SCOTLAND is the start of a third wave of coronavirus as the number of cases and hospitalisations continue to rise, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The First Minister said that although the government, off the back of the success of the vaccine programme, will be able to move away from more restrictive ways of dealing with the pandemic - the position just now is still "fragile".

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Sturgeon said that experts have said not just Scotland but also the UK are "at the start of a third wave". 

It comes as she said that the number of cases has tripled over the last month, and the 992 new positive cases reported yesterday is the highest number since February 17.

The R number is now estimated to be above 1, with the number of people hospitalised with the virus rising to over 100 in the past week and although intensive care numbers are stable, the FM said there had been an "uptick" in cases in recent days.

The National:

Speaking during today's Covid-19 briefing in St Andrew's House, Edinburgh, the First Minister said that the vaccine programme is progressing "extremely well" but that Scotland is at a "criticial juncture" in the pandemic crisis.

She said: "On the downside, as we can see cases are rising again, they have more than tripled over the last month, and today the more than 900 cases that have been reported is the highest number of new cases since the 17 February.

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"The R number is now estimated to be above 1, indeed many experts believe that not just Scotland but the UK is at the start of a third wave of Covid. Underlying this and indeed driving all of this is the new Delta variant that makes up the majority of new cases in Scotland.

"This variant is thought to be significantly more transmissable than even the Kent variant that we were dealing with at the turn of the year."

The First Minister explained that the early data on the new variant, suggests it may "increase the risk of hospitalisation".

She said: "Now, hopefully vaccines are reducing overall the risk of hospitalisation, but even if it is a lower risk the early data suggests this new Delta variant has a higher risk than the variants that went before it."

Sturgeon added that the data was still under investigation, but warned the public that the virus hasn't yet gone away.  

She said: "All of that obviously gives us cause for concern. Throughout this, I've never tried to shy away from saying to you when we're in a period that should make all of us sit up and remember that this virus isn't done with us yet.

"That said, there is an upside now too, which we didn’t have at the start of the first or second waves - and that is, of course, the vaccines.

The National:

"We need to analyse the data on an ongoing basis - so it is too early to be definitive - but the strong indications so far are that vaccines are weakening the link between rising cases and hospitalisations, intensive care, and people dying.

"Now, that is really encouraging, and it is that that is giving us hope that we can move beyond the very restrictive approach to dealing with Covid that has been necessary for the past year, or in fact more than a year.

"But, although that link appears to be weakening, it hasn’t yet been completely broken. Hospital admissions are rising. The number of people in hospital with Covid has risen above 100 during the last week, and the number of people in intensive care has also increased."