Scotland records 3,189 new cases of Covid

No coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Scotland in the past 24 hours, but 3,189 new cases have been confirmed, the latest Scottish Government figures show.

The death toll under the daily measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – remains at 8,070.

Register offices are generally closed at the weekend, which can affect the number of deaths able to be recorded.

Although the number of new cases has dropped by one since the previous day, the test positivity rate has risen from 10.8% to 12.4% in the same period.

The number of new cases remains above 3,000 for the fifth consecutive day.

A total of 356 people were in hospital on Sunday with recently confirmed Covid-19, up by 18 on the previous day, with 41 patients in intensive care, up by seven.

So far, 4,082,698 people have received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination and 3,572,042 have had their second.

Meanwhile, another 35 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine are due to be delivered to the UK in the second half of next year as a way to “future-proof” the jabs programme, the health secretary said.

Sajid Javid said the extra doses are part of “robust preparations” to ensure the country’s safety “for years to come” against Covid.

The Department of Health said it is planning for any future booster programmes to protect against the virus and its variants.

No official decision has been given yet on a potential rollout of third doses, but plans are in place to enable a booster programme to begin in early September, alongside the flu jab, if advised.