MORE than 596 people have died in Glasgow hospitals after contracting Covid-19, official figures show.

A total of 3,676 cases were confirmed in NHS laboratories up to May 27 with 1,903 hospitalised in the course of their illness. The remaining 1773 were not admitted to hospital.

Health board papers giving an update as of May 29, state there has been 1,623 staff absences across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde due to the virus with 98 employees testing positive.

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The health board said the number of staff having to self isolate through the pandemic due to underlying health conditions had been 'signficant' with 1,238 people in this category.

A total of 11% are 70 or over, 3% are pregnant and the remainder have underlying health conditions.

Staff are now able to self-refer themselves for testing.

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At its peak, in mid April, there were 86 patients in ICU beds across Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 74 of whom had Covid-19 and 606 patients in acute hospital beds with a positive diagnosis.

There were 354 new confirmed cases in Glasgow hospitals, as of May 29, the lowest number since the outbreak peaked mid-April.

A further 183 suspected cases brought the overall total to 537 including nine in ICU.