Coronavirus: 39 more deaths in Scotland as cases rise by 897

A further 39 people have died in Scotland after being diagnosed with coronavirus, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.

Total confirmed cases of the virus has risen to 102,372 – a jump of 897 in the past 24 hours.

The official death toll in Scotland now stands at 3989, however weekly figures on suspected Covid-19 deaths recorded by National Records of Scotland suggest the most up-to-date total is now at least 5941 – which takes into account this week’s additional deaths.

The NRS figures show that 232 deaths relating to Covid-19 were registered between November 30 and December 6, down 20 from the previous week

Of these, 145 were in hospital, 78 in care homes and nine at home or in a non-institutional setting.

There were 73 deaths in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 53 in Lanarkshire, and 34 in Ayrshire and Arran.

Of the new cases reported on Wednesday, 225 are in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region, 150 are in Lothian, and 147 are in Lanarkshire.

The remaining cases are spread across eight other health board areas.

According to management information reported by NHS boards across Scotland, 972 people are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 – a decrease of 11 overnight. Out of those, 50 patients are in intensive care.

With coronavirus vaccinations having started on Tuesday, the First Minister thanked all those involved.

Speaking at the Scottish Government’’s Covid-19 briefing on Wednesday, Sturgeon said: “The vaccination programme is a major, enormous undertaking.

“We know there are challenges that still lie ahead in it, but it was hugely encouraging, I would go as far as to say it was actually inspiring to see it get under way yesterday.”

The First Minister said she would announce provisional figures for the number of people who have been vaccinated when she updates MSPs on Thursday.