The National Records of Scotland has published new weekly figures showing all deaths linked to coronavirus.
They include all instances where Covid-19 was cited on the death certificate, whether it was the cause or a contributing factor.
They also contain all deaths where the person was suspected to have the virus, even if they never took a test to confirm it.
Prior to these new statistics, the daily deaths the government were reporting were among hospital patients.
Now, the figures pertain to deaths in all settings – hospitals but also in the community, in care homes or anywhere else.
The Scottish Government says the figures will show more deaths than previously, but that they will help them track the virus’ spread, identify hotspots and allocate resources more effectively.
So what do the NRS statistics show us?
A spike in the last week
