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The lighthouse facility at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital is one of Scotland’s leading testing centers.
Scotland has posted its second highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the end of May.
Another 88 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland in the past 24 hours.
Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that “there was no need to be alarmed” and the increase was due in part to increased testing.
No new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.
Five people were being treated in intensive care on Friday night, two more than the day before.
The largest recent increase in cases was recorded just over a week ago, on August 22, when 123 new cases were recorded. Before that, the next biggest increase was on May 22, when 113 new cases were confirmed.
In its daily update, the Scottish government said 0.7% of newly screened people were found to have the virus.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde saw an increase of 36 positive cases, while NHS Ayrshire and Arran saw 10 new cases.
On Friday, the health board said it was tracking contacts with a small number of students at a South Ayrshire Council high school who had had contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19.
Test and Protect staff were also tracing contacts from a small separate number of positive cases.
Cases in the NHS Tayside and Grampian where there have been outbreaks increased by 11 and six respectively.
Jason Leitch said he was surprised at how quickly an outbreak in Tayside had been contained
Scotland’s national clinical director, Jason Leitch, told the BBC: “It’s up since yesterday. But it’s down since last Saturday. It’s been at this level, 50-100, for about three to four weeks.”
He said there was no indication that there was a major new outbreak of the Aberdeen or Coupar Angus nature.
But he noted the increase in the number of people receiving treatment in intensive care units.
He said: “People shouldn’t take this lightly, everyone should do their part to keep these numbers low.”
‘A little surprised’
Mr Leitch added that he felt the outbreak in Coupar Angus, linked to the 2Sisters food plant, had been “really well contained”.
He said: “The incident management team is doing a really fantastic job. In fact, I’m a little surprised that we were able to contain it. There were a lot of people scattered around Tayside and they have been very good.”
“They have been contacted by local authorities with many home visits and whole-house self-isolation, and we have seen virtually no community transmission of that outbreak.”
How many cases have there been in the last 60 days?
Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that “there was no need to be alarmed” by the increase in cases.
He said the jump was due to an increase in testing, and the proportion of people who were tested who tested positive remained below 1%.
“The increase in cases at the moment reflects in part a higher volume of tests. Fundamentally, our positivity rate remains low (below 1% again today). So there is no need to be alarmed. But you have to be very careful and cautious, it’s all very delicately balanced right now, “he said.
Jason Leitch revealed that he will be writing to parents next week to reinforce guidance on when a virus test is required.
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Nicola Sturgeon said more tests were underway
Almost 17,500 children were tested in the week after they returned from school, putting pressure on the testing system.
She said she wanted to reassure parents about what to do in situations with cold and flu symptoms.
He added that the Scottish government wanted to convey the guidance in the simplest way possible to ensure everyone was safe.
