First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will hold a Covid briefing today amid concern about the rising number of cases.
Since Scotland moved “beyond Level 0” on August 9, the number of cases has started to creep – with at least 3,000 recorded every day for the last five days.
The positivity rate peaked at 12.4% on Monday.
Earlier today, national clinical director Jason Leitch said he and other public health advisers are “concerned” by a sharp rise – but said he does not expect major changes to be made during Ms Sturgeon’s briefing.
The first minister will be joined by chief medical officer Gregor Smith for the 12.15 briefing.
📺 With cases on the rise again – in Scotland and elsewhere – I will be giving a Covid update today at 12.15pm. I’ll be joined by CMO @DrGregorSmith. Please tune in if you can.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 24, 2021
Case numbers: the breakdown
In the past week, case figures have more than doubled, from around 10,000 to more than 21,000.
On Monday, NHS Grampian reported 149 new cases of the virus.
Less than one month ago on August 9 – the day restrictions were eased – the health board recorded just 58 cases.
To put it in perspective, on Monday, Aberdeen City recorded 67 new cases – more cases than the entire region reported on August 9.
‘Dramatic changes’ not expected
Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland earlier, Mr Leitch said: “We are concerned.
“It’s principally young people, but not only young people.
“But a big percentage are under 40, so that means the harm is not as significant, but people are still harmed by this virus, either the older people who get it or some small proportion of those younger people.”
Hospital figures have also stagnated in recent weeks, with the same number (356) in hospital on Monday as compared with the day restrictions were eased in Scotland, although the figure has risen from 312 on Friday, adding another 18 on Monday.
When asked about the possible return of restrictions because of the rising numbers, Mr Leitch said: “Cabinet will meet today and we’ve given balanced advice, we’ve told the truth about the state of the pandemic.”
When asked if restrictions could be imposed as early as Tuesday, he said: “I don’t expect us to make dramatic changes, I think we will almost certainly keep the baseline mitigations that we’ve got in place just now.”
Last year, the return of schools and universities contributing to a spike in cases which culminated in a nationwide lockdown by Christmas, but when asked about clusters in schools, Mr Leitch said: “No, we’re not seeing specific examples of outbreaks.
“There are a few, connected to events usually, indoor events, people gathering in houses or people at weddings, or pubs or restaurants.
“It’s depressingly predictable.
“We’ve known about this virus for 18 months, we learn more everyday, but fundamentally this virus spreads when people gather indoors with no ventilation too close together, it’s as simple as that.”
He added: “We have had some school cases, I’m not suggesting that doesn’t happen, of course it does, but we’re not seeing massive numbers and we know how much education has been disrupted so we’re keen to see that get back.”
In terms of the return of universities, Mr Leitch said he was confident in being able to handle students heading back to campus by encouraging those in the UK to get vaccinated and test before they arrive while overseas students have to quarantine if they are from high risk areas.
The briefing will be shown on the Scottish Government’s Twitter, BBC Scotland or follow our live blog for the latest updates.
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