Covid Scotland: Record number of positive cases for second time in 48 hours as Nicola Sturgeon points to vaccine impact

The highest number of Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic has been recorded in Scotland for the second time in a matter of days.

Latest Scottish Government figures show 3,887 new covid cases and 235 hospital admissions recorded as First Minister points to vaccine impact (WPA Pool/Getty Images).

It comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that vaccine impact is doing ‘much of the work previous heavy restrictions’ did.

Latest Scottish Government figures published on Wednesday show there were 3,887 positive test results registered in the previous 24 hours – an increase of 769 on the previous day.

The new cases represent 9.8% of the recently tested – down from 11.6% the previous day – and takes the total number of cases up to 281,222 across Scotland.

Three further coronavirus deaths were also included in Wednesday’s statistics.

The death toll under the daily measure now stands at 7,716.

The figures come amid a trend of growing case numbers north of the border which saw 3,285 positive tests on Monday, the previous highest number since the start of the pandemic.

Talking about the latest figures, Ms Sturgeon said: “Today’s reported Covid figures show a further increase – however, the vaccination impact is still clear.

“Vaccines are now doing much of the work we needed heavy restrictions to do in the last wave. And thankfully, we continue to see a much lower burden of serious illness.

“We must care at this stage though, as we still have a significant percent of the population not yet fully vaccinated.”

On Tuesday, 3,118 cases and one death of a patient with the virus were recorded.

As of yesterday, 235 people were in hospital with recently confirmed Covid, up 20, with 19 patients in intensive care, down one.

A total of 3,799,467 people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 2,712,237 have received their second dose.

The First Minister added: “We are vaccinating just as quickly as supplies, and the clinical advice on timing of second doses, allow.”

“We continue to monitor cases - and, crucially, hospital/ICU numbers - carefully.

The First Minister also said she remains confident that restrictions can be further eased as planned on July 19 and August 9.

Ms Sturgeon also added that the next Covid media update for Scotland is scheduled for Friday.

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.