Nicola Sturgeon admitted there were problems with Scotland's coronavirus track and trace system - but vowed it is now working well.
The First Minister responded after a “coding error” was blamed for overestimating the number of people contacted within 24 hours of testing positive for the virus or the Test and Protect system being notified.
Some cases were being marked as detected in a day when it should have been longer. In some cases the system had been performing up to five times worse than previously thought, with contact tracing taking longer than 72 hours to complete.
Sturgeon said new figures show it is working when measured against international guidance.
At her daily briefing in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said the public can have confidence in the Test and Protect system.
Sturgeon added: “Test and Protect is working well. Like any system it is not going to be perfect - the coding error should not have happened, but it happened and these things do happen in computer systems sometimes.”
In separate concerns, Sturgeon was also forced to remind the public to keep their phones with them when the tracing app is enabled on phones.
It was claimed teachers in a school in Aberdeen were being told to turn the app off after confusion about potential covid contacts.
Sturgeon said it’s thought phones were being left in bags close together while people, including teachers, were not nearby.
“That’s not a flaw, if you are not with your phone then clearly switching off the app if you want to is not something which causes a problem,” she said.
“But we should be asking people to switch off the app when they have the phone with them.”
Responding to the concerns, Green party MSP Ross Greer said teachers need all the protection they can get.
“Extremely vulnerable teachers are being bullied back into classroom against the advice of their GPs and now we learn that council officials are instructing teachers to turn the Test and Protect app off,” he said.
“The app is an essential tool in reducing transmission of the virus within the community and in allowing exposed individuals to take steps to protect both themselves and their families, so this diktat isn’t just wrong, it’s dangerous.”
