Rise in summer cases of Covid in Scotland 'may have peaked'

Experts said Covid-19 does not follow a seasonal pattern

A recent rise in cases of coronavirus in Scotland may have "peaked", according to the latest provisional data.

Dr Kimberly Marsh, a consultant healthcare scientist at Public Health Scotland (PHS), said the virus did not appear to follow seasonal illness patterns, such as flu.

The latest data from PHS, for the week ending 14 July, had the number of cases in Scotland at 1,130.

That was a fall from the previous week's total of 1,245.

Dr Marsh told BBC Radio Scotland's The Sunday Show: "Our data in Scotland shows that there has been an increase in Covid-19 and this has been really seen since mid April, with a steeper increase in June.

"There are, however, some early signals that this wave may have peaked, but our data are still provisional for this week."

She said there could be a number of reasons behind the summer increase in cases, including the variant known as KP.3.

But Dr Marsh added the Covid vaccine was still effective against the new variant.

Asked about the latest advice, she said: "If you're feeling unwell, if you have symptoms, you should avoid contact with others until you're better and fever-free."

The expert also told the programme good hand hygiene and ventilation were still important to protect those with weaker immune systems.