Coronavirus in Scotland: East Renfrewshire overtakes Glasgow as Covid hotspot as cases numbers surge to highest daily figure since March

East Renfrewshire has overtaken Glasgow as Scotland’s Covid hotspot, according to the latest figures. as 432 new coronavirus cases were recorded across the country – the highest daily number since March.

The rate of cases in East Renfrewshire has risen to 118.3 per 100,000 in the seven days to May 17, though the area remains in Level 2 of the Scottish Government’s coronavirus restriction levels.

This has pushed it ahead of Glasgow which remains in Level 3, and saw case rates rise to 112.1 per 100,000 people in the seven days to May 17.

Despite the surge in cases, figures published on Thursday showed the daily coronavirus test positivity rate was 1.6 per cent, no change on the previous day.

No further deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

It means the death toll under this daily measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – remains at 7,664.

Dr Christine Tait-Burkard, a research fellow in the department of infection and immunity at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, said that putting East Renfrewshire back into Level 3 would “certainly slow down the outbreak quicker”.

Cases are rising in Glasgow and East Renfrewshire

Asked whether the area should move up a level, she said: “It’s a very difficult decision at the moment and, we can probably compare this to Bolton down in England, where cases are now at 300 per 100,000, so they are about three times without measures in place.

“So, clearly, it means the outbreak in Glasgow is slowing down faster in that Level 3, and surge testing does work in slowing down that really big moving lorry a bit quicker, and that’s pretty much what we have to think about.”

She added: “It’s possible it’s going to go into Level 3, East Renfrewshire, it’s also very likely Moray is actually going down to Level 2 on the other hand, so that tells us surge testing does work and we can get these outbreaks under control easier than we were able to last year.”

The Indian variant has been detected in cases in Glasgow, causing increased concern among public health advisers and the Scottish Government.

Figures published on Thursday showed Scotland’s daily test positivity rate was 1.6%, no change on the previous day.

There were 83 people in hospital on Wednesday with recently confirmed Covid-19, up from 78 the previous day.

Five people were in intensive care, up from four the day before.

So far 3,063,648 people have received the first dose of a Covid vaccination and 1,742,072 have received their second dose.

People aged 18 to 39 who live in postcodes G41, G42, G5, G51 or G52 in the southside of Glasgow are being offered coronavirus jabs early as public health authorities tackle a spike in cases in those areas.

Covid-19 vaccinations are also being offered to those aged 18-39 in Moray as NHS Grampian combats an outbreak of the virus in the area.

Glasgow and Moray remain in Level 3 restrictions despite the rest of mainland Scotland moving to Level 2 on Monday.

Case rates in Moray fell to 36.5 per 100,000 people in the seven days to May 17.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.