Highest daily number of Covid deaths recorded since March

Scotland has recorded a further 11 deaths of coronavirus patients in the past 24 hours, the biggest daily rise since March 30.

The death toll under the daily measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – now stands at 7772.

It comes as the whole of Scotland prepares to move to level zero of coronavirus restrictions from next Monday.

Scottish Government figures released on Wednesday also show the country recorded 2636 new cases, representing 8.1% of new tests that reported results.

The total number of positive cases in Scotland since the start of the pandemic now stands at 321,202.

Meanwhile, weekly figures released by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) on Wednesday showed a total of 10,122 have now died in Scotland with confirmed or suspected coronavirus.

The data shows that eight deaths were registered that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate in the week of July 5-11 an increase of nine deaths on the previous week.

Those statistics are published weekly and cover all deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

They differ from the lab-confirmed coronavirus deaths announced daily by the Scottish Government because the NRS figures include suspected or probable cases of Covid-19.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday the further easing of restrictions from next week will go ahead as scheduled, but with certain modifications in light of challenges faced by the spread of the Delta variant.

Updating the Scottish Parliament virtually, Sturgeon said this “was a time of continued caution” and that lifting all restrictions right now “would put all of us at greater risk”.

The First Minister also said she intends to move Scotland beyond level zero on August 9 – when the Government hopes to lift most legal restrictions – but that will be subject to a review based on the latest data.

Level zero measures mean that from Monday, up to eight people from up to four households can meet within homes, while outside up to 15 people from 15 households can get together either in private gardens or public places.

Up to 200 people will be able to attend weddings and funerals, but under new changes made by the Scottish Government in response to high numbers of Covid cases in recent weeks, hospitality venues will have to shut at midnight.

As of 7.30am on Wednesday, 3,948,446 people had received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 2,914,904 had received their second dose.