NEARLY 6000 new cases of coronavirus have been identified in Scotland in the last 24 hours.

The Scottish Government has confirmed 5917 new cases of the virus have been recorded.

Nine deaths have also been included in the daily update, bringing the death toll since last March - of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days - to 9771.

The number of total cases since the pandemic in Scotland now stands at 788,156.

There are currently 494 people in hospital in Scotland with Covid, with 34 being treated in intensive care. 

A total of 4,369,398 people has received their first dose of the vaccine. 3,988,961 have had their second dose, with a further 2,436,952 having had their third dose.