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Nicola Sturgeon to give Covid update to MSPs as cases continue to surge

Nicola Sturgeon will update MPs on Wednesday afternoon
Nicola Sturgeon will update MPs on Wednesday afternoon

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will update MSPs on the current coronavirus situation today.

Cases hit more than 6,000 yesterday, and NHS Grampian recorded its highest number since the pandemic began. 

Today, Ms Sturgeon – who has previously said it is a “fragile” time – will update parliament on the latest figures after questions at 2pm.

During the latest Covid briefing on Friday, Ms Sturgeon could not rule out reimposing some restrictions but stressed government was not “actively” considering a circuit breaker lockdown.

Although she is not expected to announce any restriction changes today, positive cases and hospital admissions are continuing to rise.

Recent surge in cases

The update comes after a recent surge in positive cases across the country, with some of Scotland’s health boards being the worst in Europe.

In the last week, Scotland has reported record numbers of new daily cases with nearly 38,000 positives in total.

The record for new infections was broken three times last week including the daily figure passing 7,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

The rise in cases has been linked to the easing of restrictions closely followed by the return of schools, as well as an increase in testing and the changes to isolation rules.

The number of coronavirus patients in hospital has also risen by 221 in the past seven days.

However, the total number is still significantly lower than it was during the winter peak.

It is unknown when the figures will start to even out but the first minister has emphasised that the vaccine is the key to returning to “as close to normal as possible”.

Around half of all new cases are in people under the age of 25 which is also the age group with the lowest percentage of people vaccinated in the country.

On Friday, Ms Sturgeon said: “There are still eligible people out there who are not yet vaccinated and that does pose a risk.

Please do get vaccinated now.”

The JCVI is expected to make an announcement today on rolling out the vaccination to those aged 12 to 15.

How to watch the update

The Holyrood briefing will be available on the Scottish Parliament TV website or follow our live blog for the latest updates.