Thread by @theSNP

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. I'm going to start with the usual update on the statistics."

NS: "Before I do that though, I need to point out there has been a technical issue with our reporting systems overnight which means today's figures might be slightly lower than we would expect."

NS: "And of course, that means figures over the next day or two might be a wee bit higher than usual, as it might be the case that some cases that should've been reported today will be included in the figures for the next couple of days."

NS: "When you're looking at the figures over the next day and two days, just bear that point in mind."

NS: "I can confirm that the total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 369. That represents 6.1% of the total number of tests. The total number of confirmed cases overall now is 95,058."

NS: "133 of these new cases were in Greater Glasgow & Clyde, 49 in Lanarkshire, and 49 in Lothian."

NS: "The remaining cases were spread across the 8 other mainland health board areas."

NS: "1,041 people are currently in hospital, that is a decrease of 8 from yesterday, and 75 people are in intensive care - that is 1 fewer than yesterday."

NS: "And finally, I have the sad duty to report that 3 additional deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days."

NS: "Again, as I do every Monday, I would draw to your attention that registration offices tend to be closed at weekends so the figures we report tend to be artificially low as a result of that."

NS: "In total since the media briefing the Health Secretary led on Friday, 49 deaths have been registered, which means the total number under this daily measurement is now 3,725."

NS: "Again, as it does and should every single day, that should make us stop and think about the heartbreak this virus causes. As always, my thoughts and condolences are with families who are grieving the loss of a loved one from the virus."

NS: "Tomorrow, I will again, as I do every Tuesday, update Parliament on the levels of restriction that will apply in different local authority areas."

NS: "We are, over the course of today, continuing to assess those areas that are currently not in level 4 to see whether we think any area needs to move up a level to tighter restrictions or whether any could move down a level."

NS: "I'll report on that in Parliament tomorrow. Remember, those 11 local authority areas will remain in level 4 until the 11th of December."

NS: "For today there are two points I want to update on - the first relates to a further expansion of our testing. We are now starting to test residents in a number of communities across the country even if they do not have symptoms of Covid."

NS: "These programmes are being trialled in several communities in Central and West Scotland where rates of Covid continue to be of concern and are higher than the national average."

NS: "For example our mobile testing unit opened in Clackmannanshire, in Alloa town hall, on Thursday. Further sites have opened today in Dalmarnock, in the East End of Glasgow, in the South Side of Glasgow, in Stewarton in East Ayrshire and Girvan in South Ayrshire."

NS: "We'll also open the first site using lateral flow tests in Johnstone in Renfrewshire on Wednesday of this week. The lateral flow tests produce much more quickly than the conventional PCR test. That potentially makes them very useful."

NS: "All positive cases though that are identified through lateral flow testing can then be confirmed by a PCR test."

NS: "The testing site in each area will be open for between 3 and 13 days depending on the location. The work to establish these centres has been led by local partners, including the relevant local authorities."

NS: "I'm very grateful to them for their work and assistance. The lessons that we learn from these trials will then inform our plans to expand community testing much more extensively and much more routinely early in the new year."

NS: "Of course, it's important to stress that any test will only tell you if you are positive at that point in time when you are being tested."

NS: "They will not necessarily show up if you are still incubating the virus so they don't mean that you can or should stop following all of the other safety measures in place."

NS: "And we also cannot tell that, even although you are negative one day, you don't pick up the virus after you've had the test and might be positive a day later."

NS: "So please continue to follow all of the advice on self-isolation if you have symptoms - distance, face coverings, all the other things we are advising people to do."

NS: "But that aside, we do hope that identifying more people who are positive will help us ensure they are not spreading the virus. That's why we're currently focusing these trials, these pilot programmes, on areas with high prevalence."

NS: "If you live in one of these areas, I'd encourage you to come forward for testing. You give yourself the chance of finding out if you have the virus, if you don't have symptoms, but you're also helping with that collective effort to try to break the chains of transmission."

NS: "You can find out more details on the NHSinform website, and if you do have symptoms remember, the advice still stands. If you have the symptoms of Covid, you should come forward for testing."

NS: "The second issue I want to update on is a change to the eligibility rules for our self-isolation support grant. You'll recall that's a payment of £500 for people on low incomes who would otherwise lose out financially when they self-isolate for public health reasons..."

NS: "..when they're advised to do that by Test & Protect, for example. So it is an important way in which the Government can support people to do the right thing as we all try to tackle Covid together."

NS: "From next Monday - that's 7th December - we're making two changes to try to widen the range of people who are able to claim the support grant. Firstly, up until 7th December, you can only get the grant if you yourself have been asked to self-isolate by Test & Protect."

NS: "But from next week, you'll also be able to claim the grant if you meet the other eligibility requirements - if one of your children has to self-isolate from school or nursery and that means you're not able to work for that period."

NS: "The second change we're making relates to the fact you can currently only receive the grant if you receive Universal Credit. Again, from next week, you will also now be eligible even if you don't get Universal Credit..."

NS: "..if your local authority believes you would qualify for it if you applied. So that change will help more people get the grant as quickly as possible and hopefully reduce the chance of people missing out on it."

NS: "These extensions to self-isolation support are important because self-isolation is so important."

NS: "As I said a moment ago, if you have symptoms of Covid you should self-isolate immediately and take steps to get tested. If the test shows you have Covid, you should self-isolate for ten days from the date of the test."

NS: "If you're a contact of someone with Covid you'll be advised to self-isolate for 14 days and be told by Test & Protect what the starting point is for that time period and therefore what the end point is for 14 days."

NS: "Children will sometimes be contacts and will therefore sometimes be advised to self-isolate. Self-isolation is a crucial way in which we can stop people who have the virus or might have the virus..."

NS: "..but aren't yet infectious from going out and about and transmitting it to others."

NS: "It's an important contribution we all might need to make at some time and it's important that we, when we're advised to do so, follow that advice."

NS: "But we recognise that self-isolation for a period of 10 or 14 days is a really tough thing to be asking people to do - particularly for those on low incomes who might not be able or be less able to work from home and be less likely to have access to statutory sick pay."

NS: "We don't want anyone to feel they're having to choose between self-isolating and feeding their families. So I hope today's expansion of the support grant will help more people do the right thing if they or their children are asked to self-isolate."

NS: "I've spoken today about testing and self-isolation - these are two really important ways of trying to reduce transmission."

NS: "But I'll close, as I always do, by summarising the other key rules and guidance which we should all follow right now to try to keep ourselves safe and reduce the chance of transmission."

NS: "Remember, if you are in any doubt about what level your own area is in and what the rules are that apply where you live, you can go onto the Scottish Government website and enter your postcode and you'll get the information there."

NS: "In summary, you should not be visiting other people's houses right now unless you live on the islands, unless you've got an essential reason for doing that."

NS: "If you're visiting people outdoors, keep to the limits of a maximum of 6 people from 2 households. Please abide by the travel restrictions, which are really important right now to stop the virus spreading from high to low prevalence areas."

NS: "Avoid car sharing if you can, work from home if at all possible, download the Protect Scotland app, and finally, FACTS - which are the basic things we can do to try to stop the virus spreading."

NS: "Remember face coverings, remember to avoid crowded places, remember to clean your hands and surfaces regularly, remember to keep a two-metre distance from people in other households."

NS: "And, as I've already said a couple of times already, remember to self-isolate and get tested if you have symptoms. Thank you very much again for listening."