It was published as Ms Freeman disclosed there have been 125 Covid-19 “incidents” in parts of hospitals not treating patients with the virus.
She confirmed in a parliamentary written answer that the first recorded incident of coronavirus in a non-Covid-19 ward was on March 18, when elderly patients were being transferred into care homes without testing.
Official figures disclosed on Wednesday that Scotland’s coronavirus death toll in care homes has overtaken that in hospital since the pandemic started. Almost two-thirds of deaths south of the Border have occurred in hospitals.
Ms Freeman also wrote to all health board chief executives ordering them to provide greater detail on their testing plans for care homes, including when they expect to complete testing of staff and residents of all institutions with an outbreak.
With test numbers lagging far behind capacity, she said the blueprints they have provided the Scottish Government “do not provide the level of detail required to give assurance to me and to the public that commitments on testing will be fulfilled.”
On March 17, the NHS was placed under emergency measures. Boards were asked to suspend all non-urgent treatment to clear wards and operating lists of patients in expectation of an influx of Covid-19 cases.
Only 2,948 hospital operations took place in April, compared with 24,894 in the same month a year earlier, as much of the NHS ground to a halt during the outbreak.