Coronavirus (COVID-19): state of the epidemic - 1 April 2022

Background

This report summarises the current situation of the Covid-19 epidemic in Scotland. It brings together the different sources of evidence and data about the epidemic in Scotland at this point in time, why we are at that place, and what is likely to happen next. This updates the previous publication published on 25 March 2022^[1]. The information in this document helps the Scottish Government, the health service and the wider public sector respond to the epidemic and put in place what is needed to keep us safe and treat people who have the virus.

This edition of the State of the Epidemic summarises current data on Covid-19 at a national and local level, and how Scotland currently compares to the rest of the UK. It looks at the vaccination program in Scotland and its impact. Information is provided about variants of concern and what impact these may have. Bringing this information together in one place gives the opportunity to better understand the current state of the epidemic in Scotland.

The State of the Epidemic report this week will summarise data up to and including 30 March 2022.

Notice on Change to Publication Schedule

Following a consultation, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is reducing the frequency of the Covid-19 consensus (e.g. the estimates of R, growth and incidence where available), to fortnightly from weekly starting from 1 April. This will also affect the frequency of medium term projections. The Modelling the Epidemic report will therefore move to this two-week frequency. To align with this, the State of the Epidemic report will also move to publishing every two weeks. The State of the Epidemic report will be published on 14 April 2022 (brought forward due to public holiday), 29 April 2022, 13 May 2022 and fortnightly thereafter.