A two week circuit-breaker could buy Scotland almost a month in the fight against coronavirus.
Clinical director Jason Leitch says a "short, sharp shock" with closures to education and some businesses could help reduce the infection rate without the need for a full-scale lockdown.
Speaking on the BBC's Seven Days programme, he explained: "You might make some choices in there about schools or about further education - but fundamentally a short, sharp shock to the R number."
Mr Leitch pointed out that if the move was successful in driving the R number down, it may allow the Scottish Government to reopen some of the businesses and services that have been closed.
He added: "So the idea is that a two-week, roughly, circuit-breaker, would buy you 28 days. You don't know that for sure, because it's not an exact science, but it would buy you about a month in the pandemic."
Mr Leitch's comments come as schools across Scotland prepare for the October holiday.
In Glasgow pupils stop on Thursday and are not scheduled to return to the classroom until Monday, October 19.
The move could mean tourism businesses hoping to cash in on the break losing out, and families potentially having to cancel scheduled holidays.
A further 758 new cases were confirmed in Scotland yesterday, 266 of them in Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
