Nicola Sturgeon has gone into self-isolation after being identified as a close contact of a person who has tested positive for Covid.
The First Minister announced on social media she will be self-isolating and pending a PCR test in line with the current coronavirus guidelines after receiving a notification from the NHS tonight.
In a post on Twitter, Ms Sturgeon said: “I’ve had notification tonight that I’ve been identified as a close contact of someone who is positive for Covid.
“Accordingly, and in line with the rules, I’ll be self-isolating pending a PCR test result.
“My thanks to all the contact tracers working so hard in NHS Test & Protect.”
I’ve had notification tonight that I’ve been identified as a close contact of someone who is positive for Covid. Accordingly, and in line with the rules, I’ll be self-isolating pending a PCR test result. My thanks to all the contact tracers working so hard in NHS Test & Protect.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 29, 2021
Daily Covid infections top 7,000 for first time
Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement has come after Scotland recorded another record number of new coronavirus cases today, with 7,113 people testing positive for the first time.
It is the third time in a week the record for new infections has been broken, as the Scottish Government warned the situation is “fragile” and said further restrictions could not be ruled out.
New cases have more than doubled in a week, although the figure released on Sunday includes some tests taken more than 48 hours ago due to backlog and delays in the testing system.
The number of patients in hospital with recently confirmed coronavirus infections has also risen for the ninth consecutive day, reaching 507, with 52 in intensive care.
Earlier today, the First Minister tweeted: “We are seeing a rising curve of cases in Scotland. It’s reassuring that vaccines are preventing the levels of serious health harms that case numbers like this would once have caused.
“However, we can’t be complacent and are monitoring carefully. In meantime, please take care.”
A further 17,655 vaccinations were carried out in the past 24 hours.
Of those, 3,233 were first doses and 14,422 were second doses, taking the totals to 4,101,311 and 3,655,287 respectively.