Deputy First Minister John Swinney has said the "rising prevalence" of coronavirus in Scotland is a "cause for concern", suggesting "there may be a requirement to bring in further restrictions".
Speaking on the BBC channel's Politics Scotland programme, Mr Swinney added that he couldn't give an "absolute guarantee" that further restrictions wouldn't be introduced over the October school holidays - which are already underway for some Scottish children.
Mr Swinney said: "I am [concerned]. We are seeing a rising prevalence of coronavirus within our community.
"That’s been going on for some time, and obviously we are taking steps and made announcements close to a fortnight ago to apply further restrictions to try to reduce the incidence of coronavirus.
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"We have to give that some time to make sure that we see the effect of those measures, but obviously the statistics are a cause for concern and they are a reminder to all of us of the importance of following the key aspects of the FACTS advice."
He added: "There may be a requirement to bring in further restrictions and we keep this issue under constant review.
"The Government is looking at all of the data and we’ve obviously taken steps just short of two weeks ago to apply further restrictions around household visiting for example.
"We’ve got to keep that data under constant review. If there is a necessity for us to take further action, we will consider what steps will be effective in that respect."
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The Deputy First Minister also said "targeted action" would be used to address the worsening trend so that it is dealt with as effectively as possible - by analysing where the virus is being transmitted.
And when asked whether there would be a ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown over the period when schools were on the October holiday break, Mr Swinney said he was unable to give an “absolute guarantee” that further restrictions wouldn’t be introduced, adding that the issues were “kept under constant review”.
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