SCOTLAND'S Covid hospital cases have fallen to their lowest rate since last summer, an expert has said.
Professor Linda Bauld said on Friday that daily hospital cases with the virus had dropped to less than 50, the first time the figure has dropped so low in almost a year.
She also added there were “about 650” people in hospital with the virus, compared to more than 2000 last month.
“We’ve seen a significant decline in levels of infection in the community,” she told BBC Radio Scotland on Friday.
“The (Office for National Statistics) infection survey will have some results out today that shows another drop.”
She added: “That R number – which nobody is hearing about any more, but is still with us – is well below … it’s between 0.7 and 0.9.”
However, Bauld stressed that the virus had not gone away and the potential for new variants continues.
The Omicron variant, which spread aggressively during the winter, caused a surge in cases.
“We’re not saying that everything’s over because we may see new variants, and we may see surges in infection again, but we do seem to be in a much more stable situation,” she said.
When asked if holidays during the summer could change the Covid-19 landscape in Scotland, Bauld said that travel was “less of a concern than it was”.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Government adviser said “the risk to the general public is low” from monkeypox, after it was announced on Thursday that three cases have been recorded in Scotland.
