SEVEN cases of coronavirus have been confirmed overnight in Scotland, a sharp drop on the rising numbers seen in the previous 48 hours.

The figure from Health Protection Scotland followed increases of 21 on Saturday and 23 on Sunday.

There were no recorded deaths overnight, with the total remaining 2,491.

The 23 cases on Sunday was the largest daily number in Scotland since June 21, prompting fears the virus was starting to pick up again.

The Scottish Government has said some variation in infection numbers is to be expected given the relaxation in the lockdown.

Any increases are supposed to dealt with by the Test and Protect contact tracing system.

However it emerged over the weekend that one of the call centres handling contact tracing is itself at the centre of an outbreak.

Six people have tested positive for the virus art the Sitel centre in Motherwell, which carries out contact tracing for NHS England.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland the call centre has been closed and "extensive contact tracing" was now under way.

Sitel said it was "urgently investigating" the outbreak with Public Health Scotland.

The company said it had requested that all staff who have been working at the site undergo testing within the next 24 hours.

A spokeswoman for NHS Test and Trace, the English contact tracing system, said everyone at the site is currently working from home while a deep clean takes place.

Mr Swinney said the problem was identified on Sunday morning, and the "pretty realistic conclusion" was that there had been transmission of the virus in the office.

Asked if penalties could levied against Sitel, Mr Swinney said: "These are all issues that will be explored, but what our primary focus is on is to make sure that we interrupt any transmission of the virus.

"The virus is at a very low level within Scottish society today, the compliance efforts of members of the public have successfully reduced the prevalence of coronavirus, but we have to keep it that way."