Nicola Sturgeon has urged Scots to stick with lockdown measures as she reported a small increase in transport usage.
The First Minister said that the number of people using concessionary bus travel had increased by almost a sixth last week, and that some roads have seen 10% more traffic compared to last week.
Ms Sturgeon asked people to consider whether or not they were being more active than they were at the start of lockdown, adding: “ask yourself why that is the case.”
In her daily briefing, Ms Sturgeon said: “These trends, let me stress, are from very low starting points. But they are still a source of some concern to us right now.”
Ms Sturgeon said that the car traffic observed on major roads is less than a third of its pre-lockdown levels, but it has increased this week by about 5% compared to last week.
On some town and city roads, traffic has been 10% higher than in the week before.
The First Minister added: “What I’m asking all of you to do today, and you know the reasons why I’m asking you to do this, is think whether or not it is the case that right now you are a little more active than you might have been at the start of lockdown and ask yourself why that is the case.
“Was your journey really essential? You might think it’s only you making an extra journey and it’s only one trip. And you might well feel you deserve it after weeks of restraint. Believe me, I really understand all of that.
“I know this is a long haul. I know people want to travel a bit more. I know children want to spend more time outside. I absolutely know that every grandparent watching this right now is desperate to see, and to hug, their grandchildren.
“But as things stand, our progress against the virus, albeit very real progress, is too fragile for us to let up.”
A total of 1,475 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 60 from 1,415 on Wednesday.
11,353 people have now tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 319 from 11,034 the day before.
There are 1,748 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 up 21 from 1,727 the previous day.
Of these patients 109 are in intensive care, a drop of five.
Since March 5, 2,538 people have been able to leave hospital after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
Live updates
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe