ANOTHER 54 people have died in Scotland after contracting Covid-19 as the death toll passed a grim new milestone.
The latest deaths, recorded in the past 24 hours among patients who tested positive in the previous 28 days, bring the total under that measurement to 5023.
Nicola Sturgeon, speaking at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing, said the figures were “particularly distressing” today because the daily measurement death toll has now exceeded 5000.
A further 1875 cases were also recorded, with a positivity rate of 12%. The total number of cases now stands at 153,423.
📺 Watch live: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon holds a press conference on #coronavirus (#COVIDー19).
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) January 12, 2021
Joining the First Minister today is National Clinical Director, Professor Jason Leitch. https://t.co/QGtDS0A6Br
Some 1717 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed Covid-19, an increase of 53 in 24 hours. Of those, 133 were in intensive care, a rise of seven.
The First Minister said those figures highlight the stress the NHS is under, noting that during the initial peak in April hospital admissions were just over 1500.
Of the new cases, 607 were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 280 in Lanarkshire, 214 in Lothian and 162 in Ayrshire & Arran. The remaining cases are spread across 9 other health board areas.
READ MORE: Meeting for coffee during lockdown 'not appropriate', Jason Leitch says
Commenting on the latest death statistics, Sturgeon said: "This is obviously always a distressing figure to report to you every day but it's particularly distressing today because the numbers I have just reported take the total number of deaths, under this daily measurement, now to more than 5000.
"Which is another reminder of the heartbreaking toll that this virus has taken and is continuing to take across the country.
"Every single death is causing heartbreak to family, friends, loved ones, and I want again today to convey my thoughts and condolences to everybody who finds themselves in that position."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel