CONCERNS have been raised over a rise in new positive Covid cases this week, just days before the First Minister is set to update Parliament on Scotland's roadmap out of lockdown.
Scotland's national clinical director, Professor Jason Leitch, said the figures "may just be a blip" but will be closely monitored.
There were 700 new cases in Scotland today, including 250 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
Asked whether the trend could be linked to crowds of Rangers fans celebrating their team's Premiership title in Glasgow on Sunday, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said it was "too early" to say.
The average incubation period between exposure to the virus and onset of symptoms is five to six days.
Ms Freeman said: "It's not possible to answer that in any definitive way. We can only find out where people have been and where they could have acquired to virus, although it's not absolute, once contact tracing has been done.
"That is underway with those cases...it's too early in the process to make absolute judgements about where any of those cases might have come from."
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Prof Leitch added: "We can't tell yet - but people are catching it somewhere. You don't catch it if you don't meet someone who's got it.
"I can assure you Greater Glasgow and Clyde's infection control groups and public health groups will be having problem assessment meetings where they look at that data and what it's showing us, but we won't know until the contact tracing is done where people have been.
"That doesn't show causation, it just tells you where they've been. But if we see a pattern we'll have to give advice about what that pattern is."
There have been 826 cases reported in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region from Tuesday to today, compared to 565 over the previous four days.
It comes after Justice Secretary Humza Yousef warned that the Ranger-Celtic clash on March 21 could be called off after the breaches of Covid guidelines, which saw hundreds of supporters gathering in Glasgow's George Square.
Prof Leitch, who will join Mr Yousef at a meeting with football authorities today, said fans looking forward to the Old Firm derby should "celebrate at home, digitally".
He added that if case numbers continue to rise "we will have to rethink" the pace of easing out of lockdown.
Prof Leitch said: "Up until Monday, everything was looking good - numbers were falling, they were decelerating, our seven-day average across the nation was 65 per 100,000 - the lowest it had been in months.
"And about half the local authorities in Scotland were under 50, the point where the WHO says you are beginning to have control - not complete control, you need to be under 20 for that - but since Monday, numbers have risen.
"Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, the numbers have gone up, and that's worried us a bit.
"They have not gone up dramatically and it may just be a blip, we don't know.
"But that emphasises two things: one, we should open slowly, and we should have three-week check ups. That's what we did with schools and that will continue to be our advice."
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He added that while the vaccination programme has been a success, 60 per cent of the population has not yet been vaccinated.
"The medium term data is good, it's encouraging, it continues to show improvement," said Prof Leitch.
"The short-term data does not. The last four days have been increases. Today we have 700 cases including 250 cases in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and over 100 cases in Lanarkshire.
"If they translate into 70 admissions and seven deaths, the traditional numbers we've had, that's not good news. That's going in the wrong direction."
Ms Freeman added: "We are by no no means on an absolutely steady progressive downward trajectory - we're not there yet.
"The vaccination programme is going well, but we've got to get to mid-April to have vaccinated, or offered a first dose, to all the priority groups."
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