Coronavirus in Scotland: Eight deaths as 655 new cases are confirmed overnight

A total of eight deaths have been recorded in Scotland as the country reports 655 new cases in the last 24 hours.

Of these new cases, 397 patients were being treated in hospital last night, eight less than the day before, with 35 people being treated in an ICU having tested positive for the virus.

The new cases represent 2.9 per cent of people who had been tested for the virus.

Among the new cases 162 were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 138 in Lothian and 134 in Lanarkshire.

Latest information on coronavirus figures in Scotland.

Health Secretary Jeanne Freeman who was leading today’s coronavirus briefing said 97 per cent of those aged 65-69 have now received their first dose of the vaccine.

During a session in Parliament earlier this week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a route map out of lockdown for Scotland with specific dates for when industry can start to reopen.

The stay at home message will change to ‘stay local’ from April 2 with more students returning to school.

Read here for more information about Scotland’s routemap out of lockdown.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.