One in 18 Scots were estimated to have had Covid in the last week as the effects of two new variants of the virus become more apparent in Scotland. The Office For National Statistics (ONS) estimates that around 288,200 people would test positive for Covid in the week ending June 24.
Officials make the estimates based off its Covid Infection Survey, which sees a number of volunteers take regular swab and blood tests. The latest figure is an increase on the week previous, where it was estimated that 250,700 people in Scotland - one in 20 - had Covid in the week ending June 17.
Recent increases in the estimated number of people coming down with the virus is said to have been caused by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub variants.
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The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that both virus strains are likely to have a ‘growth advantage’ over the currently dominant BA.2 Omicron variant.
However, they said that there is currently no evidence to suggest that the two new variants cause more severe illness than previous ones. Scottish hospitals have also seen a rise in the number of patients requiring treatment for Covid.
A total of 1,298 people were being treated for the virus as of June 26 - this was a rise from 967 recorded on June 19.
Nurses told the Daily Record yesterday that hospital wards have turned into ‘hell on earth’ due to soaring numbers of staff falling ill with the virus.
Scotland’s largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, saw 749 people absent from work with Covid.
Jason Leitch, Scotland’s National Clinical Director, has also expressed ‘concern’ about the rise in Covid cases and urged Scots to consider wearing face coverings once again.
Speaking at the Covid-19 Recovery Committee earlier this week, he said: “We are concerned, they have come at us four months, five months after the last variant.
"This is a sub variant of Omicron. It's still responding well to antiviral, still responding well to vaccines. People are not getting seriously unwell, but as the numbers rise that means you get people in hospital and you eventually, unfortunately get particularly the vulnerable dying.
"We're hopeful as we look across Europe that this won't peak at the level we saw a few months ago when Omicron first hit us.
"Our advice remains pretty much the same, but you can tell our tone has changed in the last few weeks. It's about staying off if you're sick whether that's college or work or school.
"Certainly reintroducing or thinking about face coverings, hand washing, surfaces all of those antiviral things and of course, the key intervention remains vaccination."
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