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People living in the poorest parts of Scotland account for nearly a quarter of coronavirus cases, new figures show.

The NHS data reveals 22.7% of confirmed infections come from those in the most deprived areas, while 18.8% come from the most affluent.

Separate data shows those in the poorest areas account for twice as many Covid-19 calls to NHS24 than the wealthiest.

Coronavirus death rates are worse in the poorest areas of Scotland as well.

Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to help the most vulnerable in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with a £350m Scottish government fund in place to help those most affected.

Jim McCormick, associate director for Scotland at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: "It can never be right that someone's life chances are so profoundly affected by where they live or how much money their family has.

"It's crucial that all aspects of the spread of this virus are carefully examined, but we know that people in areas with higher deprivation scores are less likely to have jobs where they can work from home.

"This means they may have to face a very significant drop in income or keep going to work, facing greater risks of catching the virus. They are also more likely to live in overcrowded homes, increasing the risk for whole families. "

The Scotland-wide deprivation figures are in a paper from Prof Alison McCallum, director of public health at NHS Lothian, for its latest board meeting later.

The paper carries two graphs from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) - a poverty measure which covers seven criteria including income and health - that show Covid-19's impact.

One shows that people in the most deprived areas made 28% of the calls to NHS 24 about coronavirus, compared with 14% of those in the least deprived areas.

'Test, trace and isolate'

Prof McCallum pointed out that many of the callers would not have been tested.

She added: "Without widespread implementation of test, trace, isolate and support, therefore, while this reflects the expected pattern of symptoms in the community it is not clear whether this will be the pattern of true positives that persists throughout the pandemic."

Separate figures in the NHS Lothian paper show just under 23% of confirmed cases live in the area with the highest levels of deprivation, compared with 18.8% in the most affluent.

Scotland-wide data for Covid-19 deaths by the SIMD deprivation index have not so far been published but similar data has been in England and Wales where those living in the poorest areas are more likely to have died with coronavirus.

One indicator that Scotland will be in line with the trends elsewhere in the UK is that the country's most deprived council area, Inverclyde, has the highest death rate.

In addition, figures shown to councillors in Fife suggested that, of the 73 people who had died there with coronavirus by 16 April, 23% were from parts of Fife with the highest levels of deprivation and 15% were from the least deprived areas.