Coronavirus in Scotland: New weekly figures show doubling of Covid-linked deaths but this 'remains low' compared to virus peak in April
Data published by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) on Tuesday showed there were 20 deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate in the week ending October 4 - an increase of 10 deaths from the previous week.
The report said that, of these deaths, six occurred in care homes while 13 were in hospitals with one in another institution.
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Hide AdBut Pete Whitehouse, NRS director of statistical services, said the figures show the number of people dying from Covid-19 “remains low” especially when compared to the peak week in mid-April when 661 Covid-19 related deaths were registered.
He added: “However, over the last week we have seen the number of deaths increase from 10 to 20. NRS will continue to monitor Covid-19 mortality and work with Scottish Government to understand the impact and spread of the virus in Scotland.”
It comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed on Tuesday that 800 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Scotland as well as two more deaths, and the number of people in hospital with the virus increased by 44 overnight and now stands at 262 with 25 patients being treated in intensive care.
The latest NRS figures show that, as of October 4, there have been 4,276 deaths registered where the virus has been mentioned on a death certificate, while the Scottish Government official death toll for people who tested positive is 2,532.
Ms Sturgeon also highlighted that the virus is spreading with an average of 285 new cases being reported each day two weeks ago, when new restrictions were imposed on household visits, compared to the current average figure of 729 cases a day.
During her daily briefing, the First Minister also said new restrictions for Scotland could be announced on Wednesday but stressed it would not be another full lockdown like in March.
She said people would not be told to stay at home and that there would be no nationwide restrictions on travel - but did not rule out local travel restrictions or measures for places like pubs and restaurants.