SCOTLAND has recorded a further 35 deaths of coronavirus patients in 24 hours as the number of Scots in hospital with the disease continues to drop off.
The latest data, released on Friday, brings the total number of deaths in Scotland under this measure - of people who died within 28 days of testing positive - to 11,650.
It also shows that there were 2252 people in Scotland in hospital with coronavirus, a drop of 52 overnight and of 153 since the record high 2405 was reported on April 3.
The figure means there are still more people in hospital with Covid-19 than at any of the other peaks during the pandemic.
The news comes as a further 6215 cases of Covid-19 were reported in 24 hours. A total of 11% of these were reinfections.
In terms of the vaccination effort, 4,369,103 people have received their first jag, 4,097,075 have received their second, and have 3,457,690 received a third dose or booster.
Some 4.88 million people in private households in the UK are estimated to have had the virus last week, down very slightly from a record 4.91 in the previous week.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which compiles the figures, said it is too early to say if infections have peaked in England and Scotland.
In England, around one in 13 people were likely to test positive for Covid-19 in the week to April 2, or 4.1m people – unchanged from the week to March 26.
Meanwhile, in Wales, the estimate is up from one in 14 people to one in 13.
Both England and Wales are continuing to see record infection levels.
In Scotland, 396,800 people were estimated to have had the virus last week, or around one in 13, down from one in 12 the previous week.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here