Covid cases leap 40% in week

COVID cases in Scotland have soared by more than 40 per cent in a week.

Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) latest figures showed there were 21,914 reported cases in the week up to July 3, a 42.5 per cent increase from the 15,382 reported the week before.

There was also an average of 1,450 patients in hospital with Covid during the same week, an increase of 26.3 per cent.

Up to July 3, the PHS figures also found there were 877 new hospital admissions of patients with Covid, down from 1,062.

In a letter to Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex ColeHamilton asked for clarity on the future of testing for health and social care staff and on vaccination boosters expected for vulnerable groups in the coming months.

He said: ‘With Covid cases spiking once more, it seems bizarre for the Health Secretary to be talking about dismantling our defences.

‘NHS staff and patients will be filled with dread at the prospect of an end to testing.’

Meanwhile, bosses at Scotland’s largest health board have urged patients to stay away from A&E departments unless their situation is life-threatening as its hospitals struggle with rising cases.

Senior clinicians at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said the health board’s 35 hospitals are ‘busier than ever’ and revealed occupancy is at 90.6 per cent.

Yesterday, NHSGGC reported that 457 inpatients had tested positive for the virus in the last 28 days, up from 277 cases reported on June 21.

The health board asked patients to instead seek access to unscheduled and emergency care through NHS inform, NHS24 and their GPs and pharmacists.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The number of Covid inpatients in hospital is rising and having a detrimental impact on delays in A&E.

‘Despite these pressures, more than twothirds of patients are being seen in our A&E departments within the four-hour target.’