SCOTLAND has recorded almost 40,000 new Covid-19 cases, while another 25 people have died after contracting the virus, new figures show.

The latest daily statistics include a backlog from Monday, when a technical issue meant the Government was unable to publish data on new cases. Public Health Scotland says the new figures also include previously unreported cases since Saturday.

A total of 38,770 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday. That is a cumulative total for the four-day period since Saturday. 

Nicola Sturgeon explained in Parliament: "Public Health Scotland has had server problems over the past 24 hours, so no daily figures were published yesterday [Monday] – and figures are no longer published at weekends. The case number being reported today therefore, 38,770, is the cumulative total for the past four days.

"For context, the total for the equivalent 4 day period last week was 36,051. These figures reflect the recent increase in cases."

The deaths, among people who first tested positive in the previous 28 days, bring the total under that measure to 11,016.

Some 1996 people with recently confirmed Covid were in hospital on Monday, up 191 on Monday.

Of those patients, 33 were in intensive care, up by six.

A total of 4,441,175 people have received their first dose of a vaccination, 4,171,128 have received their second dose, and 3,468,504 have received a third dose or booster.

During a coronavirus update in Parliament, Sturgeon told MSPs: "The increase in cases over the past three weeks has been driven by the BA.2 sub lineage of the Omicron variant, which is estimated to be significantly more transmissible – with a growth rate since mid-February of perhaps 80% greater than original Omicron.

"BA.2 is now our dominant strain in Scotland, accounting for more than 80% of all reported cases.

"BA.2 is now our dominant strain in Scotland, accounting for more than 80% of all reported cases."