Covid deaths increase by 30 ahead of level zero move

Scotland has recorded 30 coronavirus-related deaths in the past week, according to the latest figures.

Data from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) shows the number of fatalities registered between July 5 and 11 was up nine from the previous week, when 21 deaths were recorded.

It means that as of Sunday, 10,220 deaths have now been registered in Scotland with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.

There were five deaths in Edinburgh and four in both Glasgow and South Lanarkshire.

Fourteen other council areas also recorded deaths involving the virus last week.

According to NRS, the highest Covid death rates are in Glasgow, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire – with people in large urban areas 3.7 times as likely to die as those in remote rural areas, after adjusting for age.

Pete Whitehouse, NRS director of statistical services, said: “Five of the Covid-related deaths last week were aged under 65, four were aged 65-74 and there were 21 deaths among people aged 75 or over.

“Nine were female and 21 were male.

“After adjusting for age, Covid-related death rates for males are significantly higher than for females.

“In the period from March 2020 to June 2021, Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificates of 176 males per 100,000 population compared to 121 females per 100,000.

“There have been four deaths where the underlying cause was adverse effects of Covid-19 vaccines. There have been no vaccine-related deaths in the latest month.

“By June 30 2021, statistics from Public Health Scotland state that 3.82 million people had been given at least one vaccine dose.”

The NRS statistics are published weekly and cover all deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

They differ from the lab-confirmed coronavirus deaths announced daily by the Scottish Government because the NRS figures include suspected or probable cases of Covid-19.

The latest weekly statistics come after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced Scotland will go ahead with plans to further ease coronavirus restrictions next week.

Level 0 measures mean that from Monday, up to eight people from up to four households can meet within homes, while outside up to 15 people from 15 households can get together either in private gardens or public places.

Up to 200 people will be able to attend weddings and funerals, but under new changes made by the Scottish Government in response to high numbers of Covid cases in recent weeks, hospitality venues will have to shut at midnight.