Weekly deaths involving Covid-19 in Scotland fall to 70

There were 70 deaths of people with confirmed or suspected coronavirus in Scotland last week.

It is the seventh week in a row where deaths involving Covid-19 have fallen.

Counting daily deaths of confirmed Covid-19 cases announced by the Scottish Government, the most up-to-date death toll is 4084.

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) figures also show deaths in care homes fell by seven to 35 in the week ending June 14.

Deaths in care homes accounted for half (50%) of all Covid deaths last week, up from 47% the week before but down from a peak of 60%.

The statistics from NRS count deaths of people confirmed to have Covid-19 through a test as well as suspected cases.

Scots living in the most deprived parts of the country were 2.1 times more likely to die with coronavirus than those living in the least deprived areas, new NRS data shows.

A total of 70 confirmed or suspected coronavirus deaths were registered in the week from June 8 to June 14, down 19 on the week before, bringing the total death toll as of Sunday to 4070.

Speaking at First Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Nicola Sturgeon also announced nine more deaths of patients confirmed to have the virus in the last 24 hours.

It means a total of 14 additional deaths from Covid-19 have been reported so far this week.

The First Minister also stated 21 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the last day.

A total of 965 people are in hospital with Covid or Covid symptoms, down 21, and 24 patients are in intensive care, an increase of five.

Deaths involving Covid-19 accounted for just 7% of all deaths registered in the week ending June 14, down from a peak of 36%, or more than 650 deaths, in the week ending April 26.

The total number of deaths registered in Scotland in the week ending June 14 was 1032 – 3% higher than the average number of deaths registered in the same week over the last five years.

Since the peak of 878 excess deaths reported in the second week of April, the number of excess deaths has decreased on a weekly basis, to 32 in the week ending June 14.

The new data, which covers March, April and May, shows the age-standardised death rate from the virus is more than four times higher in large urban areas than in remote rural parts.

There were 111 deaths per 100,000 people – or more than one per 1000 – in large urban areas, compared to just 26 per 100,000 in remote areas.

West Dunbartonshire had the highest age-standardised death rate – which accounts for the area’s age demographic – of all council areas, closely followed by Midlothian, Glasgow and Inverclyde.

All these local authority areas have substantial pockets of poverty, containing some of the most deprived parts of Scotland.

Of people aged 20 to 64, factory workers were the occupation with the highest age-standardised death rate in the country – a total of 43 deaths, and a rate of 25 per 100,000 of population.

Of those who died with Covid in May, 92% had at least one pre-existing condition.

The most common pre-existing condition was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease which accounted for 31% and 38% of all deaths involving coronavirus respectively, followed by ischaemic heart disease which account for 11% of all deaths.

Pete Whitehouse, NRS director of statistical services, said: “Every death from this virus is a tragedy.

“These statistics, alongside the other important evidence being made available by the Scottish Government and Health Protection Scotland (HPS), are valuable to the understanding of the progress and impact of the Covid-19 virus across Scotland.

“Today we have published new analysis on mortality by occupation and provided a further breakdown by location to cover smaller areas.

“We have also included updated analysis on mortality by deprivation, leading causes of death and pre-existing conditions.

“Our aim is that this will provide important information to help understand the impact of the virus across the country.”