Nicola Sturgeon: 80 new deaths from coronavirus as Scotland total hits 779

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has released the latest Covid-19 figures for Scotland.

Speaking at the ‘Virtual Leaders Questions’, Ms Sturgeon said 80 more people had died from the disease since Wednesday.

It brings the total number of people who have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Scotland to 779.

The First Minister gave a press conference from St Andrews House in Edinburgh

She said 7,102 people have now tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 354 from 6,748 the day before.

There are 196 patients currently in intensive care, and 1,799 people are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19.

The First Minister made it clear that these numbers would differ from that of the National Records of Scotland, as the NRS, which shows almost 1,000 deaths, also count those which have coronavirus mentioned on the death certificate.

The NRS figures are published weekly, in contrast to the daily figures released by Health Protection Scotland (HPS), which only count laboratory confirmations of coronavirus and recorded 779 deaths as of Wednesday.

Nicola Sturgeon said that the lockdown measures were working, which could be seen in the relatively stagnant numbers of Covid-19 patients in hospital and in intensive care.

However, the First Minister added: "We are by no means through this yet."

Ms Sturgeon will take part in a meeting of Cobra later today with officials from the UK Government and the devolved administrations, where a decision is expected on the extension of lockdown protocols.

She added: "I'm as keen as anyone to lift these restrictions, but I will not begin to do so until I am convinced that we have done as much as is necessary to suppress the virus and we have a clear plan in place to continue to contain it once these measures do start to be lifted."

The First Minister announced that an exit strategy on the lockdown would be developed over the next week before it is shared with the public.

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