Covid in Scotland: Where are the latest cases?

There have been 171,006 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Scotland and 5,704 people have died following a positive test for the virus, according to Scottish government figures.

This page analyses the key figures for the coronavirus outbreak in Scotland.

Figures updated at 14:00 on 23 January.

Over the past seven days there have been 10,014 cases detected following a test, with 1,307 confirmed on Saturday.

The following chart shows the number of daily confirmed cases after an NHS Scotland or UK government test since 1 August, along with a seven-day average.

The actual number of people infected since February 2020 will be far higher than the overall confirmed cases figure, as many people who have Covid-19 are not tested.

Scotland's "second wave" has seen a much bigger surge in the number of cases because many more people are being tested.

The first Covid-19 vaccinations in Scotland were administered on 8 December.

Currently the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are being given in Scotland, with both requiring two doses.

The Scottish government says that by the autumn every adult in Scotland should have been offered a vaccine - that's 4.4 million people.

The government has also committed to two other key targets.

Over-80s, care home residents and staff, front-line health workers and social care workers will be vaccinated by the beginning of February - just under 560,000 people.

Additionally, everyone over the age of 50 and younger people with underlying health conditions (about 2.7 million people) should be vaccinated by the beginning of May.

Public Health Scotland publishes a weekly update on vaccinations, which includes a breakdown of the age groups that have received the vaccine.

This chart shows the percentage of each age group that has been vaccinated with their first dose so far.

The number of positive cases in each local authority is published daily by Public Health Scotland.

The most recent data often underestimates the number of positive tests as there are sometimes delays before results are recorded, so this chart uses figures from a few days ago.

Looking at the total number of cases by health board, the highest number has been in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, reflecting the fact it is the most populous part of Scotland.

The first coronavirus death in Scotland was reported by NHS Lothian on 13 March and during the spring outbreak the number of daily deaths peaked on 15 April, when 84 were reported.

Over the summer, Scotland went for a long period when there were no deaths following a positive test for Covid-19, but the rate of new deaths rose again in the autumn.

The peak in the spring was surpassed on 8 January 2021 when 93 deaths were reported.

There are three ways to count deaths from Covid-19.

The Scottish government's daily announcement counts deaths within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19, whereas the National Records of Scotland (NRS) counts all death certificates that mention Covid-19, even if the person has not been tested for the virus.

The NRS also publishes monthly data on excess deaths in 2020, compared with a five-year average.

At its peak in the spring, the coronavirus outbreak created a huge load on Scotland's hospitals, with more than 1,500 patients in hospital and over 200 being treated on intensive care wards.

Numbers reduced over the summer, but started to rise steadily again in September.

In January 2021, the number of Covid patients in hospital passed the the spring outbreak peak of 1,520.

Only patients who test positive during their current stay in hospital, or in the two weeks before their admission, are counted by the Scottish government as Covid-19 patients.

They are no longer classified as Covid patients after 28 days in hospital or 28 days after their positive test, whichever is later.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the percentage of positive test results is a key measure when assessing the status of a Covid-19 outbreak within a country.

The organisation has stated that if less than 5% of samples from a comprehensive testing system return a positive result over two weeks then it is one indication an epidemic is under control.

Other indications include a continuous decline in hospital admissions and a decline in the number of new deaths over at least three weeks.

This chart shows the "positivity rate" in Scotland since 18 August.

The Scottish government changed the way it measures this rate on 19 October.

Previously, the government calculated it by dividing the number of positive cases with the number of newly-tested individuals each day.

However, it now calculates the rate using the number of positive tests reported each day.

The Scottish government said it changed the method to bring it into line with the WHO's criteria, and because the previous measure was "likely to over-estimate the positivity rate" as more people were repeatedly tested.

The R number, or reproduction number, is a way of rating a disease's ability to spread. It is the average number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to.

If the reproduction number is higher than one, then the number of cases increases exponentially.

The Scottish government has been monitoring the estimated R number in Scotland since the start of the outbreak.