The Scottish Government has recorded more than 16,800 new coronavirus cases and nine deaths in the past 24 hours.

According to the latest Scottish Government figures, 16,857 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the past 24 hours.

Nine deaths have been reported of someone who tested positive for the virus over the past 28 days.

The death toll therefore now stands  at 9,845 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Separate figures produced by National Records of Scotland (NRS) which record the number of deaths where Covid was mentioned on a death certificate, put the figure at 12,372 as of December 19.

NRS figures include deaths where “suspected” or “probable” Covid-19 appears on the death certificate.

Of the 71,612 new tests for Covid-19 carried out which reported results in the past 24 hours – 27.1% were positive.

A total of 34 people are currently being treated in intensive care with recently confirmed Covid-19, with 810 in hospital who had recently contracted the virus overall.

The total number of first vaccinations given is 4,381,226 while 4,012,490 people have now received a second dose.

2,944,977 have received a third dose or booster vaccine.

It is noted that there continues to be large volumes of tests being processed by labs; this and the festive period have impacted turnaround times for results. 

The figures being reported today will include a backlog from before Christmas.