Coronavirus – Wednesday’s figures

The number of cases of Covid-19 in Scotland were announced by Public Health Scotland today and are reported below.

On Tuesday in The Scottish Parliament the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told MSPs: “The number of new cases recorded over the past week has increased by almost 40% on the week before.

“That total is seven times higher than in early May, and higher than at any point since late January.

“This reflects the fact that the faster transmitting Delta variant is now dominant.

“Obviously we cannot be complacent about this. However, we do have evidence that the link between new cases and serious health harm is weakening.

“The number of people being admitted to hospital with Covid has fallen from around 10% of reported positive cases at the start of the year, to around 5% now.

“And Covid patients, on average, are spending less time in hospital – though, we should remember that even if they don’t need hospital treatment, some people will suffer significant health harms, including long Covid.

“However, overall, the evidence that vaccination is helping protect people from serious health harms is allowing us to change how we respond to the virus.”

Ms Sturgeon then set out the milestones for the coming weeks with “revisions to the strategic framework for tackling Covid”.

The next review point will be 19 July by which time three weeks will have elapsed from the point at which all over 50s should have been offered the vaccine. At that point the government hops that all of Scotland can move to Level 0 and physical distancing can be reduced from two metres to one.

After that the next significant date is 9 August when the vast majority of over 40s will have a significant level of protection. At that time it might be possible to move beyond Level 0, but it will depend on the data at the time. But in any case the government will not advise an immediate return to full offices working from 9 August. All of these measures will take time to put back in place.

As at 20 June, 10,150 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) today.

In the week 14 – 20 June, 13 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, an increase of six deaths from the previous week. 

There were four deaths in Glasgow City, two deaths in Perth and Kinross and one death in each of Dundee City, Falkirk, Highland, Midlothian, South Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire, and West Lothian.

The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,046, 46, or 5%, more than the five year average. 

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: “The latest figures show that last week there were 13 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

“Three deaths were aged under 65, two were aged 65-74, and eight were over 75. Five were female and eight were male. 

“Ten deaths occurred in hospitals, one occurred in a care home, and two deaths were at home or in a non-institutional setting.”

Deaths from respiratory diseases and dementia/Alzheimer’s were below average, although there were more deaths from circulatory causes, cancer, and other causes compared to the five year average.

Phyllis Stephen

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.

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