A further 2,459 people in Scotland have been diagnosed with Covid, it has been confirmed.

Figures have been published this afternoon by the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) as part of the national Covid-19 daily briefing.

Nationally, there are 869 patients being treated in hospital which is up 12 from yesterday. There are currently 46 people with the disease being treated in ICUs.

The number of newly-reported positive coronavirus cases recorded by NHS Ayrshire & Arran has risen by 163 to 43,316.

Of the new cases, 63 were from North Ayrshire, 58 in East Ayrshire and 42 attributed to South Ayrshire.

A total of 612,416 positive tests have now been recorded from 3.331 million tests carried out since the start of the pandemic.

Scotland remains in the grip of the Covid pandemic
Scotland remains in the grip of the Covid pandemic

According to Public Health Scotland's rolling seven-day infection rate per 100,000 population, Clackmannanshire has the highest rate in the country – at 489.4 as of Monday, October 18.

Stirling has the second-highest infection rate at 461.3 while West Lothian is third with 451.5.

In terms of Ayrshire's local authorities, East Ayrshire's rate is 398.0 and it is 350.1 in North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire's is 289.8.

A total of 14 of Scotland's 32 council regions have an infection rate below the national average of 315.1.

7-day infection rate per 100,000 population for each council area...

91.8 Shetland Islands

125.0 Orkney Islands

143.4 Na h-Eileanan Siar

208.1 Highland

227.3 Dumfries & Galloway

231.0 Inverclyde

237.7 Glasgow City

237.9 City of Edinburgh

247.5 Perth & Kinross

254.4 Midlothian

254.5 Aberdeen City

255.2 Argyll & Bute

289.8 South Ayrshire

295.4 West Dunbartonshire

323.9 Moray

326.2 East Lothian

335.9 Angus

338.3 East Renfrewshire

341.2 Renfrewshire

344.5 Scottish Borders

350.1 Aberdeenshire / North Ayrshire

354.0 East Dunbartonshire

355.5 Dundee City

356.5 North Lanarkshire

358.1 South Lanarkshire

398.0 East Ayrshire

421.5 Fife

424.8 Falkirk

451.5 West Lothian

461.3 Stirling

489.4 Clackmannanshire

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There have been 24 deaths in the last 24 hours which means 8,954 people have passed away since March 2020.

However, data from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) shows 11,262 deaths had been registered up to Sunday, October 10 where the disease was mentioned on the death certificate.

Across the UK, the figure is 138,629 as of last night.

There are 118 patients being treated for the disease in Ayrshire hospitals, which is a reduction of one on yesterday, and seven in ICUs, which is down one from yesterday.

Nationally, a total of 4,291,650 people have received the first dose of a Covid vaccine and 3,881,744 have received their second dose.

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