Another 5,242 Covid cases have been diagnosed within the last 24 hours as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed people will not be asked to cancel their Christmas Day plans.
Figures have been published by the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) this afternoon as part of the national Covid-19 daily briefing.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has just announced that live outdoor events, including football matches, will be limited to 500 people for a period of three weeks from Boxing Day.
She also told MSPs at the Scottish Parliament she believed the measures were necessary in the face of Omicron but that she expected schools to open as planned following the Christmas holidays.
Nationally, there are 515 patients being treated in hospital which is down one on yesterday. There are currently 37 people with the disease being treated in ICUs.
The number of newly-reported positive coronavirus cases recorded by NHS Ayrshire & Arran has risen by 354 to 57,969.
Of the new cases, 131 were from North Ayrshire, 128 in East Ayrshire and 95 attributed to South Ayrshire.
A total of 811,927 positive tests have now been recorded from 3.860 million tests carried out since the start of the pandemic.
According to Public Health Scotland's rolling seven-day infection rate per 100,000 population, West Lothian has the highest rate in the country – at 1,030.9 as of Monday, December 20.
Renfrewshire has the second-highest infection rate at 943.8 while City of Edinburgh is third with 935.0.
In terms of Ayrshire's local authorities, North Ayrshire's is 832.8; it is 723.7 in East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire's is 648.3.
A total of 16 of Scotland's 32 council regions have an infection rate below the national average of 698.2.
7-day infection rate per 100,000 population for each council area...
310.5 Shetland Islands
328.3 Na h-Eileanan Siar
335.1 Highland
369.5 Angus
384.4 Dumfries & Galloway
406.3 Orkney Islands
407.8 Scottish Borders
437.4 Aberdeen City
454.4 Aberdeenshire
471.7 Dundee City
506.9 Perth & Kinross
529.5 Inverclyde
562.1 Moray
579.4 Argyll & Bute
618.0 Fife
648.3 South Ayrshire
706.8 Stirling
717.5 Clackmannanshire
723.7 East Ayrshire
744.2 East Lothian
746.6 Glasgow City
802.0 North Lanarkshire
832.8 North Ayrshire
840.8 Falkirk
858.9 East Dunbartonshire
863.7 West Dunbartonshire
890.0 Midlothian
890.2 South Lanarkshire
894.2 East Renfrewshire
935.0 City of Edinburgh
943.8 Renfrewshire
1,030.9 West Lothian
Nine new deaths mean 9,790 people have passed away since March 2020.
However, data from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) shows 12,303 deaths had been registered up to Sunday, December 12 where the disease was mentioned on the death certificate.
Across the UK, the figure is 147,261 as of last night.
There are 60 patients being treated for the disease in Ayrshire hospitals, which is up four on yesterday, and fewer than five people in ICUs.
Nationally, a total of 4,373,917 people have received one dose of a Covid vaccine; 3,997,192 are double jabbed and 2,630,615 people have received a third dose/booster.
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