12:09

The Scottish government is to publish data on the deaths of elderly care home residents from Covid-19 after disclosing more than a third of Scotland’s care homes have had coronavirus cases.



Jeane Freeman, the Scottish health secretary, sought to douse a secrecy row over the data by confirming the Care Inspectorate had been told of Covid-19 cases in 406 adult care homes, 37% of the total.



The inspectorate, the government agency responsible for inspecting the sector, came under fire from Labour and the Conservatives on Saturday after telling the BBC it had to file a freedom of information request if it wanted detailed figures on deaths and suspected infections at care homes.



Under new emergency laws introduced by the Scottish government, backed by the Scottish Greens and the Scottish information commissioner, public agencies now have up to 60 working days to reply to FoI requests – three times the previous legal limit.



There has been growing anxiety about a surge of Covd-19 deaths in care homes, with several homes experiencing significant outbreaks involving multiple deaths, amid continuing rows about their access to protective equipment and GPs refusing to visit.



More than 50 care home residents, many of whom have serious underlying health conditions, are thought to have died from Covid-19.



Speaking after disclosing that 566 people had now died in Scotland from the virus, with 24 further fatalities in the last 24 hours, Freeman said more detailed figures on care homes would now be published this week.



“We’ve always said we are determined to make sure that the information we have is shared with you as transparently as we possibly can. But it’s really important that we’re confident about the robustness and accuracy of that information,” she said.



The latest national figures for Scotland, which will be revised after further cases are confirmed following the Easter bank holiday, showed a total of 5,912 positive cases, up by 322 from Saturday, and 221 people in intensive care, up by nine.

