A TOTAL of 2,395 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by nine from 2,386 on Wednesday, Nicola Sturgeon said.

Speaking at the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, the First Minister said 15,553 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 49 from 15,504 previous day.

There are 1,021 patients in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a fall of 96 in 24 hours.

Of these patients, 28 were in intensive care, down by six.

The First Minister said that Wednesday was the first weekday since March 27 where the number of deaths was in single figures.

However, she added that nine deaths were still too many, with each one representing a person and a family left "shattered and grieving".

Interim chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith paid tribute to the work of staff in intensive care units across the country.

According to Smith, 516 people were admitted to intensive care between March 1 and the middle of May.

The number of patients in intensive care exceeded the usual capacity in the units between March 31 and April 21 — peaking at 36% higher than could be usually coped with — but at no point exceeded the extra capacity built in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

During that period, the demand was highest between March 29 and April 6.

Planning put in place by NHS boards, Dr Smith said, ensured the intensive care units in hospitals did not become overwhelmed, with work still under way to push capacity to 700 beds across the country.

Sturgeon also said the reproduction rate of the virus in Scotland, known as the R number, has dropped to between 0.7 and 0.9.

In recent weeks, Sturgeon has repeatedly said the R number was between 0.7 and one.

However, the new estimate does not take into account the easing of lockdown measures which came into effect last week.

Despite the positive change, the First Minister continued to urge caution, saying: "I can't stress enough how fragile it still remains because we are seeing new cases in most health board areas every day.

"It remains relatively steady which underlines our caution and care which we need to take."

The First Minister also warned against "complacency" given the change.