Further 82 coronavirus deaths reported in Scotland

A further 82 people have died in Scotland after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament that the total number of deaths now stands at 5970.

The total number of confirmed cases of the virus has risen to 176,533 – a rise of 1201 in the past 24 hours.

There are 1938 people currently in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of 78 from Wednesday.

Of that number, 142 patients are in intensive care.

The First Minister also told parliament that Scotland’s R number has dropped below 1 as the country has made “progress in suppressing the virus”.

Speaking ahead of First Minister’s Questions, Sturgeon told MSPs: “That is not unexpected given the declining cases that we have seen recently but it is very welcome and it provides further evidence that the lockdown restrictions are working.

“That said, case numbers remain very high and our NHS remains under severe pressure.

“The number of people in hospital with Covid-19, for example, is still approximately 30% higher than at the peak last spring, although we are starting to see a welcome stabilisation in those figures.”

The First Minister said data was not yet available for the number of people who have now been given the coronavirus vaccine, however she said 60% of over 80s have now received the vaccination.

She added that those over the age of 70 would begin to be vaccinated next week, with the aim of rolling out the first vaccine to this age group by mid February.