No new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Scotland for a sixth day in a row, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The First Minister told the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing that 2,490 patients have died in the country after testing positive for Covid-19, no change on last Wednesday’s figure.

She said 18,368 people have tested positive for the disease, up three from 18,365 on Monday.

A total of 668 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, up 67 from 550 the previous day, she added.

Of these 12 are in intensive care, up six in 24 hours.

Ahead of lockdown restrictions easing further in Scotland on Wednesday to allow people to return to pubs, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers and places of worship, Ms Sturgeon warned these changes are the “highest risk” and told people not to go if they do not want to provide contact details.

As part of the Scottish Government’s contact tracing system, customers are expected to hand over this information so they can be tracked following any potential positive cases of coronavirus.

“Our most immediate risk is not a second wave of Covid, it is a resurgence of a the first wave,” Ms Sturgeon said.

“The changes that come into force tomorrow are the highest risk changes so far since we started to come out of lockdown because many of them involve indoor activity and we know the the risk of the virus spreading indoors, in a pub for example, is significantly higher than outdoors.”

The Scottish Government has published guidance for resuming communal worship and on collecting contact details to assist coronavirus contact tracing where necessary.

Ms Sturgeon said: “Data collection is very important, it means that customers or staff can be notified if they come into contact with somebody who is subsequently found to have Covid-19.

“It’s therefore absolutely crucial to our test and protect system, and it’s one of the measures that we hope will help to build public and staff confidence as more premises reopen.”

After urging businesses to read the updated guidance, Ms Sturgeon added: “I would make a plea to all customers to accept that, if you want to go somewhere like a hairdresser or a place of worship or to a popular restaurant, you will be asked to provide contact details.

“You should co-operate with anyone who is asking you to do that.

“In fact, if you’re not prepared to provide your contact details, my message to you is pretty blunt – don’t go to these places, because you could be putting others at greater risk.

“Today’s guidance is in the best interest of businesses and the public overall, and all of us, as has been the case throughout this crisis, have a shared interest in making it work effectively.”