Covid-19 coronavirus case numbers rise by 68 across NHS Highland health board area

A FURTHER 68 positive tests for Covid-19 were recorded across the NHS Highland health board area in the past 24 hours.

The region’s cumulative tally since the start of the pandemic rose to 3278 when the latest daily update was published this afternoon.

There were 1707 new positive tests across the whole of Scotland in the past day. This represented 8.3 per cent of all tests carried out.

Some 1829 people were receiving treatment for the virus in hospital last night - up 35 on this point yesterday - and a figure which First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned was “significantly higher” than the peak of hospital admissions during the first wave of the pandemic.

Of the 1829 people in hospital, 142 were in intensive care. This was up eight on Wednesday’s figure.

And sadly 64 further people who tested positive have since died.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the north of Scotland, there were no new cases in NHS Shetland or NHS Orkney, but NHS Eileanan Siar recorded eight more, taking its cumulative total to 123.

NHS Grampian detected 205 new infections, taking its cumulative total to 10,685.

And NHS Tayside added 103 new cases, for a running total of 10,548.

There have now been 157,079 confirmed coronavirus cases across Scotland since the start of the pandemic.

The number of people who have received their first vaccine dose now stands at 208,207.

Related news: Brora veteran (99) is among first of older generation in Sutherland to be given Covid-19 vaccine

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