'Strong grounds for hope' that Scotland will lift most restrictions on August 9

She said the Scottish Government will decide next week whether to go ahead with the move "beyond Level Zero" on August 9. 

However, speaking at a Scottish Government coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon continued to warn of the need for caution as she announced seven deaths of coronavirus patients and 1,044 new cases in the previous 24 hours.

She said: "This time next week I'll make a statement to the Scottish Parliament setting out whether and to what extent we think we're able to go ahead with that.

"What we'll be doing between now and then is weighing up the different factors that will inform that decision.

"Several of these factors give us really strong grounds for hope and that's positive, although others remind us of the need for continued caution."

Ms Sturgeon said Scotland is in a "much better place" than it was at the start of the pandemic, or even at the beginning of this month.

She added: "Case number have more than halved in the past three weeks."

The average test positivity rate has also fallen, she said, and is now the lowest it has been since the middle of June. 

Ms Sturgeon added: "To put all this in comparative terms within the UK, at the start of this month Scotland accounted for five of the top 10 local authority Covid hotspots across the UK. 

"At this stage, we have none in the top 150 local authority hotspots across the UK."

The First Minister said a "new milestone" has been reached as more than four million people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and urged those who have not yet taken up their vaccine offer to do so.

She said: "I'm pleased to say that firstly, as of this morning, a new milestone has passed.

"More than four million people, 4,000,653 to be precise, have now received a first dose of vaccine."

A total of 3,108,928 people have received their second dose.

Ms Sturgeon said:"We have seen some very positive developments recently and that goes give us, it certainly gives me, grounds for optimism that we will be able to continue our progress out restrictions.

"That said we do still need to be cautious.

"It's good that case are lower than they were were three weeks ago, that comes as a relief I know to all of us, but they are still nine times higher than they were at the start of May and we know that the Delta variant is significantly more infectious than previous variants.

"So just as a sensible degree of caution up to now has helped us get case numbers back on a downward path a sensible degree of continued caution in the period ahead will help avoid sending that progress into reverse."

Elsewhere, Ms Sturgeon said pregnant women are being strongly encouraged to come forward to be vaccinated.

She said: "The Scottish Government in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation [JCVI] is strongly recommending that pregnant women get the vaccine as soon as they are asked to do so.

"Vaccination is the best way of protecting against the risks of Covid and pregnancy and these include admission of the pregnant mother to intensive care, and also the possibility of premature birth.

"Already in Scotland alone, more than 4,000 pregnant women have received the vaccine and there are thousands and thousands more across the world who have received the vaccine. 

"The evidence of its safety is overwhelming."

Giving a further update on the daily coronavirus figures, the First Minister said there were 472 people in hospital on Monday with recently confirmed Covid-19, down three on the previous day, with 63 patients in intensive care, down two.

Ms Sturgeon said Scotland's chief medical officer, Dr Gregor Smith, is writing to the JCVI about the issue of under 18s receiving the coronavirus vaccine, noting that in Scotland schools return next month.