SCOTLAND was told there was cause for “cautious optimism” by Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday as data showed early signs that the rate of Covid might be slowing down.
Government modellers projected that there would be around 50,000 Covid infections a day by early January, on a central estimate, but the true figure now looks to have been around 30,000 per day.
The evidence prompted the First Minister to end the 500-person cap on attendance at outdoor events from Monday and with plans to "phase out" other restrictions that have been in place since Christmas.
A new roadmap detailing Scotland’s long-term move away from coronavirus restrictions is also to be released but is Omicron slowing down across the country and in local areas?
Scotland
The latest data for Covid cases suggests that case rates are slowing since the highest peak ever seen during the pandemic during the Christmas period.
At the beginning of last week, daily positive cases were hitting well over 10,000 but by the end, on January 9, they were just over 4,000.
The seven-day moving average went from 16,337 on January 2 to 11,391 on January 9 - in the latest figures available from Public Health Scotland.
Furthermore, on January 14 covid cases totalled and the week before it was 6,359.
Local authorities
The good news is that Covid cases have dropped everywhere in Scotland.
Almost by at least 50 per cent in all areas bar one - Na h-Eileanan Siar - based on data between January 3 and 10 from Public Health Scotland.
The area that saw the biggest decrease in cases in a week was the Orkney Islands by 88 per cent - from 45 to just five cases on January 10, followed by Moray with 74 per cent.
Na h-Eileanan Siar saw cases decrease by 42 per cent from 33 to 19.
The majority of local authorities have seen positive cases drop by around 60 per cent.
Edinburgh's total of cases decreased by 61 per cent in the week between January 3 and 10. While Glasgow's dropped slightly more at 62 per cent.
Find out the stats for your area
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