36 new confirmed Covid-19 cases in Edinburgh and Lothians as Scotland's death toll rises

Thirty-six new Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Edinburgh and the Lothians in the past 24 hours, as the death toll in Scotland increased by 44.

The latest official Scottish Government figures, published at 2pm on Tuesday, revealed a rise from 2,113 to 2,149 cases of people testing positive for the virus in the NHS Lothian board area.

The figures also revealed 130 less people in the region are in hospital with confirmed or suspected coronavirus compared to the previous day, although four more people are now in intensive care.

It comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said today that it is “highly unlikely” there will be any significant changes to the lockdown measures when it is reviewed on Thursday.

Nicola Sturgeon during one of her daily coronavirus briefings.

She estimates there are currently about 26,000 people with Covid-19 in Scotland, which is too high to bring the virus under control.

The latest Scottish Government official figures show there have been 12,437 positive Covid-19 tests in Scotland and that 1,620 patients of those people have died.

But data published by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) last Wednesday revealed there have been 2,272 deaths in Scotland this year where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, as of Sunday April 26th.

The NRS data also revealed there were 370 Covid-19 linked deaths in NHS Lothian as of April 26th.

New statistics, giving a more up to date picture, will be published by the NRS tomorrow.