Coronavirus claims lives of 11 health workers in Scotland

Six NHS staff and five members of the social care work force have died with coronavirus in Scotland since the start of the pandemic.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the figures at her daily briefing, adding that the workers would not have necessarily contracted the virus in their workplace.

District nurse Janice Graham, 58, was the first NHS worker to die in Scotland earlier this month.

Ms Graham, a health care support worker and district nurse, died at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman announced a new benefit which would be paid to NHS staff not already covered by pension benefits.

If a member of staff were to die while working, their family would receive a payment of double their annual salary, however some NHS staff are not eligible for the payment.

Ms Freeman said: “I want to make sure that they and NHS bank and NHS locum staff are fully covered for the duration of this current crisis.”

The “Covid-19 linked comparable benefit”, the health secretary said, would “provide benefits in circumstances where staff are not covered by membership of an existing NHS pension scheme”.

Staff who are not eligible for maximum benefits under their pension scheme would also see the balance topped up by the new benefit.

A total of 1415 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 83 from 1332 on Tuesday, Sturgeon said.

The figures are lower than the 2272 deaths given earlier by the National Records of Scotland as they do not include suspected and probable coronavirus infections.

The First Minister said 11,034 people have now tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 313 from 10,721 the day before.

There are 114 people in intensive care with coronavirus or coronavirus symptoms, a decrease of 12 on Tuesday, she added.

There are 1727 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, down from 1,754 yesterday.

Sturgeon also revealed that since March 5, 2521 patients who tested positive for the virus have been discharged from hospital.