Coronavirus: Two deaths and 1030 cases reported overnight

Two further deaths and 1030 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Scotland overnight, according to official figures.

The daily test positivity rate is 4.1%, the same as reported on Friday.

In a note on the data, Public Health Scotland said an ongoing delay in the laboratory processing of specimens at the Glasgow Lighthouse Lab has meant Thursday and Friday’s figures have been lower than expected compared to those reported prior to that period.

Of the new cases reported on Saturday, 297 are in Lothian, 233 are in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region, 145 are in Tayside and 126 are in Ayrshire and Arran.

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

The lab-confirmed death toll of those who tested positive currently stands at 7681, however figures including suspected Covid-19 deaths recorded by National Records of Scotland suggest the most up-to-date total is now at least 10,130.

It was also confirmed that 3,477,378 Scots have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, an increase of 18,315 from the day before.

A total of 2,402,700 people have received their second dose, a rise of 27,454.

Saturday’s figures come amid discussions between governments around the UK about the “constrained” supply of the Pfizer vaccine which is expected in the coming weeks.

Following a meeting of the British-Irish Council on Friday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “We are cooperating across the four nations in terms of vaccine supply.

“We know the Delta (Indian) variant is allowing this virus to transmit more quickly and therefore we have to do everything possible to make sure that vaccination happens at a pace that can keep it under control.

“Across all four of the nations, vaccination is going extremely well, but we do know that we have, as we have at points in the past, periods coming up where some vaccine supply will be more constrained, and over the next few weeks that looks as if it will be Pfizer.”