Steep drop in hospital cases of Covid-19 in Scotland as definition changed

The number of patients in hospitals battling Covid-19 has seen a steep drop due to a change in definition on how the Scottish Government reports the figure.

Following around two weeks of reviewing the figure, Nicola Sturgeon said the decision had been made to bring Scotland in line with England as to how they count the number of people in hospital with the virus.

The previous definition, which would have seen 262 people recorded as being in hospital with coronavirus, covered anyone who had ever tested positive for the virus while in hospital and who was still being treated, potentially after recovering from Covid-19, for any condition.

The new definition, also in place in England, is for patients to be considered Covid-19 patients if they received a positive test in the two weeks prior to admission or on the day of admission.

They will also no longer be considered Covid-19 patients if they are in hospital for longer than 28 days or 28 days after their first positive test, whichever is later.

This meant a steep drop in the total number of patients in hospital considered to be Covid-19 patients to 48.

Nicola Sturgeon said the new measure would be a more accurate way of judging the number of people in hospital and added it would help the Scottish Government notice changes in hospitalisation rates sooner.

She said: “That old measure was providing accurate information at the peak the epidemic of this first phase back in the year when there were 1,500 Covid patients in hospital.

"But as the pandemic has progressed, we have been reporting a higher number of hospital cases than is probably justified

“Overall, this new measure will give us a better picture both of the current situation in hospitals, and crucially, given the phase of the pandemic we are going into, it will be more sensitive to the changes in hospital admissions caused by new cases.

“It will enable us to more accurately reflect and report any increase in hospital admissions over the next period.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Subscribe to the Edinburgh Evening News online and enjoy unlimited access to trusted, fact-checked news and sport from Edinburgh and the Lothians. Visit https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director