SCOTLAND has recorded 27 new confirmed cases of coronavirus over the last 24 hours, according to the latest Scottish Government figures.

A total of 18,547 people have now tested positive for the virus in Scotland since the beginning of the pandemic.

No deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19 have been recorded for nine consecutive days, meaning the toll remains at 2491.

These figures are different from the National Records of Scotland data, which reports deaths of patients with confirmed and suspected Covid-19.

Under that method of calculation, as of July 19, there had been 4193 coronavirus deaths in Scotland since the beginning of the pandemic.

The percentage of people testing positive remains at 0.7%, the figures indicate, up 0.3% from Friday.

Nicola Sturgeon explained at a briefing this week that the Scottish Government will now report the percentage of positive cases found in all testing carried out.  

The World Health Organisation recommends reporting this data.

The First Minister said: “WHO suggests indicated of epidemic being under control is less than 5% of samples test positive over a two-week period.”