London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026

Second highest rise in Covid cases since May

Second highest rise in Covid cases since May

The Scottish government says 88 more positive coronavirus cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted there was "no need for alarm" and the rise was partly due to increased testing.

There were no new deaths reported in the past 24 hours.

Five people were being treated in intensive care on Friday evening, up two on the previous day.

The largest recent rise in cases was just over a week ago on 22 August when 123 new cases were registered. Before that the next largest increase was on 22 May, when 113 new cases were confirmed.

In its daily update, the Scottish government said 0.7% of newly-tested individuals were found to have the virus.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde saw a rise of 36 positive cases. The health board later said it was contact tracing in connection with Gilmour & Dean Eurostampa, a printing firm based in Whiteinch.


Jason Leitch said he was surprised at how quickly an outbreak in Tayside had been contained


NHS Ayrshire and Arran saw 10 new cases. On Friday the health board said it was contact tracing with a small number of pupils in a South Ayrshire Council secondary school who have had contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19.

Test and Protect staff were also tracing contacts of a separate small number of positive cases.

Cases in NHS Tayside and Grampian where there have been outbreaks rose by 11 and six respectively.

Scotland's national clinical director, Jason Leitch, told the BBC: "It's up from yesterday. But it is down from last Saturday. It has been about this level, 50-100, for about three or four weeks."

He said there was no indication that there was a new major outbreak of the nature of Aberdeen or Coupar Angus.

But he noted the rise in the number of people being treated in intensive care units.

He said: "People should not take this lightly - everybody needs to do their bit to keep these numbers low."

How many cases have there been over the last 60 days?




Mr Leitch added that he felt the outbreak in Coupar Angus, linked to the 2Sisters food plant, had been contained "really well".

He said: "The incident management team are doing a really fantastic job. I am actually a little surprised that we have been able to contain it. It was a lot of people dispersed across Tayside and they have behaved really well.

"They have been contacted by the local authority with lots of home visits and whole-house self-isolation and we have seen pretty much no community transmission from that outbreak."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that there was "no need for alarm" over the rise in cases.

She said the leap was due to an increase in testing, and the proportion of people tested returning positive results remained below 1%.

"The increase in cases just now partly reflects a greater volume of testing. Crucially, our positivity rate remains low (below 1% again today). So no need for alarm. But there is a need to be very careful & cautious - it is all very delicately balanced just now," she said.


Nicola Sturgeon said more testing was taking place


Jason Leitch revealed that he will be writing to parents in the coming week to reinforce the guidance on when a test for the virus is required.

Almost 17,500 children were tested in the week after schools returned, putting pressure on the testing system.

He said that he wanted to reassure parents on what to do in scenarios where cold and flu symptoms were present.

He added that the Scottish government wanted to get the guidance across as simply as possible to make sure everyone stayed safe.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Aides Say U.S. Has Discussed Offering Asylum to British Jews Amid Growing Antisemitism Concerns
UK Seeks Diplomatic De-escalation with Trump Over Greenland Tariff Threat
Prince Harry Returns to London as High Court Trial Begins Over Alleged Illegal Tabloid Snooping
High-Speed Train Collision in Southern Spain Kills at Least Twenty-One and Injures Scores
Meghan Markle May Return to the U.K. This Summer as Security Review Advances
Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat Sparks EU Response and Risks Deep Transatlantic Rift
Prince Harry’s High Court Battle With Daily Mail Publisher Begins in London
Trump’s Tariff Escalation Presents Complex Challenges for the UK Economy
UK Prime Minister Starmer Rebukes Trump’s Greenland Tariff Strategy as Transatlantic Tensions Rise
Prince Harry’s Last Press Case in UK Court Signals Potential Turning Point in Media and Royal Relations
OpenAI to Begin Advertising in ChatGPT in Strategic Shift to New Revenue Model
GDP Growth Remains the Most Telling Barometer of Britain’s Economic Health
Prince William and Kate Middleton Stay Away as Prince Harry Visits London Amid Lingering Rift
Britain Braces for Colder Weather and Snow Risk as Temperatures Set to Plunge
Mass Protests Erupt as UK Nears Decision on China’s ‘Mega Embassy’ in London
Prince Harry to Return to UK to Testify in High-Profile Media Trial Against Associated Newspapers
Keir Starmer Rejects Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat as ‘Completely Wrong’
Trump to hit Europe with 10% tariffs until Greenland deal is agreed
Prince Harry Returns to UK High Court as Final Privacy Trial Against Daily Mail Publisher Begins
Britain Confronts a Billion-Pound Wind Energy Paradox Amid Grid Constraints
The graduate 'jobpocalypse': Entry-level jobs are not shrinking. They are disappearing.
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
The Return of the Hands: Why the AI Age Is Rewriting the Meaning of “Real Work”
UK PM Kier Scammer Ridicules Tories With "Kamasutra"
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
United Kingdom and Norway Endorse NATO’s ‘Arctic Sentry’ Mission Including Greenland
Woman Claiming to Be Freddie Mercury’s Secret Daughter Dies at Forty-Eight After Rare Cancer Battle
UK Launches First-Ever ‘Town of Culture’ Competition to Celebrate Local Stories and Boost Communities
Planned Sale of Shell and Exxon’s UK Gas Assets to Viaro Energy Collapses Amid Regulatory and Market Hurdles
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
Prince Harry Seeks King Charles’ Support to Open Invictus Games on UK Return
Washington Holds Back as Britain and France Signal Willingness to Deploy Troops in Postwar Ukraine
Elon Musk Accuses UK Government of Suppressing Free Speech as X Faces Potential Ban Over AI-Generated Content
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
×