NICOLA Sturgeon has confirmed that the Scottish Government are monitoring a new Covid variant mutation which is causing a spike in infections.

The First Minister took to social media today to reveal the news that the Cabinet had discussed issues regarding a mutation of the Delta variant of the virus.

It follows a report from the BBC which said Delta is the UK's dominant variant, but latest official data suggests that 6% of Covid cases have been genetically sequenced, and are of a new ‘desendant of Delta’.

Ms Sturgeon said: “The need to monitor this was discussed in the Scottish Government Cabinet earlier.

“More generally, cases here - though lower than few weeks ago - remain higher than we’d like.

"So please take care: wear masks, wash hands, ventilate indoor spaces, and get vaccinated."

 

READ MORE: Almost 400 fully-vaccinated Scots died from Covid after restrictions lifted

The ‘descendant of Delta’ is known as ‘Delta Plus’ or AY.4.2, and it contains mutations that might give the virus survival advantages.

However, experts say that viruses mutate all the time, so it is not surprising to see new versions emerge.

The announcement of the Scottish Government’s monitoring of there situation comes as high school pupils were told they will have to continue wearing masks in classrooms after the October holidays.

READ MORE:  High school pupils to continue wearing masks in class

The Scottish Government has also recorded 2,459 new coronavirus cases and 24 deaths in the past 24 hours.

The total death toll according to the measure used by the Scottish Government therefore stands at 8,954.

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 11,262 as of October 10.

The total number of first vaccinations given is 4,291,650 while 3,881,744 people have now received a second dose.