Coronavirus: 67 deaths as another 65,000 Scots vaccinated

A further 67 people have died in Scotland after being diagnosed with coronavirus, the health secretary has confirmed.

Speaking at the Scottish Government’s Covid briefing on Friday, Jeane Freeman also announced that a record number of Scots have received their first dose of a vaccine since Thursday.

She confirmed that as of 8.30am, 1,113,628 people have been given their first jab, an increase of 64,881 from what was reported the day before.

Freeman said the number of vaccine appointments will need to be reduced in the next few weeks due to a “combination of circumstances”.

She stated: “The uptake we have seen so far has been both remarkable and very welcome.”

The health secretary explained that the high uptake, a temporary reduction in supply from Pfizer and the need to ensure people can receive their second doses on time will affect the number of appointments scheduled over the next few weeks.

Freeman added: “As soon as supply improves our programme will scale up again.”

She said the vaccination programme in Scotland remains on course to hit its targets.

The death toll of those who tested positive now stands at 6666, however weekly figures on suspected Covid-19 deaths recorded by National Records of Scotland suggest the most up-to-date total is at least 8726.

Total confirmed cases of the virus has risen to 190,005 – an increase of 830.

The daily test positivity rate is 5.2%, up from the 4% reported on Thursday when 830 cases were also recorded.

Of the new cases reported on Friday, 257 are in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region, 133 are in Lanarkshire, 119 are in Ayrshire and Arran, and 100 are in Lothian.

The rest of the cases are spread out across nine other health board areas.

According to NHS boards across Scotland, 1472 people are currently in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 – 27 fewer than what was reported on Thursday. Out of those, 115 patients are in intensive care.

It was highlighted at the briefing that the Scottish Government has received reports of people breaching the coronavirus restrictions around funerals, which limits those attending to 20.

Freeman said: “I want to remind people that that limit of 20 is still in place and that unfortunately it is there for a really good reason.”

She urged people arranging a funeral to think about the restrictions when sending invitations.

She also urged those who want to attend one but are unable to due to the limit to “please respect that fact”.

She said: “Maybe find out if it is possible to see the service by other means, such as live-streaming, and check with the person organising about the other ways in which you can pay your respects.

“But please, don’t simply turn up. This places the organisers in a terrible position and it also of course increases the risk that virus will spread as a result of the event.”