An additional 100 staff have been brought in to help Scotland's Test and Protect system as it deals with the recent spike in Covid cases, the Health Secretary has said.

The contact tracing system's performance fell below World Health Organisation (WHO) standards in late June and early July.

It only managed to reach 65.1 per cent of infected people's close contacts within 72 hours in the week ending June 27 and 73.1 per cent the following week - both below the WHO target of 80 per cent.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has acknowledged contact times "fell below" the desired level but said changes are being made to speed up the process.

These have included greater use of text message notifications and digital self-tracing forms.

On Friday, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said a deal had been reached with Barrhead Travel through the Government's commercial partner Ascensos to supply an extra 100 staff for contact tracing.

The travel firm has previously provided staff for Test and Protect.

Mr Yousaf said he is confident performance is already improving.

He said: "The Test and Protect system has continued to operate well as case numbers have increased in recent weeks, contacting unprecedented numbers of people.

"This agreement to bring in additional staff follows our ongoing efforts this year to ensure commercial partners were on board in preparation for potential increases in demand on the contact tracing system.

"This extra workforce is important, but the success of the system going forward will not simply be about staffing numbers.

"Test and Protect will change as the population becomes more protected by vaccination and it will still play a key role in mitigating clusters and outbreaks in high-risk settings, slowing infection spread and protecting populations at risk.

"The majority of people comply when asked to self-isolate and we are thankful for the important role they are continue to play in stopping transmission of Covid-19.

"We will have to manage living with Covid-19 for some time to come, even when we are able to move beyond Level 0."