list of places where the wearing of face coverings is required to include libraries, museums and places of worship, with effect from the following day. she also announces the collection of contact tracing details will become mandatory for the hospitality industry from the following week. a further 43 cases are recorded in scotland, with the number of cases linked to aberdeen standing at 101. they include two aberdeen f.c. players who tested positive from a group of eight who attended a night club the previous weekend. 8 august – a further 60 covid-19 cases are reported in scotland, including 39 in the nhs grampian area which includes the city of aberdeen. 9 august – ministers announce a relaxing of rules for care home visits from the following day that allows three outdoor visitors per person from two separate households. 10 august – first minister nicola sturgeon apologises for the exam results controversy, saying the scottish government "did not get it right". a royal bank of scotland survey finds the private sector scottish economy is "approaching stabilisation" following the effects of lockdown. a leading public sector leisure management facility warns that leisure centres in the public sector are facing closure because of the impact of the pandemic. 11 august – the scottish government agrees to upgrade thousands of exam results following controversy over their marking, and accept teachers' estimates of pupils' results. pupils in scotland return to school for the first time since march. 12 august – first minister nicola sturgeon announces that lockdown measures will remain in place in aberdeen. cases have fallen since it was implemented, but are still higher than in other areas. 13 august – first minister nicola sturgeon warns that covid-19 cases in scotland may be increasing again following a series of clusters in orkney, glasgow and aberdeenshire. 14 august – the scottish professional football league begins disciplinary action against aberdeen and celtic over breaches of covid-19 protocol. authorities announce that anyone in the grampian region identified as a close contact of someone testing positive for covid-19 will be offered a test, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms. 15 august – a further 51 cases of covid-19 are reported in scotland, 25 of them in the nhs grampian region. 16 august – the scottish government has awarded the national trust for scotland £3.8m, enabling it to save 200 jobs. a sunday post investigation reveals that at least 37 covid patients have been transferred to care homes following a diagnosis in hospital. 18 august – the scottish qualifications authority says that 75,000 new exam certificates will be issued following the grades controversy. 19 august – lockdown measures in aberdeen are extended for a further week. first minister nicola sturgeon says the restrictions are having an impact, but it is "not yet safe" to lift them. 20 august – portugal is added to the uk's quarantine exemption list, while croatia, austria and trinidad and tobago are taken off it; scotland also removes switzerland from its own quarantine exemption list. first minister nicola sturgeon announces that gyms, swimming pools and indoor sports courts can reopen from 31 august. 22 august – 123 new covid-19 cases have been recorded in scotland during the latest 24 hour period. students and staff at james gillespie's high school in edinburgh are told to wear face coverings while moving between classes from 24 august after pictures emerged on social media of crowded corridors. 23 august – lockdown restrictions in aberdeen are partially lifted, with restrictions on travel and a ban on indoor gatherings lifted from 24 august, and bars and restaurants allowed to reopen from 26 august. scotland records an increase of 83 covid-19 cases in the most recent 24 hours, including 37 in tayside. 24 august – the scottish government announces it is in the "final stages" of consultation to introduce the wearing of face coverings for students at secondary schools to be worn while moving between lessons. a total of 27 covid-19 cases have been linked to a school in dundee, most of them among staff at the school. 25 august – the scottish government announces that school pupils will be required to wear face coverings in school corridors, communal areas and on school buses from monday 31 august. filming recommences on bbc scotland's soap river city. 26 august – scotland records two covid-19 deaths, the first daily deaths to be recorded since 16 july. 27 august – first minister nicola sturgeon announces that 17,500 covid tests were carried out on children across scotland during the past week, with 49 testing positive. 28 august – a new law comes into force giving police the power to break up house parties involving more than fifteen people. first minister nicola sturgeon announces that the scottish government has been holding talks with business leaders about a phased return to offices, but says she does not want to see people intimidated into returning to work. 29 august – scotland records its second highest number of daily covid-19 cases since the end of may with a further 88 documented in the most recent 24 hours. 30 august – a further 123 covid cases are recorded, giving scotland its highest number of new cases over 48 hours since 22 may. the news comes as the number of tests reaches a record level. 31 august – first minister nicola sturgeon expresses her concern after a further 160 people test positive for covid-19. face coverings become mandatory for scottish secondary schools. gyms, swimming pools and indoor sports courts are permitted to reopen. september 2020 1 september – figures released by the scottish government show school attendance down to 84.5%, with 100,000 pupils absent from the classroom. restrictions on visiting other households are reintroduced in glasgow and the neighbouring areas of west dunbartonshire and east renfrewshire following a rise in covid-19 cases. the scottish government announces that travellers from greece to scotland will be required to quarantine from 4 am on 3 september. 