ANOTHER 44 people have died in Scotland after contracting Covid-19, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The deaths, recorded in the past 24 hours among those who have tested positive in the previous 28 days, brings the total under that measurement to 3588.

The daily announcement came as National Records of Scotland (NRS) confirmed 244 deaths relating to Covid-19 last week, down 35 from the previous week.

At the Scottish Government’s briefing, the First Minister said another 880 cases have been registered in the past 24 hours.

The daily test positivity rate is 6.8%, down from 8.6% yesterday.

Of the new cases, 260 are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 190 in Lanarkshire, 122 in Grampian and 94 in Lothian

There are 1161 people in hospital with confirmed coronavirus, a decrease of 36.

Of those, 84 are in intensive care, no change from 24 hours previously.

The NRS figures, announced shortly before the First Minister’s briefing, show a total of 5380 people have died in Scotland with confirmed or suspected coronavirus.

Some 244 deaths relating to Covid-19 were registered between November 16 and 22, down 35 from the previous week.

Of these, 160 were in hospital, 67 in care homes and 17 at home or in a non-institutional setting.

There were 81 deaths in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 48 in Lanarkshire, and 38 in Ayrshire and Arran.

The statistics are published weekly and account for all deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

They differ from the lab-confirmed coronavirus deaths announced daily by the Scottish Government because the NRS figures include suspected or probable cases of Covid-19.