Almost 600 people have been confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19 in Scotland during the past 24 hours.
Speaking during the daily briefing on the state of the pandemic in Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 recorded yesterday was 591.
The test positivity rate was 2.5%, lower than the figure the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers the marker for an epidemic being under control.
Today marks exactly one year since the WHO declared Covid-19 to be a global pandemic.
The number of people being treated in hospital - including those in intensive care - 598.
A total of 556 people are currently on a ward with a case of the virus - an fall of 26 in 24 hours - while 42 are in intensive care wards, a drop of seven.
Since yesterday, 22 deaths have been registered, taking the overall toll from the virus to 7,483.
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Ms Sturgeon offered her condolances to the families of those affected.
The vaccination programme continues apace, with 1,825,800 now having received their first dose of the virus - 16,642 since yesterday - while 141,443 have been given a second dose, including 8,673 on Wednesday.
In total, 25,315 people have been vaccinated in the past 24 hours.
Nicola Sturgeon said there was grounds for optimism.
Speaking ahead of First Minister’s Questions, she said: “The last 12 months have been incredibly tough – unimaginably tough for everybody.
“But as I indicated on Tuesday, we do now have real grounds for optimism, albeit cautious optimism.
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“Case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths have all fallen in recent weeks and when we publish the latest estimate of the R number later today we expect it to show that it remains below one.
“And, of course, the vaccination programme has given a first dose to 40% of the entire adult population and it is set to significantly accelerate over the next few weeks.”
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