2 september – health officials find evidence of covid-19 transmission in two schools in glasgow. deputy first minister john swinney defends the scottish government's decision to allow pubs to remain open in glasgow following the introduction of stricter lockdown measures in the city; swinney says the virus is being spread by households rather than the hospitality sector. the opposition scottish conservatives have warned that school pupils face being "taught less and learning less" as schools plan to cover less ground in key subjects like maths and english, and they call for urgent action to prevent this. 3 september – first minister nicola sturgeon warns that covid-19 is spreading again in scotland as a further 101 new cases are confirmed, 53 of them in the greater glasgow area. scotland removes portugal from its quarantine exemption list effective from 4 am on 5 september. 4 september – uk transport secretary grant shapps criticises the scottish government for imposing quarantine restrictions on greece and portugal, saying they "jumped the gun" over greece and did not take into account all of the data when making their decision about portugal. 5 september – as an additional 141 covid-19 cases contribute to the highest weekly rise since may, anti-lockdown protesters gather in edinburgh for a demonstration against restrictions. with cases rising in lanarkshire, health officials warn that further restrictions could be imposed if they continue to increase. 6 september – a further 208 new cases are recorded for scotland. 7 september – after a further 146 covid-19 cases are reported, first minister nicola sturgeon says it may be necessary to "put the brakes" on the further easing of lockdown measures in scotland. restrictions on home visits in the west of scotland are extended to cover renfrewshire and east dunbartonshire. 8 september – a further 176 covid-19 cases are reported in scotland, with cases recorded in every mainland health board area. 9 september – figures released by national records of scotland (nrs) show that deaths between april and june 2020 increased by a third on other years, with 18,201 deaths recorded, 4,515 more than the five year average. scotland's outdoor education sector warns it faces being lost without financial support from the scottish government. 10 september – the number of people permitted at social gatherings indoors and outdoors is reduced to six in a bid to stem the acceleration of covid cases, while customers in pubs, restaurants and cafes will be required to wear face coverings when not eating. planned changes scheduled for 14 september are postponed until 5 october, meaning theatres, live music venues, indoor soft play facilities and indoor contact sports will not open as originally planned. scotland's contact tracing app, protect scotland, becomes available for download, and by the following day has been downloaded 600,000 times. by 17 september 100 people have been told to self-isolate because of the app after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus. 11 september – households in lanarkshire are banned from mixing from midnight. 12 september – covid-19 cases in scotland reach a four month high with a further 221 daily cases reported. 13 september – daily covid-19 cases rise to 244. 14 september – first minister nicola sturgeon says there are "very serious concerns" about covid testing backlogs, and that she is seeking "urgent discussions" with uk government ministers about the issue. 15 september – first minister nicola sturgeon says she has had "constructive" talks with uk health secretary matt hancock about the virus testing backlog, and is confident the issue can be resolved. sturgeon suggests that "guising" – the scottish version of trick-or-treating – could be banned for halloween 2020. 16 september – families from the group care home relatives scotland lobby msps for improvements to care home visiting arrangements, which they describe as "cruel". national records of scotland publishes a breakdown of covid-19 related deaths, showing that covid was mentioned in 4,236 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, with a peak of 108 on 9 april, and five deaths registered as covid related in the week from 7–13 september. the total number of deaths for the same week was 1,056, five percent higher than the average. 17 september – thailand and singapore are added to the quarantine exemption list, meaning travellers arriving from there will no longer need to self-isolate. slovenia and guadeloupe are removed. eleven people test positive for covid-19 following an outbreak of the virus at accommodation belonging to edinburgh napier university. bbc scotland says it will continue to broadcast scottish government briefings following criticism when, during the previous week, it announced that televised broadcasts would be based on "editorial merit". 18 september – first minister nicola sturgeon warns that "hard but necessary" decisions regarding restrictions may be required to prevent another full scale lockdown. in response to sturgeon's comments, university of st andrews asks its students to observe a voluntary lockdown over the upcoming weekend by staying in their rooms as much as possible and avoiding mixing with others. 19 september – the number of daily covid-19 cases in scotland rises to 350, with three deaths also recorded. 20 september – health secretary jeane freeman says that large fines for those who fail to self-isolate when told to do so are "under discussion". 21 september – first minister nicola sturgeon says that extra covid restrictions will "almost certainly" be introduced in the next few days. aberdeen and celtic are fined £30,000 by the scottish professional football league after players from both clubs breached covid-19 rules. 22 september – first minister nicola sturgeon announces that the ban on visiting other households will be extended across scotland from the following day. 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants will follow from 25 september. 23 september – scotland records a further 486 daily cases. nicola sturgeon describes the figures as concerning, but says it is important to remember more tests are being carried out than at the peak of the pandemic. 600 students at the university of glasgow are self-isolating after a covid-19 outbreak there involving at least 124 cases. 24 september – students at scottish universities are advised not to visit pubs, restaurants and parties, and to socialise only with members of their accommodation in a bid to stem the spread of covid-19. the scottish government faces criticism that regulations for households mixing