Teachers working in schools in Edinburgh were told to disable the Protect Scotland coronavirus contact tracing app at work, Edinburgh Live can reveal.
It was reported on Wednesday that teachers in Aberdeen were told by council bosses to turn the app off in school over fears they could be told to self-isolate needlessly.
Asked about the advice at her daily briefing, both First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and clinical director Jason Leitch said the advice was wrong, and that teachers should only disable the app if, for example, their phone was secured in a locker.
Nicola Sturgeon said that if a teacher had their phone on their person then the app should be active.
The First Minister also referred to Aberdeen City Council's public disagreements with the Scottish Government over coronavirus policy.
But a spokesperson for the SNP led City of Edinburgh Council said they gave teachers the same advice as in Aberdeen based on public health advice from NHS Lothian.
A letter to teachers in Aberdeen said they could be notified as having been in contact with someone with the virus "even when a public health investigation of the full circumstances may have identified no close contact".
"Public health colleagues have suggested that school staff should disable to remove the app while working in school buildings as the app is not able to identify when robust mitigations have been in place," it read.
Public Health Scotland said it had not issued any national guidance following reports of the letter in Aberdeen.
Speaking at her daily coronavirus briefing, the First Minister said that whilst she did not have all the details, she was aware of an incident where people were told to self isolate after their phones were stored together.
"We shouldn't be asking people to switch off the app in my view when they have their phone with them, that is defeating the purpose of Protect Scotland," she said.
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"I cannot be clearer. If you are a teacher in a school there is no reason I can think of you would be routinely advised to turn that app off and there is every reason I can think of why that would be the wrong advice to give."
Both the First Minister and NHS Lothian have been contacted for comment.
