CORONAVIRUS cases in Scotland have soared overnight after a processing backlog at testing labs was cleared.

The latest daily figures show there were 3894 new infections, with a positivity rate of 12.8%.

No further deaths were recorded, though registration offices tend to be closed at weekends.

Another 23 cases of the Omicron variant were also recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the overall number to 71.

Explaining the jump in overall cases, which increased by almost 1300 overnight, Public Health Scotland said: “Reporting issues experienced over the weekend for the UK Government pillar 2 tests have now been resolved.

“Today’s figures are higher than expected due to the backlog of tests now being processed.”

Some 591 people were in hospital on Sunday with recently confirmed Covid-19, an increase of five.

Of those patients, 43 were in intensive care, down by two.

A total of 4,354,064 people have received their first dose of a vaccination, 3,960,681 have received their second, and 1,889,285 have received a third or booster.

The number of people who have died within 28 days of first testing positive has risen to 9649 over the weekend.