A Glasgow testing lab is at the centre of a disagreement between the Scottish and UK governments over a delay in reporting new positive cases.

No accurate figures were available yesterday for the latest number of positive coronavirus cases and the Scottish Government said the number of reported cases is lower than expected due to what it said was a problem with capacity at the Lighthouse lab in Glasgow, which is run by the UK Government.

The UK Government however said that was “untrue” that the lab was “highly efficient” and there are no capacity issues.

The recorded cases were another 319 reported on Sunday according to the latest statistics issued by the Scottish Government.

But it said that did not reflect the total number because of a processing delay, which it said was to do with a capacity issue which meant tests were sent from the Glasgow lab to other UK facilities.

The day before there were more than 1100 new cases reported.

The Scottish Government said additional new cases would be revealed with the statistics in the next few days.

In a statement, the Scottish Government said: “We were notified late last week of a testing capacity issue with the UK Government Lighthouse facility in Glasgow.

“This has meant around 64,000 tests from across the UK, including Scotland, will be rerouted this weekend (Friday-Sunday) to other testing sites in the UK and Northern Ireland, including tests from our physical testing sites, for example Regional Tests sites.

“It is important to note that the majority of these tests are still well within the 24 and 48-hour timeframe for results albeit we do expect to see an increase in the level of positives on Monday and Tuesday when the results are reported.

“The Scottish Government is urgently trying to establish with the UK Government what exactly is causing the delay in testing but this is mainly due to demand from out with Scotland.

“We continue to reroute routine testing of care home staff through NHS Scotland testing facilities to ensure prompt turnaround times.”

However the UK Government said “This claim is categorically untrue. There is no capacity issue at the UK Government’s Glasgow Lighthouse Lab. The Glasgow Lighthouse Lab is highly efficient, with the capacity to analyse tens of thousands of samples a day. Rerouting tests to other laboratories is a routine practice to ensure timely processing.”

The figures also reported 703 people were in hospital confirmed to have the virus as of Saturday, up by 28.

Of those, 62 were in intensive care, the same number as the previous day.

There were no new deaths registered in people who had tested positive for coronavirus.