Scotland records 97 Covid-linked deaths in one week

A total of 97 coronavirus-linked deaths were recorded in Scotland in the week to November 28, the latest statistics show.

This is an increase of one on the previous week and takes the total number of people in Scotland who have died with confirmed or suspected coronavirus to 12,127, according to National Records of Scotland (NRS) data.

Of the latest deaths, 18 were people aged under 65, 34 were aged 65-74 and 45 were 75 or older.

Fife was the council area with the highest number of deaths at 11, followed by Glasgow with ten and South Lanarkshire with eight.

The majority of the deaths – 82 – occurred in hospital, with nine at home or in a non-institutional setting and six in care homes.

The 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.

Pete Whitehouse, NRS statistical services director, said: “The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1270, which is 140, or 12%, more than the five-year average.”

Among the higher than average deaths in the week to November 28 were those from cancer and circulatory causes, which each accounted for 24 more than five-year-average.

Figures released on Wednesday show 19 new deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

The Scottish Government’s daily Covid update also showed that 2796 people had tested positive for the virus.

There are currently 702 people in hospital who have recently tested positive for coronavirus and 54 of those are in intensive care.