Covid Scotland: Cases increase by more than 30 per cent in Scotland as hospital admissions rise

Covid cases in Scotland have increased by more than 30 per cent in the past week, according to the latest figures.

Data from Public Health Scotland (PHS) has revealed there were 15,541 reported virus cases in the week ending June 19.

The PHS Covid-19 weekly report for Scotland shows cases rose by 30.5 per cent last week compared to the week ending June 12, when 11,909 were recorded.

The data also showed an increase in the number of hospital admissions with a 15 per cent increase in the week ending June 14, with 696 people in hospital in total.

There has been an increase in the number of Covid cases in Scotland

Of those admitted to hospital, 26.9 per cent were those aged 80 and over, with 20 new admissions to intensive care.

The latest Covid stats come following a warning from Professor Linda Bauld, who last week said new variants could result in another spike in the number of infections following the emergence of Omicron sub-lineages BA.4 and BA.5.

The strain of virus is thought to be the same that dominated cases in the US throughout the pandemic. They are now thought to be the dominant strains in much of the UK.

Figures published last week by the Office for National Statistics showed infections were estimated to have risen in all four nations of the UK and were back to levels last seen at the start of May.

In England and Wales, the number of suspected outbreaks of the virus is also the highest since the beginning of last month, with staff absences also up from the first week of this month.