More than 5,000 people have now died with coronavirus in Scotland, according to the latest figures from the National Records of Scotland.
They show 278 deaths were registered that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate between November 9 and 15, bringing the total number of fatalities to 5,135.
Speaking during the Scottish Government briefing in Edinburgh on Wednesday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the figures are “really grim and distressing”.
She added: “Sometime in the future when we are through this pandemic we will want to consider how we as a country commemorate the lives that the virus has taken.”
Ms Sturgeon said 54 coronavirus deaths and 1,264 positive tests were recorded in the past 24 hours.
The death toll under this daily measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – has risen to 3,377, while the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic is 84,523.
The First Minister said Tuesday’s decision to put 11 local authority areas into the toughest levels of restrictions was motivated by a goal of having as few additional lost lives as possible before the end of the pandemic.
Areas in the central belt of the country were moved from Level 3 to Level 4 on Tuesday, with the restrictions coming into effect on Friday.
