Scotland records 22 deaths and 5155 new cases of Covid

Scotland has recorded 22 deaths and 5155 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

It comes amidst increasing concern over the Omicron variant.

Official statistics showed that as of Tuesday, 544 people were in hospital with confirmed Covid-19.

Of those, 38 people were in intensive care, according to the Scottish Government figures.

People across Scotland have been urged to book an appointment for their booster jabs, as the online portal opened on Wednesday for those aged between 18 and 29-years-old.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has meanwhile asked that people reduce contact with other households in the run-up to, and in the aftermath of, Christmas.

In an update to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, Sturgeon explained that household mixing will not be banned over the festive season.

However, the SNP leader indicated that reducing contact would help to reduce transmission chains.

She told MSPs: “I want to be clear, I am not asking anyone to ‘cancel’ Christmas.

“But in the run up to and in the immediate aftermath of Christmas, I am asking everyone to reduce as far as possible, and to a minimum, the contacts we have with people in other households. I will say more about Christmas Day in a moment.

“We are not banning or restricting household mixing in law as before. We understand the negative impact this has on mental health and wellbeing.

“But we are asking everyone – and we will issue strong guidance to this effect – to cut down as far as possible the number of people outside our own households that we are interacting with just now. This will help break transmission chains.”