MORE than 850 contacts have been traced in the NHS Grampian area in relation to the Aberdeen coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking at the Scottish Government briefing this afternoon, Nicola Sturgeon gave an update on the cluster outbreak in the city.

The First Minister said since July 26, a total of 231 cases of the virus have been identified in the NHS Grampian area. Of those, she said about 157 are thought to be linked to bars in the Aberdeen area.

Over the last 24 hours, 29 new coronavirus cases were identified in Scotland. According to provisional information 18 of those were recorded in the NHS Grampian area.

READ MORE: Coronavirus in Scotland: 29 new positive cases identified

Aberdeen faces tighter lockdown restrictions than the rest of Scotland due to the Covid-19 outbreak there.

Last week Sturgeon announced the new rules as case numbers grew rapidly. Indoor and outdoor hospitality venues were closed, people were advised not to go inside other people’s homes and those not living in the city were advised not to visit.

Speaking at the briefing, Sturgeon said: “The events of the last fortnight have been a reminder of how fragile Scotland’s current position is.

“We have seen, and are still seeing, low transmission rates in most parts of the country. But if we start to drop our guard, it can change.

"Each of us should be thinking about our recent behaviour.

“Are we creating more bridges which allow the virus to travel from us to another household, or from another household to us? Because if we are doing that, we should recognise it, and stop.

"Nobody’s life should be feeling entirely normal at the moment.

“Covid is still present, and it is still highly infectious. And all of us have a role in continuing to suppress it."