The number of cases of Covid-19 recorded in Scotland has risen by more than 500 in the past 24 hours, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has said. 

She confirmed that a further 543 people have tested positive for the virus, which is 2.6% of the tests carried out yesterday.

The total number of positive cases in Scotland since the start of the pandemic is now 203,555.

Of the current positive cases, 750 people in hospital, a fall of 34 from Tuesday.

There are 69 people in intensive care, down two from yesterday.

There have also been 35 more deaths from the virus. 

Of the new cases, 150 are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 77 in Lothian and 102 in Lanarkshire.

A total of 1,661,879 people have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine as of Wednesday morning and 8,105 have received their second dose.

Separate figures released by national Records of Scotland found that 9,580 people have died with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, according to the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The figures show 227 deaths relating to Covid-19 were registered between February 22 and 28, down 64 on the previous week.

Of these, the majority happened in hospital at 187, with 26 in care homes and 14 at home or in a non-institutional setting and one in another institution.

The statistics are published weekly and cover all deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

They differ from the lab-confirmed coronavirus deaths announced daily by the Scottish Government because the NRS figures include suspected or probable cases of Covid-19.