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

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Analysis by the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales has shown people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are nearly twice as likely to die of Covid-19 as those from white backgrounds.

Until now we've not had such a breakdown in Scotland of how coronavirus is impacting the BAME community here, though it's expected the weekly figures out later from the National Records of Scotland will show this.

Glasgow GP Dr Shahzad Hanif says the figures from England are causing a great deal of anxiety for people in Scotland after they showed BAME people comprise 14% of the general population, but accounted 33% of those admitted to intensive care units for coronavirus.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Hope Webb
News reporter

BBC Scotland's The Nine revealed that in the past week, one in four of Scotland's most vulnerable children have had no contact with professionals.

With a marked increase in calls to Childline, there are worries about what life may be like for some of those who can't be reached.

Children and young person's commissioner Bruce Adamson told the programme that every child should be checked on to make sure they are thriving and to avoid "digital exclusion" if they do not have access to technology.

David Allison
Good Morning Scotland report

A mild winter and long periods of heavy rain have turbocharged the spread of giant hogweed on Scotland's river banks and the Covid-19 lockdown is making tackling the problem even harder.

Giant hogweed, an invasive plant which can be very dangerous to humans, was introduced to Scotland by horticulturalists as an ornamental plant in the 19th Century but it soon spread out of control.

It can grow to a height of several metres and looks like a giant parsley stalk, hence one of its names is giant cow parsley.

But hogweed is no gentle giant. The toxic sap from large plants can cause life-changing burns, blisters and scarring if you come into contact with it.

Read the full story here.

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Scotland's high streets took a massive hit last month as the full effects of the coronavirus pandemic took hold, according to a regular survey.

Total sales plummeted year-on-year by 40.3% - the biggest fall recorded since the SRC-KPMG retail sales monitor began in January 1999.

Overall food sales were down by 2.4%, while non-food sales fell by 71.4%.

April was the first full month under lockdown conditions, which included the closure of all "non-essential" stores.

Read more here.

A sheriff is due to consider a bid to cancel the registration of a care home on Skye at the centre of a serious coronavirus outbreak.

Ten residents have died at Home Farm care home in Portree.

The Care Inspectorate has gone to court to have the home's owner HC-One removed as the care provider. The move follows an unannounced inspection last week.

If successful, NHS Highland would take over responsibility for the care of the home's residents.

Read the full story here.

Welcome to our live coverage of the latest coronavirus developments affecting Scotland.

Key points

• The latest figures showing the toll that coronavirus is taking on Scotland will be published later. More positive news is expected with another fall in the number of deaths.
• A court will remotely consider an application by the Care Inspectorate to cancel the registration of a care home in Skye at the centre of a serious coronavirus outbreak.
• MSPs will pass another emergency Coronavirus bill today. The legislation's been amended to clarify the rights of local authorities to take over a private nursing home if it's in financial difficulty, or if there's a threat to the life or wellbeing of residents.
• The first session of Scottish Questions since the Covid-19 lockdown began takes place today.