Coronavirus: Second highest total of new cases since May

Scotland has recorded 159 new cases of coronavirus, the second-highest daily total since May 16.

It marks the sixth day in a row new infections have been more than 100, taking total Covid-19 cases here over the course of the pandemic to more than 21,000.

No deaths of Scots with coronavirus have been reported in the last 24 hours.

The high number of new cases comes after 160 new infections were recorded on Monday – the most since mid-May.

The 159 new positive cases amount to 1.6% of all newly-tested individuals, which is only the second time since the data began to be published that the so-called positivity rate has been as high.

The only other occasion it was as high as 1.6% was August 14, when the cluster of cases in Aberdeen was at its height.

Testing has also been ramped up in recent weeks, with the country frequently completing upwards of 20,000 tests. Friday’s figure was 18,266 tests in the last 24 hours.

Of Friday’s new cases, 73 are in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region, where a Covid surge has seen restrictions in indoor gatherings put in place in three council areas.

People living in Glasgow, East Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire should not host or visit people from other households for the next two weeks.

NHS Lanarkshire’s public health director has warned the area could require similar measures soon, with 16 new cases in the health board region on Friday.

There are 258 people in hospital with coronavirus, one fewer than Thursday, and of those, four are in intensive care, which is unchanged.

But the Scottish Government has said it will review these figures, as it includes patients who are no longer being treated for Covid-19 after a previous positive test.

It will be revised next week “with a measure that focuses on hospital in-patients with a more recent positive Covid-19 test,” officials said.