More than 1000 new Covid cases amid Christmas relaxation

Families and friends across Scotland have been allowed to meet indoors – some of them for the first time in months.

More than 1000 new Covid cases amid Christmas relaxation Getty Images

More than 1,000 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Scotland as measures have been eased for Christmas.

1,165 new cases were reported by the Scottish Government in the past 24 hours, new figures have shown.

The number is 4.3% of all tests undertaken during that period, down from 5.3% the day before.

Figures for deaths, hospital admissions and intensive care cases will not be reported over the festive period, with an update expected on December 29 which will cover the previous four days.

In total, 118,035 cases have been reported in Scotland since the beginning of the pandemic.

The figures come as families and friends across Scotland have been allowed to meet indoors – some of them for the first time in months.

A UK-wide plan was put in place to allow for eight people from three households to mix indoors on Christmas Day.

However, mainland Scotland will enter Level 4 restrictions from Boxing Day, with the Scottish Government intending the increased measures to last for three weeks, after a new, more transmissible strain of Covid-19 was discovered in the UK.

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