Covid in Scotland: Omicron cases linked to Steps concert in Glasgow

The number of Omicron Covid cases in Scotland has risen to 29 on Thursday - up from 13 the day before.

A concert by the pop band Steps at Glasgow's Hydro venue on 22 November has been linked to six of the cases.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said cases can be expected to rise "perhaps significantly" over coming days.

The new virus variant has also been recorded at NHS Highland, NHS Grampian and NHS Forth Valley health boards for the first time.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The number of Omicron cases now being reported in Scotland is rising, and cases are no longer all linked to a single event, but to several different sources including a Steps concert at the Hydro.

"This confirms our view that there is now community transmission of this variant within Scotland.

"Health protection teams are continuing work through contact tracing, isolation and testing to slow the spread as far as possible while we learn more about the new variant's impact."

Omicron cases were first reported in Scotland at NHS Greater Glasgow and NHS Lanarkshire health boards, where there are now 11 and nine cases respectively.

NHS Grampian has one case, NHS Highland has three cases and NHS Forth Valley health now has five cases.

NHS Highland said a small number of Omicron Covid cases have been identified in the Highlands as part of a household cluster.

The Scottish government said the risk to those who attended the Steps concert on 22 November is low and those who may have come into contact with Omicron are being contacted by test and protect teams.

The band also played the same venue on 23 November but no cases have been identified from this night of the concert.

On Monday, Steps postponed the remainder of their UK tour due to positive Covid cases in their touring party.

The move comes just days after it was revealed singer Lee Latchford-Evans tested positive for coronavirus.

A total of 2,432 new Covid cases were reported in Scotland on Friday.

The daily test positivity rate was 7.6%, according to data published by the Scottish government on Friday, up from 7.4% the previous day.

There were 652 people in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19 as of Wednesday night, down 28 in 24 hours and, of these, 46 people were in intensive care, down two.

Covid infections have increased in Scotland new analysis from the Office for National Statistics suggests.

For Scotland, the latest estimate is one in 65 people in private households had Covid in the week up to 27 November 27.

This is up from one in 70 the previous week and below September's peak of one in 45.