New data from Public Health Scotland has revealed that positive coronavirus tests are "only the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to the full picture of how coronavirus is moving through the Scottish population.
Today, Deputy Medical Officer Dr. Steedman revealed that the Scottish Government has been anonymously surveilling the blood samples of a number of Scots between the end of April and the end of June.
These samples of blood were kept secret, with patient details replaced with a study code. The samples were taken from people in six health board areas: Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Grampian, Highland, Lanarkshire, Lothian, and Tayside.
The study has revealed the bleak reality of how few of us have "likely come into contact with the coronavirus" so far, dashing hopes that any kind of 'herd immunity' may have established itself in the country, and raising the likelihood of further outbreaks.
Around 4751 samples of blood were submitted to Public Health Scotland for surveillance and the work estimates that the proportion of people across Scotland that have positive antibodies is only around 4.3 per cent.
The Deputy Medical Officer revealed that this means only a "small proportion" of the population so far "have likely been exposed to coronavirus in Scotland".
She added "It's this low number of people likely exposed that explains I think and reinforces our ongoing message to you
"Firstly that we need to be careful when we are easing out of lockdown and secondly this is why we still want you to follow all of the guidance on physical distancing. "
You can read a full account of today's daily briefing on our liveblog here.
