Nicola Sturgeon gave her weekly Covid update to Parliament this afternoon, detailing the current situation in Scotland. 

With the summer drawing to an official close and the colder months looming, the government is turning its attention to mitigation measures over the winter to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. 

Her announcement comes as health secretary Humza Yousaf confirmed firefighters would be brought into help Scotland's struggling ambulance service following the publication of data revealing A&E waiting times hit their highest on record in the week to September 12.

Last week, the first minister announced a vaccine booster scheme for the top nine priority groups as well as jabs for 12-15-year olds as part of her plans to protect both the vulnerable and the NHS. 

Today's announcement had perhaps more cause for optimism than previous updates with case rates in Scotland beginning to fall after weeks of high daily numbers following the relaxation of many Covid measures in August. 

Here's what we learned from today's Covid announcement...

1. Covid cases in Scotland are falling

After weeks of daily cases hovering around the 6,000 mark, the past few days has seen a sharp drop in numbers.

2,870 positive tests were recorded on September 21, although this does not include figures from the NHS Borders Lab which could not submit lab files due to an ongoing issue. 

1,107 people are currently in hospital with Covid and 94 people are in intensive care, 3 fewer than yesterday. 

The first minister had indicated early optimism in the case numbers last week, an optimism she extended today: "The early signs I spoke about last week have become much firmer in the past few days."

Cases amongst 20-24-year-olds in particular have dropped hugely, which Nicola Sturgeon suggested was to do with this age group receiveing their second vaccine throughout August. 

However, as always she continued to urge caution, highlighting that cases are still much higher than the government would like and that the NHS was already under considerable pressure. 

2. Care home residents getting booster jabs from yesterday

Nicola Sturgeon also confirmed that the Covid vaccine booster programme was underway, with the first people receiving the third jab on Monday. 

Care home residents started getting booster jabs on September 20, while front line health and social care workers can sign up for their booster jab on the NHS Inform website. 

The top nine priority groups will receive the booster jab and will be called upon by letters or their GP to come forward in groups based on vulnerability over the coming weeks. 

3. International travel rule changes tomorrow and October 4

Turkey, Egypt and the Maldives are among 8 countries moving from the red list to the amber list from 4am on Wednesday morning. 

From October 4 more changes to international travel are taking place, including amendments to the traffic light system meaning the amber and green lists will be merged. 

4. Scotland yet to decide on Covid tests following international travel

The UK government intends to remove the requirement for testing before and after international travel, however Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are yet to decide on this.

Speaking on Scotland's current reluctance to remove the testing requirements, Nicola Sturgeon said: "We do have real concerns about easing the requirements on tests.

"That’s because we still need to guard against new variants of the virus being imported into the country - and also have a way of identifying quickly if a new variant does enter the country."

However, she did highlight the benefits of sticking to a four nation approach, and said an update would be provided in due course. 

She confirmed she would discuss the matter with the Chief Medical Officer before an announcement is made. 

5. Nightclub definition detailed by 4 features

Everyone under 18 is exempt from showing proof of vaccine passports, as are those who are medically exempt, those taking part in vaccine trials and those working in the identified venues. 

Vaccine passports will come into effect from 5am on October 1. 

A nightclub has been identified as somewhere that is open between 1-5am, serves alcohol after midnight, provides live or recorded music for dancing and has a designated space - which is actually in use - for dancing.