Nicola Sturgeon has announced that school children in Scotland will have to remain wearing face coverings up until the October holidays.
Since schools returned from summer breaks cases of the deadly virus have surged.
Over the last 24 hours 3,375 positive cases were reported. There are 1,064 people are in hospital with Covid – 16 more than the previous day. There are 89 people are in intensive care.
Twenty one deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, which takes the total number of deaths registered, under the daily definition, to 8,263.
Sturgeon said: "We have also received further advice from the Advisory sub-group on Education, and I will highlight two points arising from that.
"First, we indicated at the start of term that secondary schools pupils would need to wear face coverings in class for the first six weeks of term, subject to a review at that point.
"Given the high levels of infection still being experienced, the Advisory sub-group has advised that this requirement should remain in place until the October holidays, and be reviewed again then.
"I know how unpopular this is with many pupils and I understand why. But for now, it remains a prudent and necessary precaution.
"Second, we will clarify an aspect of guidance on contact tracing in schools, to help ensure better understanding of the process.
"There is no change in advice for close contacts thought to be at high risk of having Covid. They will continue to be advised to self-isolate until they have returned a negative PCR test.
"For children and young people, a high-risk contact is most likely to be a household member, or someone they have stayed overnight with."
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