| Good afternoon, The number of children being tested for possible Covid-19 jumped eight-fold last week compared to figures in the middle of July, Nicola Sturgeon has said. The First Minister said a total of 17,500 children, aged two to 17, were tested last week alone, with just 49 testing positive for the virus. Ms Sturgeon said the positivity rate of 0.3 per cent should provide “assurance” to parents with the figures “encouraging” for the case of having children back in school full time. It follows concerns last weekend that testing capacity in Scotland was being overwhelmed by parents booking tests for children with coughs and sniffles since they have returned to school. Full story HERE A message from the editor: While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription. Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up. Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website. Your feedback is really important, please email me with any comments and suggestions at joy.yates@jpimedia.co.uk Joy Yates Editorial Director JPIMedia Scotland | 