Three deaths and almost 4000 new Covid cases overnight

Three deaths and 3887 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Scotland overnight, according to official figures.

It is the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases reported by the Scottish Government since the start of the pandemic, topping Monday’s 3285.

The lab-confirmed death toll of those who tested positive currently stands at 7716, however figures including suspected Covid-19 deaths recorded by National Records of Scotland suggest the most up-to-date total is now at least 10,168.

The daily test positivity rate is 9.8%, down from the 11.6% reported on Tuesday.

Of the new cases reported on Wednesday, 999 are in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region, 843 are in Lothian, 433 are in Tayside and 364 are in Lanarkshire.

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

A total of 235 people were in hospital on Tuesday with recently confirmed Covid-19, a rise of 20 overnight. Out of those, 19 patients are in intensive care.

It was also confirmed that 3,799,467 Scots have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, an increase of 17,580 from the day before.

A total of 2,712,237 people have received their second dose, a rise of 11,042.

1/ Today’s reported Covid figures show a further increase – however, the vaccination impact is still clear. Vaccines are now doing much of the work we needed heavy restrictions to do in the last wave. And thankfully, we continue to see a much lower burden of serious illness… https://t.co/OmKnIdre5m
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) June 30, 2021

In response to Wednesday’s figures, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Today’s reported Covid figures show a further increase – however, the vaccination impact is still clear.

“Vaccines are now doing much of the work we needed heavy restrictions to do in the last wave. And thankfully, we continue to see a much lower burden of serious illness.”

The FM added that “we must take care at this stage though”, highlighting that a “significant” percentage of the population is not yet fully vaccinated.

Asking Scots to abide by the Covid restrictions and follow all health advice, she added: “Test regularly with LFDs, particularly if you plan to visit someone.

“Also, please get vaccinated as soon as you can – and make sure you attend for both doses.

“We are vaccinating just as quickly as supplies, and the clinical advice on timing of second doses, allow.”

Earlier on Wednesday it was reported that almost 2000 Scottish Covid cases were linked to football fans watching Euro 2020 matches.

According to Public Health Scotland (PHS) data, new figures showed that 1991 residents who later had a laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 diagnosis were in their transmission period while at competition gatherings between June 11 and 28.

Nearly two-thirds of cases – or 1294 people – reported travelling to London for Scotland’s Euro 2020 clash with England and 397 people attended the match at Wembley.

Cases were tagged if fans attended either a Euro 2020 organised event, such as a match at Hampden or Wembley, the fanzone at Glasgow Green, or an informal gathering, such as a pub or a house party, to watch a match.

Attendance at hospitality venues was the most frequently reported tag, representing 34% of all tags.

A relatively small number of cases in Scotland reported attending the fan zone (55 tags) and the two home matches at Hampden against Croatia (38 tags) and Czech Republic (37 tags).

Speaking at the Scottish Government’s Covid briefing on Tuesday, Sturgeon said the recent spike in cases may have passed its peak.

The FM said: “When we look at cases over the past week by the date the specimen was taken, as opposed to the date on which we report the test result, which are the numbers we report on a daily basis, then what we see is a peak in cases last Tuesday, and since then we have seen what appears to be a slowing down of the rate of increase.”

The number of coronavirus-related deaths remains very low relative to cases, figures show.

New data published by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) on Wednesday shows 17 fatalities were registered where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate between June 21 and 27.

Pete Whitehouse, NRS director of statistical services, said: “The number of deaths has risen slightly in recent weeks but is still very low relative to the number of Covid-19 cases.”

Of the 17 fatalities in the latest week, he added: “Two deaths were aged under 65, five were aged 65-74 and there were ten deaths in people aged 75 or over. Four were female and 13 were male.

“Fourteen deaths were in hospitals, three deaths were at home or in a non-institutional setting. No care home deaths were registered in week 25.”