Coronavirus: 37 deaths and more than 1100 new cases

A further 37 people with coronavirus have died in Scotland, as the country recorded more than 1100 new cases.

It brings the death toll under the measure of people who first tested positive within the previous 28 days to 2791.

The latest figures, which saw the country record 1128 new cases, were revealed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in the Scottish Parliament.

The daily test positivity rate is 7.1%, up from 6.8% on the previous day.

Of the new cases 416 were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 266 in Lanarkshire, 121 in Ayrshire and Arran and 117 in Lothian. The remaining cases were from nine other health boards.

There are 1152 people in hospital, confirmed to have the virus, with 86 patients receiving treatment in intensive care.

The First Minister said there were signs suggesting a ban on household gatherings has had an effect in slowing the increase in new cases.

Sturgeon said: “These figures show that we are still seeing high numbers of new cases, increasing hospital and ICU admissions, and, sadly, a rising number of deaths.

“In Scotland, we acted early with some difficult but necessary measures, and we hope that this will have the effect of slowing the spread and preventing further deterioration in our position.”

“While we cannot be certain and have no grounds for complacency, we do see some encouraging signs that this might be the case.

“Last week I indicated that we were beginning to see a significant slowing in the rate at which new cases are increasing. I can confirm that this has continued.

“Cases in the past week, up to today, have increased by 4%. Two weeks ago the weekly increase was 40%.

“And our latest estimate of the R number, published today, suggests that it is still above one, but may have fallen slightly to 1.3.

“All of this suggests that the measures introduced five weeks ago to curb household meetings are having an effect and the additional measures introduced three weeks ago to significantly restrict hospitality may also be starting to have an impact.”