Coronavirus latest: Scottish numbers show a further increase
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In the last 24 hours 267 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Scotland.
This represents 3.6 per cent of newly tested individuals but may not reflect the total number of new cases as there is a continuing backlog of accumulated test results in the UK lab network.
NHS Greater Glasgow again topped the list of new cases with 101 reported, NHS Lothian increased by 48, NHS Lanarkshire saw 40 cases, NHS Grampian recorded 16 cases while NHS Highland increased by a further 11.
Commenting on the figures, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "Because of the processing backlog that I’ve spoken about in the last couple of days more of these than normal may be from swabs that have been taken over the last few days.
"However, as I said yesterday, when we look at whether case numbers are rising or not, we look at results by the date the sample was taken not just the date in which the test was reported so I can assure you that the backlog doesn’t in any way distort our trend analysis of what’s happening with the virus.
"On the basis of that analysis we are unfortunately very clear that cases right now are rising.
""hile the number of deaths now is much lower thankfully than in the spring and early summer, the need for me to report deaths is a more regular feature of these briefings now than it has been for some time.
"This is another reminder that cases are rising and we cannot afford to be complacent about that.
"Unless we act to stem community transmission now, it is highly likely that cases of serious illness and deaths will rise in the weeks to come.
"It may take some time for that to happen given the incubation period and the course we know the virus takes and of course we hope it won’t be to anywhere near the same extent that we saw earlier in the year but if community transmission continues to rise, as night follows day, we will see more cases of people in hospital and unfortunately more cases of people dying.
"That trend is already visible in some other countries that saw this rise in cases happen again earlier than we did, for example France is seeing that increase in hospital cases and deaths now too.
"The reason I am saying this is simple.
"It’s to really underline how important it is that we do act now, all of us, to limit our interactions as much as possible and stop the virus spreading."
