THE number of children under 17 being tested for Covid in Scotland has soared eight-fold since the middle of July.

Nicola Sturgeon said nearly 17,500 children aged two to 17 were tested for the virus last week, but stressed that only 49 - 0.3 per cent - had a positive result.

The First Minister said this should be "reassuring to parents and teachers" worried about the impact of schools reopening on the spread of coronavirus.

It came as the number of cases identified as part of the Kingspark School cluster in Dundee rose to 36, including 22 cases among staff and three in pupils from the same class. 

The additional support needs school for children aged five to 18 was closed for deep-cleaning last Wednesday as a result of the outbreak, with staff and pupils told to self-isolate as a precaution for 14 days.

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Ms Sturgeon said: "I know and I can well understand why many parents and teachers and young people themselves have concerns about the return to school, and yes, we've had clusters of cases in some communities involving young people, but I think these figures reveal the bigger picture."

Ms Sturgeon added that despite a 300% increase in testing among this age group between the week ending August 16 and August 23, only two additional cases were detected last week.

Scottish Government figures also show that in the week to August 23, a total of 46,091 people in Scotland were newly tested for Covid-19 - with 479 cases detected.

That suggests that children under 17 accounted for 38% of those tested, but only 10% of positive cases. 

Ms Sturgeon stressed that parents should not be seeking a Covid test for cold-like symptoms such as a runny nose, unless this was also accompanied by at least one of the three official Covid-19 symptoms such as a new persistent cough, a fever, or a loss or change in sense of smell or taste.

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She said: "While it's understandable that parents in particular want to err on the side of caution, it's also important to remember the symptoms of Covid that trigger the need for a test: a new persistent cough, a fever, a loss or change in sense of taste or smell. 

"Other symptoms like a runny nose - if they are not accompanied by one of the Covid symptoms - should not lead to a test."

The surge in demand for testing through community sites such as drive-thru centres led to some people being told their nearest available booking slot was in England. 

Ms Sturgeon said "technical issues" with the booking system had also been to blame and were being resolved.

Overall, more than 100,000 Covid tests per week are currently being carried out in Scotland across NHS and community sites, up from around 65,000 in mid-July. 

However, three additional mobile testing units are being deployed this week to increase capacity by 1200 to 1500 per day. 

NHS Scotland has also ordered thousands of new Covid testing kits capable of providing results within 12 minutes.