Nicola Sturgeon: Highest rise in Covid-19 cases in almost three weeks

First Minister reports that 18,333 have now tested positive.

No new coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Scotland for the second day running, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The First Minister told the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing 2,490 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19, no change since Wednesday.

However, she said 18,333 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland – up by 18 from 18,315 on Thursday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

This is the highest rise in positive cases in almost three weeks, she said, which the Scottish Government will be “looking very closely” at.

There are 668 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, up 22 in the past 24 hours.

Of these patients, 12 were in intensive care, a rise of three.

Ms Sturgeon spoke about the latest relaxation of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions – but stressed this "musn't meant the dropping of our guard" in efforts to suppress the disease.

She said: “We have been in lockdown for more than three months now but being in lockdown ourselves has meant that the virus has also been in lockdown.

“As we come out of lockdown unfortunately we let it out again too.

“We have to work in a sense even harder to make sure it doesn't get those opportunities to spread.”

She urged people to “think even more carefully” about the steps they could take to try to prevent the disease spreading.

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