West Lothian cases falling and under Scots average

The latest data shows another drop in Covid-19 cases in West Lothian.

The Public Health Scotland (PHS) numbers show 111 newly reported cases in the county, with 155 over a seven-day period and 4253 since the first person tested positive on March 9.

This means that West Lothian had 85 people per 100,000 testing positive for the contagion in the past week as of December 26, well under the national average of 134.

East Ayrshire has 193, Renfrewshire 188, Dundee 184, North Lanarkshire 173, South Lanarkshire 170, Glasgow 170, Edinburgh 140, Midlothian 122 and East Lothian 112.

PHS had not released any data for a number of days over the Christmas period so the 111 new cases in the county cover those preceding days.

The new figures come as modelling from the Scottish Government’s scientific advisers predicted that West Lothian and East Lothian could become virus hotspots in the coming days.

Experts predict that West Lothian has a 66 per cent probability of recording more than 300 positive cases per 100,000 people in the week after Christmas, with that dropping to 41 per cent for more than 500 cases per 100,000 in the following week.

The latest data on the PHS map of the 37 neighbourhoods in West Lothian shows that the virus has been suppressed in eight areas.

And the data table shows that there have been no Covid-19 related deaths recorded in West Lothian for six days.

Yesterday, the First Minister urged people to celebrate the new year within their own household, as Scotland gets to grips with the new strain of the virus.

Nicola Sturgeon tweeted yesterday morning:“Covid cases are rising. Level 4 restrictions are now in place across mainland Scotland to suppress the new strain.

“It is especially vital that we do not mix indoors with other households, including at Hogmanay.

“Please plan to bring in 2021 at home with your own household.”