SCOTLAND has recorded almost 6000 cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours as Omicron tightens its grip on the country.
The 5951 cases recorded on December 16 represent an increase of around 800 on the previous day's figures.
However, it remains below the record high levels of around 6-7000 cases per day in early September.
The news follows the UK as a whole having broken its record for the most cases recorded in a single day on December 15, with 78,610 new positive tests in 24 hours.
The 5951 positive cases recorded in Scotland today represent 10.8% of the 60,162 new tests for Covid-19 that reported results in the past 24 hours.
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In the same time period, 18 further deaths of people who had tested positive for the disease have also been recorded.
This brings the total under this measure - of people who died within 28 days of first testing positive - to 9764.
Elsewhere, Government figures show that 531 people were in hospital in Scotland yesterday with recently confirmed Covid-19. There were 34 people in intensive care.
In terms of the vaccination effort, 4,366,439 people have received their first jag, while a total of 3,983,975 have also received their second dose.
Scotland recently became the first UK nation to give a third booster jag to 50% of its adult population. A total of 2,313,843 people in the country have been given a third dose.
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