More than 450 fresh cases of coronavirus have been identified during the past 24 hours, according to the latest figures 

Scottish Government statistics have confirmed that 464 new cases of the virus have been identified since Wednesday, a fall of 82 on the day before.  

During that time there were no new deaths of someone who tested positive for the disease within the past 28 days, meaning the death toll under this measure remains 7,666.

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Separate figures from National Records of Scotland, which count the number where Covid-19 was mentioned on a death certificate, put the toll at 10,114 as of 23 May.

Out of the new tests which that reported results, 1.8% were positive, lower than the 5% the World Health Organisation (WHO) believes indicates a pandemic is coming under control. 

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According to the latest statistics, the vaccination programme has now administered 3,174,807 first doses, while 1,942,285 people have received a second, taking the overall total to more than five million. 

A total of 83 people remain in hospital receiving treatment for the virus, down 15 on the previous day, while four are in intensive care, a fall from six.

Nicola Sturgeon said the reduction in hospital cases of coronavirus and another small drop in the number of patients in ICU as “reasons to be optimistic”.

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government wants to get Glasgow back on track “as quickly as possible, but that’s got to be done responsibly and safely”.

The city is the only part of Scotland still under Level 3 restrictions.

Ms Sturgeon said: “We see a reduction in hospital cases today, and a small reduction in ICU cases, so there are reasons to be optimistic there, but we’ve got to continue – in the interest of business and in the interest of everybody – to take careful and cautious decisions to get the whole country back to normality.”