Scotland will not reach the peak of coronavirus next week, Nicola Sturgeon has warned.
The First Minister said the peak is still 'some time away' as she announced a further 46 deaths from the virus this afternoon.
The Covid-19 death toll now stands at 172, while 3,001 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland - up from 2,602 on Thursday.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Sturgeon said that media reports of Covid-19 peaking next week were not accurate.
She said: "I want to be very clear, that nothing I have seen gives me any basis whatsoever for predicting that the virus will peak as early as a week's time in Scotland.
"I have to ask people to continue to stick to these measures."
Scotland's chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood reiterated the First Minister's assertions about the peak of the virus.
She said: "That curve has been based on mathematical modelling, a computerised version of what might happen in the real world.
"I have been watching these models and now the new data, and I have not been able to find that the peak will be as soon as we're hearing in the media today.
"I would urge people to keep going with these stringent measures, now is not the time to think that perhaps it will all be over soon, we have always said that many months will be needed before we can get on top of this virus and be sure that we're not going to have a worse scenario later."
She added: "At the moment we will not be able to give a clear date of when the peak will be.
"What we will look for first is a slowing of the rate of people testing positive and we are not seeing that yet."
