Nicola Sturgeon delivered another Covid update to the Scottish Parliament earlier today.
During her speech, the First Minister outlined the latest 24 hour data on Covid while giving her assessment on the current Omicron situation in Scotland.
She also updated MSPs on the number of confirmed cases of BA.2, which has been dubbed “stealth Omicron”, in Scotland.
Here are six key points that Nicola Sturgeon raised during her speech this afternoon.
Cases and hospitalisations
Nicola Sturgeon announced that 6,630 new cases of Covid had been identified in Scotland over the past 24 hours.
A total of 950 people are in hospitals across Scotland with Covid, with the current number of people in intensive care standing at 31 - this figure includes 13 Scots have been in ICU for more than 28 days.
The First Minister also said that 18 new Covid deaths had been recorded in the same period of time.
Case numbers in Scotland are said to “broadly stable” over the past week, with the number of infections declining by five per cent - from 7,400 on average a day last week to 7,000 a day this week.
This drop in case numbers has come despite more Scots returning to the workplace from last Monday.
The latest data released by the Office for National Statistics found that one in 30 Scots had Covid in the week ending January 29.
Sturgeon also said that the number of people in hospital with Covid has dropped - with more than 1,500 in Scots wards in mid-January, to less than 1,000 today. Intensive care numbers have also fallen from 70 reported at the beginning of last month, to 31 now.
The number of deaths from people that have tested positive for Covid also appears to be on the decline.
Change to reporting data
The First Minister also said that there will be an ‘imminent’ change to how Scotland reports its data over the weekends.
This Saturday and Sunday will be final weekend in which the daily Covid statistics on cases, hospitalisations and deaths will be announced.
Instead, the weekend data will be reported on the Scottish Government on a Monday.
Sturgeon said that this data could return in the future if the virus situation were to escalate in Scotland once again.
Positive on Omicron
Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid update today was one of the most upbeat speeches she has delivered for a number of weeks now.
The First Minister claimed that Scotland is now “through the worst” of the current wave of the virus during her address to MSPs.
She said: “It seems reasonable based on the data to conclude that we are now through the worst of this wave of Omicron.
“That has enabled the removal of virtually all the additional measures that we Introduced in December and a return to normality in much of everyday life.”
However, Sturgeon remarked that one in 30 people with the virus remains a “high level” on infection, while the the pressure on the NHS remains “significant”.
No decision on face coverings in schools
Nicola Sturgeon said that the advisory subgroup on education is due to meet later today.
It will consider the most up to date data on whether secondary school pupils should continue to wear face masks in the classrooms and in corridors.
The First Minister said that the consider any advice “as quickly as possible” in advance of the return to school after the February break.
Recent data has shown that the number of under 15s in Scotland coming down with the virus fell by more than a quarter in the past week.
However, the largest rise in recorded cases came in the 15 to 24-year-old age group - which includes secondary students - with infections rising by more than 50 per cent.
Stealth Omicron
Last week, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that there was 26 confirmed cases of the so-called ‘stealth Omicron’ variant in Scotland.
This number of people confirmed to have come down with the BA.2 Omicron sub variant has now risen to 103.
But recent findings from Scotland’s labs suggest that this figure could be a “significant underestimate”.
The number of cases without the S-gene drop out, which is a telltale sign of the original Omicron strain, has fallen.
Positive tests with the S-gene present have risen at the same time, which could suggest a rise in Delta or BA.2.
There is so far no evidence to suggest that BA.2 is more severe or can evade vaccine protection easier than the previous Omicron strain.
Sturgeon said that there has been a number of countries that have found BA.2 to have a “growth advantage”, which means that it is more transmissible than Omicron.
The First Minister said that there is currently no grounds for “significant concern” but added that the Scottish Government will continue to monitor it carefully.
Strategic framework
Scottish Government officials are aiming to publish the strategic framework in dealing with Covid on February 22.
The document will set out how Scotland will live with the virus without the need for restrictive measures we have seen previously.
Nicola Sturgeon is expected to present the document to the Scottish Parliament, where it will be debated and then voted on later this month.
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