Weekly Covid-related deaths in Scotland increase to 21

A total of 21 Covid-related deaths were recorded in Scotland in the past week, an increase of four on the previous seven days.

Data from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) show the Falkirk Council area saw the highest number of coronavirus-linked deaths in the week to July 4 with four, followed by Glasgow with three, while Clackmannanshire, Perth and Kinross and South Lanarkshire all had two.

There was one death in each of the following council areas: Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and South Ayrshire.

Fifteen of the deaths occurred in hospitals, four were in care homes, and two were in a home or a non-institutional setting.

The figures, published by the NRS on Wednesday, cover the week from June 28 to July 4.

It means that as of Sunday, 10,189 deaths have now been registered in Scotland with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.

NRS director of statistical services Pete Whitehouse said: “The death rate continues to rise slightly but the number of deaths compared to the number of Covid-19 cases remains low.

“Four deaths were aged under 65, six were aged 65-74 and there were 11 deaths in people aged 75 or over. Nine were female and 12 were male.”

As of Tuesday, 3,869,223 people had received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 2,774,136 had had their second.