Covid-19 testing is being extended in Scotland with those over 65 showing symptoms, and their households, now eligible.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also announced today (Friday) that testing would be expanded in Scottish care homes, with "outbreak investigations" in any facilities where the virus is present.
In the daily briefing she confirmed that some non keyworkers who need to leave their home for work could also undergo tests.
Sturgeon said of care home testing: “I can confirm today we will now expand this further. We now intend to launch enhanced outbreak investigations in any care homes where there are outbreaks of the virus. This will include testing individuals, with their permission, whether or not they have symptoms.”
Detail on how to book an NHS test should be set out in the coming days, with an online queueing system possible added if demand is high.
Overall, testing capacity has increased dramatically in recent weeks.
The First Minister confirmed that 2537 NHS tests were carried out yesterday, and 2124 tests were carried out at regional drive thru testing centres
22400 key workers have now been tested in NHS system, and over 4000 of these have been in the last week.
Health secretary Jeane Freeman revealed that antibody tests would start next week – on Wednesday 6 May – at health boards across the country.
The hope is that this should build up a picture of who has had the virus in the past, and how many people have been infected.
The health secretary said: "This will allow us to take another significant step forward in our understanding of what is still a very new virus."
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