Coronavirus may have been spreading in Scotland before the first cases were confirmed at the start of March, the chief medical officer said earlier today.

Dr Gregor Smith said scientists had identified early cases of the virus which had no clear link to travel, suggesting the virus will have been spreading in the community back in February.

But he stressed that these cases were likely to have been "very few in number".

And national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch says it is no reason for alarm since it would relate to "a matter of days" before cases were known.

He tells BBC Radio Scotland that the study of 466 people between 28 February and 1 April "gives us a family tree of each virus, telling us where it has been and where it stops". That will be helpful to know if contract tracing is working properly, he adds.

The origins must have come from travel, mainly from "northern European hotspots", says Prof Leitch but the research group could not isolate those particular cases to a specific incidence of travel.

Latest figures show the official death toll in the UK for people with coronavirus rose by 286 in the 24 hours to 17:00 BST on Monday.

There have now been a total of 40,883 fatalities.

As of 09:00 on Tuesday, there have been 5,870,506 tests, with 102,930 tests on Monday, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma is leading the daily UK coronavirus briefing.

It comes as plans plans for all English primary pupils to return to school before the end of summer are dropped.

You can follow live updates from the UK briefing here.

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Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

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Former First Minister Lord McConnell is one of the signatories of a letter sent to the prime minister calling on the UK government to use the UN Sustainable Development Goals, external to frame Covid-19 recovery plans.

"We are heading for a potential economic tsunami, not just in the UK but worldwide," Lord McConnell told BBC Radio Scotland, arguing that the future recovery needs to be "socially-just and green".

The UN Sustainable Development Goals should be absolutely central to any planning, he argues, ensuring that the weakest are not left behind in a carbon-free world.

He points out that the UK spends money overseas making sure these targets are met but does not pay such close attention at home.

"We've seen in these last three months just how vulnerable our economic model and our society is to the kind of shock we have experienced as a result of Covid-19," he tells BBC Radio Scotland.

"We need to build back better, with vision and ambition."

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

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Aimee Harvey says she feels her five-year-old son, who has additional support needs, has been "forgotten about" in conversations about education.

She was given a school pack and has had phone calls with the special school her son attends, but for the most part she has not been able to home-school because he is unable to work when not in a school environment because of his autism.

On going back to school, Aimee says some children will not be able to following social distancing rules. "My son has no understanding at all," she tells Drivetime.

Anne Glynn, whose daughter will be entering an exam year in August, agrees maintaining social distancing will be difficult. She highlights schools are not just about learning, but socialising too - but kids wont be able to interact with friends in the same way.

She is also unsure about how teachers will manage with children coming back to school having experienced different levels of learning based on what their parents have been able to deliver.

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

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Two more hotel groups have warned staff of likely redundancies.

Glasgow-based Chardon implied up to half of its 210 staff may lose their jobs from the start of August.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh-based Apex - which employs 1,100 people - said job losses could start by the end of July. It did not say how many jobs will go.

Apex chief executive Angela Vickers said: “Around 40% of our travellers come from overseas so international quarantine measures combined with strict 2m social distancing rules will be a reality that will severely impact our business.”

Other hotel groups, including Crieff Hydro, are starting consultation on redundancy this month, allowing them to sack staff at the start of August.

That is when they will have to start contributing to furlough costs for those employees remaining on their payroll.

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

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Analysis:

The warnings came early that plans to reopen primary schools in England to all children may not be possible. But if there were suggestions that Tory ministers had been overambitious, there are now also suggestions that they haven’t been ambitious enough.

How is it, some are asking, that non-essential retail is set to get the green light to reopen this month down south, while the majority of children continue to be off school?

Downing Street would undoubtedly resist claims that it’s prioritised the economy over education.

And their watchwords, when it comes to schools, have been about taking a “phased” and “cautious” approach.

But there are fears that with every day that goes by, some young people are falling further and further behind, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

And while the education secretary expressed an ambition to get all children back in September, it appears to be just that - an ambition.

There’s a question: if bringing primary schools back now isn’t practical, with all the social distancing that’s required, what will have changed in three months’ time to allow all young people to return?

It’s a deeply worrying situation for families, and a dilemma for a government that’s put spreading opportunity, or “levelling up”, at the heart of its agenda.

• Coronavirus: All primary pupils no longer going back to school in England

Holyrood Live
BBC Parliaments

MSPs are debating the impact of Covid-19 on the communities portfolio for the rest of the afternoon.

Opening the debate, Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell says it is important to "build back better" once the pandemic is over.

She announced the homeless action group will be temporarily reconvened to ensure now one housed at the start of this crisis returns to rough sleeping or unsuitable accommodation.

The cabinet secretary also announces the establishment of a social renewal advisory board, which will drive cross-portfolio work in a bid to respond to poverty and equality issues in the aftermath of the crisis.

Holyrood Live
BBC Parliaments

Constitution Secretary Mike Russell has made a statement following the publication of the first two-monthly report on the Coronavirus Acts, external.

The report shows the powers have been used only where needed, while others have not been utilised he says.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie says he wants to know whether the government are "on top of" the spread of coronavirus in hospitals, and what this means for re-starting the NHS to deal with things other than coronavirus.

Ms Freeman says testing staff was part of making patients feel safe, and that patients could be asked to self-isolate for 14 days before they are admitted. These are two examples which will contribute to offering the "safest possible route" to restarting the NHS.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

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John Beattie is on air from 16:00 BST.

• Education Secretary John Swinney joins the show around 1745
• Parents and teachers will discuss the proposed return to schools in August before that
• Interim Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gregor Smith said that the virus could have arrived in Scotland early than first thought - National Clinical director, Jason Leitch will explain more
• Former first minister Lord McConnell on why he is one of the signatories of a letter sent to the prime minister calling on the UK government to use the UN Sustainable Development Goals to frame Covid-19 recovery plans

Holyrood Live
BBC Parliaments

Scottish Labour's Daniel Johnson asks if the health secretary will ask for an investigation into admission control and infection procedures?

Jeane Freeman says the government is already receiving independent advice from experts.

She said with regard to other experts and senior clinicians who have raised concerns in the media, she takes these very seriously.

Once the validated data on hospital-acquired infections is published, discussions will be had with all clinical groups about the safe remobilisation of the health service.

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A £2.5m fund set up to help musicians in the UK during the coronavirus crisis is set to run out of cash after just five days.

More than 3,500 people have applied for financial assistance since Friday, says the charity Help Musicians UK.

But with the fund reaching capacity, and live music a distant prospect, other applicants may be left stranded.

"It's a bigger, longer crisis than any of us could have thought possible," said the charity's chief executive, Jack Ainscough.

Touring and gigging musicians have been particularly affected by the lockdown, as months of work simply vanished in mid-March.

Many of them (up to 25%) are not covered by the government's scheme to support freelancers, and have no other source of income.

Holyrood Live
BBC Parliaments

Scottish Labour's Neil Findlay asks if it's "a bit rich" for Jeane Freeman to criticise MSPs for questioning her on the unvalidated data released by the government when it has made unvalidated assertions "all the way through"?

The health secretary says "scrutiny is one thing" but "saying something is a fact" when it's unvalidated data related to suspected data and transmission is not proper scrutiny, she adds.

She says she will not present unvalidated data again because all the caveats put on it are being ignored.