Nicola Sturgeon pleaded with Scots to "stick with the plan" or risk jeopardising moves out of lockdown.
The First Minister is preparing to relax restrictions in "phase two" later next week as coronavirus shows signs of retreat in Scotland. But she said getting it wrong now will put more lives at risk.
Reflecting on progress at her daily briefing today, Sturgeon said: "Many will think that means we should speed up our exit from lockdown and I understand that. We are all deeply, deeply anxious about the impact on the economy.
"But the fact is this - the reason we are making such good progress now is that we are carefully following a plan. If we depart from that plan we will risk the progress we're making."
The latest official figures show 2442 hospital deaths in Scotland from people testing positive for Covid-19. It is an increase of three on the previous day’s figures.
Sturgeon previously said she was “very hopeful” phase two will be confirmed next week. Restaurants could open with outdoor seating, people will be able to meet indoors, among other changes.
However, Sturgeon "increasingly fears" the virus will leave people with long-term health consequences.
She said: "The simple fact is if we go too fast now, we risk a resuregence of the virus that will set us back. That is a risk, in my view, we must be careful not to take. I hope we can take more steps forward at next week's review but I want to very clear we must continue to do that cautiously."
Experts say the rate of infection - known as the ‘R’ number - has dropped to somewhere between 0.6 and 0.8, a sign the virus is being suppressed.
The technical term shows how the virus is reproducing in the population. Below one means it is slowing and will eventually peter out. Above one means it is increasing exponentially, signalling a probable return to lockdown restrictions.
