Glasgow has overtaken Moray as Scotland’s Covid hotspot as an epidemiologist warned the country is seeing a “loss of control” of the pandemic in some areas.

Latest figures published on Friday showed there were 80.4 cases per 100,000 people in Glasgow in the seven days to May 11, pushing it ahead of Moray where there were 68.9.

Moray saw a surge in cases which started in April and it had the highest rate in Scotland in recent days.

It is unlikely to join the rest of the country by dropping down a level under the Scottish Government’s five-tier system as restrictions ease on Monday, while the situation in Glasgow is being closely monitored.

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Nicola Sturgeon was due to provide an update on the situation in Sciotland's largest city today, but this has not materialised. 

Scottish Government data shows that out of the 215 new cases recorded today, 110 were in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board region, while NHS Grampian had 15.  

Earlier this morning, Epidemiologist Dr Deepti Gurdasani cautioned it would be premature to lift restrictions, and called for action to prevent the situation worsening amid concerns about the spread of one of the new Indian variants of the virus north of the border.

Public health experts have warned the spike in infections in Glasgow could include the Indian B.1.617.2 variant.

Dr Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Friday: “The idea is certainly premature, in fact the Government should be considering the opposite.

“In Scotland as a whole we’ve actually seen the number of new cases double in the last week, and while the cases are so low it’s hard to see exponential rises.

“This is what early exponential rises look like and we’re seeing loss of control of the pandemic in many parts of Scotland, and the situation is likely much wider and other places will follow unless action is taken to actually prevent this and pre-empt this now.”

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A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We’ve been clear since the beginning of the pandemic that we will continue to follow scientific advice.

“Our plans for careful unlocking take account of the improved situation, while also acknowledging the risks we still face.

“While we intend to take the next steps as a nation together where possible, we stand ready to deploy the revised levels at a more local level if necessary – if prevalence of the virus surges in some parts of Scotland but not others.”