Deputy First Minister isolating after testing positive for Covid-19

John Swinney announced the news on Twitter on Wednesday morning.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has tested positive for Covid-19 (Fraser Bremner/Scottish Daily Mail/PA) (PA Wire)

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister is self-isolating after contracting coronavirus.

John Swinney, who is also the Covid Recovery Secretary in the Scottish Government, announced he had tested positive in a tweet on Wednesday morning.

It comes in the wake of a record number of Scots catching the virus, with the Office for National Statistics reporting one in 11 people north of the border had Covid in the week ending March 20.

Mr Swinney said: “After two years of avoiding #Covid_19 I tested positive this morning.”

He added he will be “self-isolating in accordance with the rules” and will try to engage with Scottish Parliament business remotely “if I feel better than I do just now”.