A neighbourhood in Edinburgh has jumped to the highest Covid alert level following a surge in cases, the latest data reveals.
Edinburgh Live previously reported that coronavirus cases in an area of Leith had seen a spike, making it one of the top hotspots for transmission in the city.
While new infections fell across Scotland on Sunday, with 422 new cases of the virus, Leith (Hermitage and Prospect Bank) has seen a rise in new cases.
And now, the most recent data from Public Health Scotland shows that the area in the north of the city has been escalated to the highest Covid alert
While Sunday's data recorded enough cases over a seven-day period to put them in the 200-399 cases per 100,000 category, the latest data shows that the neighbourhood has been escalated and is currently the only area in Edinburgh in the 400+ cases per 100,000 category.
Across the rest of the city, three other neighbourhoods have also seen rising cases. Niddrie, Moredun and Craigour and Colinton and Kingsknowe now have a seven-day positive rate per 100,000 of between 200-399.
Despite this, the seven-day positive rate across the whole city remains low, at 55.2, while the seven-day test positivity rate is only 2.4 per cent. A number of areas have also recorded fewer than three cases, including neighbourhoods near the hardest-hit area - such as Bonnington and Pilrig, which have less than three new infections.
It comes as 542 new cases were recorded across Scotland on Wednesday (March 31), with six further deaths from the virus reported. There are also 51 people in hospital with the virus, two of whom are in intensive care.
Restrictions are set to begin easing from Friday (April 2), when the "stay at home" rule will be swapped for the "stay local" message ahead of non-essential retail beginning to reopen from next week. You can find out exactly what that will mean for you here.
Explaining why the "stay local" message is important at this time, the First Minister said: "The requirement to stay local is there at the moment for good reason. Right now, different parts of the country have different levels of infection".
This is true of the NHS Lothian region, where coronavirus rates vary greatly. While West Lothian has a seven-day positive rate per 100,000 of 143.6, Edinburgh's is 55.2, East Lothian's is 43.9 and Midlothian's is 53.
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