There has been a slight increase in the number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in the north and north-east of Scotland over the past 24 hours.
Figures released by the Scottish Government shows seven new cases of coronavirus have been detected overnight – six in Grampian and one in the Highlands.
According to the new data, a total of 1,256 people have contracted the disease in Grampian and 337 in the Highlands since the pandemic outbreak began.
There has been no new cases recorded in the islands for more than a month with the total remaining at 54 for Shetland, seven on Orkney and six in the Western Isles.
As of 2pm today 106,984 people in Scotland have been tested for #coronavirus
91,744 confirmed negative
15,240 positive2,304 patients who tested positive have sadly died.
Latest update ➡️ https://t.co/bZPbrCoQux
Health advice ➡️ https://t.co/l7rqArB6Qu#COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/HbfLUmkaD9— Scottish Government (@scotgov) May 27, 2020
So far 106,984 people have been tested for Covid-19 in Scotland through NHS labs. Of these 91,744 were confirmed negative and 15,240 were positive.
As of last night 810 remained in hospitals across the nation with 28 in intensive care and another 10 with suspected Covid-19 in intensive care.
A total of 2,304 people in Scotland have died due to the virus.
Reduction in deaths
A total of 3,779 people have died in Scotland with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, according to the National Records of Scotland (NRS).
There were 230 deaths relating to Covid-19 registered between May 18 and May 24, down 105 on the previous week.
This marks the fourth consecutive weekly reduction in deaths involving the virus.
More than half of all registered deaths involving Covid-19 in week 21 occurred in care homes, at 54% compared to 55% in week 20.
The number of deaths in care homes also fell for a fourth week in a row, down by 62 in a week to 124.
The statistics are published weekly and account for all deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
They differ from the lab-confirmed coronavirus deaths announced daily by the Scottish Government because the NRS figures include suspected or probable cases of Covid-19, not solely patients who have tested positive.
First Minister’s Questions
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that 15,240 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 55 from 15,185 previous day.
She also acknowledged that 1,247 people remain in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a rise of 47.
Of these patients, 38 were in intensive care, a rise of three.
The death figures announced by the First Minister differ from the weekly statistics released on Wednesday by the National Records of Scotland, as the former covers patients who have tested positive and the latter involves all registered deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate, whether confirmed or suspected.