Scotland records 36 more Coronavirus deaths and 1,118 new cases

Scotland has recorded 36 new coronavirus deaths and 1,118 new positive cases, the latest figures show.

A total of 22,166 tests were carried out in the previous 24 hours, with the test positivity rate at 5.8%.

The Scottish Government's announcement on Saturday also said there were 1,198 people in hospital with recently confirmed coronavirus and 92 people in intensive care.

Of the newly confirmed cases, 400 were in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area, 218 in NHS Lanarkshire and 120 in NHS Lothian.

Earlier, Deputy First Minister John Swinney warned “more dramatic action'' may be needed to curb the spread of the virus in parts of Scotland.

The Scottish Government has contacted local authorities in the Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire regions about a potential move from Level 3 to Level 4 - the highest tier of restrictions.

Speaking on Friday, Mr Swinney said: “The hard issue we have got to look at about some of the Level 3 areas is on the question of whether we think Level 3 restrictions are making enough of an impact, and the numbers are so stubbornly high in some of these areas it is posing the question perhaps these Level 3 restrictions are not doing enough to suppress the virus.

“That is the issue that is being looked at over the weekend. We have to make sure we are taking all necessary measures.''

He added: “The Government would want to avoid that if we possibly can do, but it is certainly under active consideration given the prevalence of the virus and the fact that we are not seeing levels of the virus coming down as sharply and as firmly as we need.''

Hear all the latest news from the North East of Scotland on Northsound 1. Listen on FM, via our Rayo app, DAB, or smart speaker.