SCOTLAND carried out less than half of a 10,000 coronavirus tests-a-day target according to new figures divulged for the first time by the First Minister.
On April 3, the First Minister set out an aim to "proportionately" match with 10% of the 100,000-tests-a-day pledge by the UK health secretary Matt Hancock.
And today in a recalculation of how Scotland is testing for coronavirus, she said 4661 tests were carried out on Thursday.
Meanwhile Mr Hancock announced that the UK government had actually more than met the its ambitious of reaching 100,000 tests-a-day by the end of April, managing 122,347 on Thursday.
He said: "I know it was an audacious goal, but we needed an audacious goal, because testing is so important for getting Britain back on her feet.
"This unprecedented expansion in British testing capability is an incredible achievement."
The Scottish Government's official figures till now were based on the number of people tested in laboratories across Scotland.
At midweek the Scottish Government data for the previous nine days showed that just over 1370 were being tested daily on average - an increase of just 30-a-day or 2.2% over a month.
Now Ms Sturgeon has wiped away the Scottish Government's previous way of reporting its testing for Covid-19 to include reports from an expanded ability to test for the virus including for the first time through regional drive through centres.
Before now the only time testing in Scotland had gone above 2000 a day since the crisis began was on April 4, according to Scottish Government's figures - the day after Ms Sturgeon set her 10% target.
The Scottish Government had been preparing to have the ability to test - referred to officially as 'capacity' - in Scotland's laboratories to rise to more than 3,500 daily by the end of the month.
The First Minister said the ability to test had actually exceeded that and had risen to 4350 tests a day with NHS laboratories operating in 14 health board areas.
She said that by the end of next week the NHS capacity to test will rise to 6500 a day and that there was an aim be able to do 8000 by the middle of this month.
Further testing outside NHS laboratories was being carried out at the Glasgow Lighthouse Lab adding an ability to test a further 4000.
She said that regional drive-through tests had been not been included in past data produced by the government - meaning the numbers reported today had shot up.
Some 2,537 NHS tests were carried out on Thursday. In addition 2,124 tests were carried out yesterday in regional drive-through centres.
"Laboratory capacity is one thing, what matters is the volume of testing we do and the clinical objectives we set for testing. This can't just be about chasing numbers, " she said
The expansion mean that testing in care homes in Scotland will include testing of all residents and staff - whether or not they have the virus - in homes where there has been a confirmed case.
Up until now, testing was for residents with symptoms, those admitted to homes and symptomatic care home staff.
Testing for coronavirus is being seen as a crucial factor to easing out of lockdown - allowing the country to effectively isolate cases and their contacts to contain any spread.
The Scottish Government's previous data reporting.
Both the UK and Scottish government have been coming under fire for unpreparedness and a failure in mass testing in the current coronavirus pandemic.
According to figures for Monday there was a UK capacity for testing of 73,000 and 43,000 tests were carried out - less than half Mr Hancock's 100,000 tests-a-day target.
The ten per-cent 'rule' would have meant Scotland doing 4,356 tests and have capacity to do 7,340.
Scottish ministers have previously been accused of shifting the goalposts on test figures by following the original target of having the ability to do 3,500 tests by Friday.
On April 3, the First Minister indicated the aim was to take it further than that after British ministers said the UK would "carry out 100,000 tests for coronavirus every day by the end of this month".
Mr Hancock made the announcement with the UK government saying "increased testing for the NHS" will form part of a new five-pillar plan....to dramatically increase the number of tests being carried out each day."
Nicola Sturgeon sets out her 10,000-tests-a-day target during her briefing on April 3.
The UK government had said it accelerated testing by making use of the private sector to buy commercial swab tests, by introducing new testing centres, along with the use of hospital and research sector labs to process the results to enable the UK to undertake 100,000 more tests a day over the coming weeks.
Ms Sturgeon explained the Scottish rationale when asked why the 3,500-test target was "so modest" compared to the UK's new ambition.
She firmly denied in the April 3 briefing that Mr Hancock's 100,000 target meant Scotland was being left behind.
And she made it clear that the 3,500-test aim was not comparable to the UK's 100,000-test target.
She said that through the same measures "Scotland will get to a position which is proportionately the same" as the 100,000 target.
"It is very important to be clear, and I want to be crystal clear on this, it is not the right comparison to compare the 3,500 [for Scotland] to the UK's 100,000.
Daily results as previously reported referred to the number of tests in the Health Protection Scotland system reported to Health Protection Scotland by the laboratories in the 24 hours from 08:00 to 08:00.
"We are both trying to get to a level for the UK's 100,000 and for us it would be the approximate 10 per cent of that," she said. "So there is no difference in terms of the aims that we have set. So I hope I am making that absolutely crystal clear."
In announcing the 100,000-test plan the UK government said global manufacturers would be encouraged to expand their manufacturing capacity in the UK.
The Scottish Government has always missing any testing target, although accepted that Ms Sturgeon had talked of getting to ten percent of the UK's 100,000 tests-a-day target.
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