Slow down in positive cases in Forth Valley

Latest figures released this afternoon show that there have been 818 people in the region who have tested positive, an increase of nine in the last 24 hours.

The number of inpatients in Forth Valley hospitals with or suspected to have coronavirus is now 26, one fewer than yesterday.

There are less than five of these within Forth Valley Royal’s intensive care unit.

The news comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that Scots face at least another three weeks in lockdown.

Statistics released yesterday show that across the region there have been 156 deaths linked to coronavirus, 86 of these within the Falkirk Council area.

There have been 39 deaths in hospital, 38 in care homes and nine people who died at home.

A total of 67,097 people in Scotland have been tested through NHS labs. Of these, 54,173 were confirmed negative and 12,924 were positive.

Across Scotland there has been seven deaths of healthcare workers and six deaths of social care workers, related to Covid-19.