Coronavirus: 66 new cases in Scotland in past 24 hours

There are 66 new cases of Covid-19 in Scotland reported in the last 24 hours.

Of those new infections, 51 are in health board areas dealing with ongoing local coronavirus clusters.

Speaking at the government’s Monday Covid briefing, Nicola Sturgeon said 14 of the cases are in the Tayside region.

Public health officials in Tayside are dealing with a large cluster originating at a 2 Sisters food processing plant in Perthshire, and a smaller outbreak linked to Kingspark School in Dundee.

The First Minister described the factory outbreak in Coupar Angus as “very significant”, with 110 cases linked to the Perthshire cluster as of Sunday – comprising 96 workers and 14 of their close contacts.

Those numbers are expected to rise further she said, with almost 900 people so far tested at a mobile unit sent to Coupar Angus.

But she emphasised that there is still no evidence of community transmission linked to the cluster.

All employees and members of their households should remain in self-isolation until the 14-day quarantine period is finished, Sturgeon added.

There are 15 new cases in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 17 in Lanarkshire and five in Grampian, she revealed – all areas dealing with clusters.

Cases have been falling in Grampian, allowing the local lockdown in Aberdeen to be eased this week after a cluster of cases developed around a number of city pubs at the start of August.

The 66 new cases amount to 1% of all those tested in past 24 hours, and taking Scotland’s total infections over the course of the pandemic to 19,877.

The First Minister confirmed there have been no new deaths of anyone with the virus who tested positive within the last 28 days.

The last such death was reported on July 16.

However, National Records of Scotland (NRS) counts the deaths of people suspected to have Covid-19 or who tested positive longer than 28 days ago.

There were three deaths linked to the virus in the week ending August 16, according to the NRS.

A total of 248 people are in hospitals across Scotland with coronavirus, Sturgeon said, a rise of three on the day before.

But just one patient is being treated for Covid-19 in intensive care, one fewer than Sunday.