Coronavirus – Monday’s figures

The number of cases of Covid-19 in Scotland have been announced by Public Health Scotland. Case numbers show a significant downward trend, with other indicators having mostly decreased since yesterday.

The UK Government will allow all EU and US citizens who are fully vaccinated free entry to England without the need for quarantine from Monday, although extra rules remain in place for France.

The Scottish Government also announced the same relaxation, subject to countries remaining on the amber list.

Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport Michael Matheson said: “This has only been made possible due to the overwhelming success of our vaccination programme here in Scotland when coupled with successful roll-outs of vaccination schemes in the EU and US.

“Fully vaccinated travellers will be able to travel to Scotland under this significant relaxation of international travel measures, providing a boost for the tourism sector and wider economy while ensuring public health is protected.

“This new arrangement will be carefully monitored by clinicians and kept under close review as we seek to put Scotland firmly on the path to recovery – but people should continue to think very carefully about travelling – especially given the prevalence and unpredictable nature of variants of concern.”

On Tuesday the First Minister will report to The Scottish Parliament about the next steps in relaxing restrictions.

Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross has said social distancing guidance should change as planned, and he called for amendments to self-isolation rules for those who have been double vaccinated.

The Scottish Conservatives have also called for changes to schools guidance on self-isolation and face masks.

Douglas Ross said rules should be changed to remove the need for face coverings in schools and children identified as close contacts should no longer need to self-isolate for 10 days.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “We are at a crucial moment in our exit from restrictions and while there is light at the end of the tunnel, we must make sure we take all the action necessary to jump start Scotland’s recovery.
“We need to ensure that people are kept safe and that businesses are helped to restart the economy.
“Perhaps most importantly, we urgently need a plan for our NHS and care systems to ensure that workers feel supported, services are invested in and the backlog of appointments is cleared.
“Nowhere is that more urgent than in our cancer diagnostic services.
“The last few weeks have underlined the need for an overhaul of the struggling Test and Protect system. A functioning and effective test and trace system is vital for public safety.
“And for those who have been fully vaccinated, we must see changes on the requirement to self-isolate while still keeping communities safe
“We also need to see far greater support for Scotland’s struggling businesses, particularly as many will be having to deal with continued restrictions for some time to come.
“We have to learn to live with the virus, but to do so in such a way that the people of Scotland, our NHS and our economy are supported and protected.”

Since Monday 19 July all parts of Scotland are now in Level 0. This does not mean that we are living without any restrictions at all, but it is certainly better than at some stages in the last 15 months or so. There is a table at the foot of this article explaining what the restrictions are in detail.

All the details are on The Scottish Government website and are summarised as:

At Level 0:

• you can meet socially in groups:
  • of up to 8 people from 4 households in your home or theirs – and can stay overnight
  • of up to 10 people from 4 households in an indoor public place like a café, pub or restaurant
  • of up to 15 people from 15 households outdoors
• under 12s do not count towards the total number of people or households meeting outside but count towards the household numbers indoors
• you do not need to physically distance from family and friends in a private home
• you can travel anywhere in Scotland in Levels 0, 1 or 2 but must not enter a Level 3 or 4 area unless for a permitted reason
• you can travel anywhere in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands – before you travel you must check the travel rules in those countries
• you can provide informal childcare, for example to look after a grandchild
• up to 200 people can attend weddings and funerals 
• tradespeople can carry out any work in your home such as painting, decorating or repairing
• you should work from home where possible

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.

Statistics

As at 25 July, 10,324 deaths have been registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 19 – 25 July, 56 deaths were registered that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, an increase of nine deaths from the previous week.

Deaths from all causes were 11% higher than the five-year average last week at 1,110.

There were eight deaths in Glasgow City and seven deaths in each of North Lanarkshire, City of Edinburgh and Dundee City. 43 deaths were in hospitals, five in care homes, and eight were at home or in a non-institutional setting. Most excess deaths occurred at home, with home and non-institution deaths remaining around a third above average.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:

“The latest figures show that last week, there were 56 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

“Last week there were more deaths involving Covid in people under 65 than people aged 85 or over, with 15 deaths of people aged between 45 and 64.”

Figures below with an asterisk are provisional and reflect some difficulty in establishing the correct figure.

On 28 July Public Health Scotland advised: “Public Health Scotland (PHS) has undertaken work to improve their Covid-19 reporting process to ensure they continue to provide the most accurate and timely information. As a result of this, today’s testing figures covering the latest 24 hours will include a small number of tests notified between 12:00am and 5:15am on 27 July that would have been reported in yesterday’s daily figures. This is due to the transition to a new reporting schedule including cases up to 12am on day of reporting; there is no double counting in the cumulative totals reported today.”

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Phyllis Stephen

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

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