Scotland recorded 248 new coronavirus cases and no deaths of Covid-19 patients in the past 24 hours, according to the latest data.

The death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – remains at 7,614.

Figures published by the Scottish Government on Monday indicate the daily test positivity rate is 2.5%, down from 2.7% on Sunday.

A total of 2,565,280 people have received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination and 456,374 have received their second dose.

The Scottish Government is only publishing updates on the above data during the Easter break and the remaining daily statistics – such as hospital and intensive care figures – will be updated on Tuesday.

The stay at home order was lifted on Friday and replaced with guidance to “stay local”, which urges people to remain within their local authority area.

Further easing took place today, with garden centres, homeware stores and click and collect services allowed to reopen, along with barbers and hairdressers.

It comes after Deputy First Minister John Swinney urged Scots to continue following coronavirus restrictions.

The Herald:

On a visit to a garden centre in Perthshire on Sunday, Mr Swinney said it is important to remember the virus is still circulating.

He said: “It’s absolutely wonderful to be out and about again. After the long winter months of being cooped up inside, I know everyone will be keen to get back to our more normal lives.

“We are seeing real progress in our fight against this dreadful pandemic. The hard sacrifices of the country – coupled with the fantastic effort of the vaccine programme getting jabs into arms of millions of Scots – is really paying dividends.

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“While it’s great news that garden centres and hairdressers are allowed to reopen, everyone needs to bear in mind that it doesn’t mean the virus has gone away.”