NICOLA Sturgeon has warned Scotland recording the highest number of Covid deaths in one day for more than four months shows the “toll” the virus can still take.

In the daily figures published by the Scottish Government on Thursday, 22 deaths and 1825 new Covid cases were recorded. The new infections take the total number of positive tests for Covid in Scotland to 335,966.

The daily death total of 22 is the highest since March 11, and means 7842 people have now died within 28 days of testing positive.

While the number of people in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19 was down on Wednesday to 488 – a drop of 41 on the previous day – the number of patients in intensive care rose by seven to 58.

READ MORE: Covid deaths in Scotland increase by 22 in highest daily figure since March

Sturgeon tweeted: “There’s always a lag before we see hospital admissions and deaths reduce too.

“A further 22 deaths reminds us of toll virus can take – my condolences go to those grieving.”

The First Minister urged Scots to get vaccinated and keep following restrictions, saying this could help keep case numbers “on a downward path” as well as reducing the number of people becoming seriously ill and dying.

So far, 3,989,927 people have received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination in Scotland and 3,028,271 have had their second.

The latest figures come as Jillian Evans, head of health intelligence at NHS Grampian, said the health service is facing a “really exceptional situation” with people waiting for care and staff absences.

She also warned the backlog of patients waiting for treatment “will get worse before it gets better”.