Number of coronavirus cases in Borders edges up one to 285

That rise follows two days going by without new diagnoses of the disease, also known as Covid-19, being announced for the first time since mid-March.

The 285 cases diagnosed here are among 12,709 nationwide, up from 12,437 yesterday, May 5.

Across the UK, 194,990 people have tested positive for coronavirus, up 4,406 on the day before.

It’s well over a month now since the first two cases of the disease were confirmed in the Borders on Wednesday, March 11, and over two months since Scotland’s first case, in Tayside, was announced on Sunday, March 1, after spreading across the world from Wuhan in China.

That figure rose to three on Friday, March 13; five on Saturday, March 14; seven on Sunday, March 15; eight the following Thursday, March 19; nine on Friday, March 20; 10 on Saturday, March 21; 11 on Sunday, March 22; 12 on Monday, March 23; 15 on Wednesday, March 25; 23 on Thursday, March 26; 28 on Friday, March 27; 35 on Saturday, March 28; 50 on Sunday, March 29; 63 on Monday, March 30; 77 on Tuesday, March 31; 87 on Wednesday, April 1; 93 on Thursday, April 2; 100 on Friday, April 3; 110 on Saturday, April 4; 130 on Sunday, April 5; 139 on Monday, April 6; 149 on Tuesday, April 7; 160 on Wednesday, April 8; 167 on Thursday, April 9; 177 on Friday, April 10; 189 on Saturday, April 11; 199 on Sunday, April 12; 204 on Monday, April 13; 208 on Tuesday, April 14; 215 on Wednesday, April 15; 220 on Thursday, April 16; 229 on Friday, April 17; 231 on Saturday, April 18; 237 on Sunday, April 19; 239 on Monday, April 20; 240 on Tuesday, April 21; 243 on Wednesday, April 22; 248 on Thursday, April 23; 253 on Friday, April 24; 258 on Saturday, April 25; 259 on Sunday, April 26; 269 on Monday, April 27; 272 on Tuesday, April 28; 279 on Wednesday, April 29; 281 on Friday; 283 on Saturday; 284 on Sunday; and 285 today.

There’s been no increase in the number of deaths claimed by the disease in the region for six days, and it remains at 31.

Weekly statistics compiled by the National Records of Scotland put that figure, taking into account all deaths attributed to coronavirus rather than just those among patients previously confirmed to have the disease, at 45, as of Sunday, up four on the Sunday before.

Pete Whitehouse, director of statistical services, at the records office, said: “Every death from this virus is a tragedy.

“These statistics, alongside other evidence being made available by the Scottish Government and Health Protection Scotland, are valuable to the understanding of the progress and impact of the Covid-19 virus across Scotland.

“These latest figures show that for the first time since reporting of registered deaths relating to Covid-19 began for the week beginning March 16, there has been a reduction from the previous week, down from 658 to 523.”

It’s now been over a month since the first five fatalities among Covid-19 patients were announced on Monday, March 30.

That figure rose to seven the day after, March 31; eight on Wednesday, April 1; 11 on Thursday, April 2; 14 on Friday, April 3; 16 on Sunday, April 5; 17 on Monday, April 6; 19 on Tuesday, April 7; 20 on Friday, April 10; 22 on Saturday, April 11; 23 on Sunday, April 12; 26 on Monday, April 13; 27 on Thursday, April 23; 28 on Friday, April 24; 29 on Monday, April 27; 30 on Wednesday, April 29; and 31 last Thursday, April 30.

They are among 1,703 coronavirus patients killed by the disease in Scotland so far, up 83 from 1,620 overnight, and 29,427 UK-wide, a rise of 693 on the day before.

The number of cases of Covid-19 in the Borders remains higher than in one of its neighbouring health board areas, Dumfries and Galloway’s total being 254, but is still well below the two others, Lanarkshire and Lothian being up to 1,541 and 2,200 respectively.

Altogether, 89 Scots are in intensive care receiving treatment for coronavirus, with 79 having tested positive and the others awaiting results.

Some 65,125 tests for the illness have been carried out in Scotland so far, with 52,416 returning negative results.

During an online version of her weekly question time today, Scottish Government minister Nicola Sturgeon repeated her warnings earlier this week and previously that the current lockdown looks to have a way to go yet but pledged to ease it as soon as possible.

“A lot of decisions we are making are for obvious reasons,” she said.

“One of the things I’m very keen to do at an early stage is to allow people to be outdoors exercising more often.

“Right now, the guidance says that should only be once a day, but could we allow people to do that more than once a day as long as they continue to comply with social distancing?

“That may well be one of the earliest easings-up we make.”

Earlier in the day, she told Good Morning Scotland: “The law says that there is a requirement to review the regulations that are in place every three weeks, but that does not mean we have to wait another three weeks in order to make any changes.

“If the evidence says we can start to make changes before then, we will do that.

“I very much hope that we, as quickly as possible, will be able to start, even if it is in fairly minor, gradual ways initially, to ease the lockdown.

“I am as anxious as anybody to get us to a position where we are not living with the very severe restrictions we are right now.

“Some of these restrictions around social distancing are likely to be in place for a lot longer, but I want us to get to a better balance as quickly as possible.”