THE UK Government could learn lessons from Scotland's more cautious response to Covid-19, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister spoke as different approaches to the pandemic north and south of the Border highlighted the growing divide between Scotland and England.
As Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Scotland today, Sturgeon said: "Do I think there are things the UK Government could learn from Scotland? Yes I do."
She added: "An approach that is very much driven by elimination I think is one thing they could learn.
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"I would encourage the UK Government to do that because I think that would help all of the countries of the UK to drive the infection to the lowest possible level and put us into the strongest position going into winter."
Professor Devi Sridhar (below), a public health expert from the University of Edinburgh, who has been advising the Scottish Government, tweeted on Wednesday she was "struggling to understand what the UK strategy is going into winter esp as still in early to mid part of pandemic".
She suggested the approach adopted by Westminster might involve "pretending that Covid-19 is going to disappear and that past six months never happened".
In England, figures from the Office for National Statistics show there have been 48,532 deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate.
In Scotland, the latest data from the National Records of Scotland put the coronavirus death toll at 4193.
A YouGov poll at the end of May found 44% of adults in the UK thought Scotland has dealt better with the pandemic, with 14% saying England and 25% ranking their responses as the same.
The countries that make up the UK initially had a "four nations" response to the virus but there has been divergence since.
Sturgeon, speaking today, said: "As of now, Scotland has a very low prevalence of this virus.
"We have had no deaths over the past week, we have only one in the past 15 days.
"And that is a much lower position of the state of the virus than other parts of the UK.
"Therefore, that says to me that what we are doing in Scotland is right and we should keep doing it."
The Scottish Government took a more cautious approach to relaxing lockdown which, combined with her daily appearance at televised briefings to explain her strategy, have resulted in strong approval ratings for the SNP leader.
A Panelbase poll in Scotland published earlier this month found wide backing for her handling of the coronavirus crisis, with the First Minister's approval rating on the issue at 60 points.
In contrast, Boris Johnson's approval rating on the crisis was minus 39 points.
The same poll also found support for Scottish independence at a record high of 54%.
Sturgeon has said her decisions during the pandemic have all been based on public health and not party politics.
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