Another Covid case was recorded in Orkney today. This brings the cumulative total in Orkney to 93.

Figures published on 1st July for Scotland are:

• 4,234 new cases of COVID-19 reported
• 42,843 new tests for COVID-19 that reported results
  • 10.5% of these were positive
• 6 new reported death(s) of people who have tested positive
• 16 people were in intensive care yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 275 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 3,816,251 people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 2,722,725 have received their second dose

The number of cases in Scotland is rising sharply among younger people, many of whom will not be vaccinated yet, and who will also possibly be socialising more.

This graph illustrates the rise in Covid cases in the 15 – 19 age group in Scotland

This is extremely concerning because the more cases of covid there are, the more opportunities the virus will take to mutate.

At the other end of the age demographic, statistics show that the virus is still entering our care homes.

In the week 21-27 June there were 19 new confirmed positive COVID‑19 cases among care home residents. And there are 39 suspected cases. Care home staff are also affected with 636 being reported as absent due to covid on 30th June.

A third of all deaths in Scotland due to Covid have been in our care homes.

The high rates of covid in Scotland and people having to self isolate means that significant numbers of NHS staff are absent due to the virus.- 2,356 in the last week of June 2021.

Of that 1,264 were in nursing and midwifery, 42 were medical and dental staff and 1,050 were other NHS staff workers.

The advice is to continue to:

• wear a face covering
• avoid crowded places
• clean hands and surfaces regularly
• stay 2m away from other people
• self-isolate and get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms
• download the Protect Scotland app