Coronavirus – Wednesday’s figures

Public Health Scotland publishes the latest data on Covid-19 in Scotland each day. The figures are set out in our table below.

The newest figures setting out the number of weekly deaths from Covid-19 have also been issued by National Records of Scotland. These show for the twentieth week in a row excess deaths above the five year average. This is the highest level of excess deaths – 315 this week – since the first week of the year.

The new NHS App to download a QR code which represents your vaccine status is now available – click on the image below.

The UK traffic light system for international travel has been scrapped and now a destination is either on the red list or not from last Monday. Fully vaccinated adults over 18 from over 50 countries can come to the UK without any testing requirements except for one single test taken two days after arrival. This also includes under 18s who are unvaccinated.

You can find the red list of countries – anyone arriving from there must go into a quarantine hotel or take tests – on the UK Government website here.

If you wish to see the figures up to 31 August and 30 September for each day (with some highs and lows from the past few months) then please read below and also read this article here.

Scotland has now moved beyond Level 0 but the legal requirement for wearing masks in indoor settings is to be retained largely as it has been.

Any figures marked with * are affected by IT or other reporting issues.

Deaths involving COVID-19 Week 40: 4 – 10 October, 2021

As at 10 October, 11,262 deaths have been registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 4 – 10 October, 126 deaths were registered that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, 17 less than last week.

26 deaths were of people aged under 65, 24 were people aged 65-74 and there were 76 deaths of people aged 75 or over. 82 deaths were male, 44 were female.

98 deaths were in hospitals, 19 were in care homes and 9 were at home or a non-institutional setting.

Glasgow City (14 deaths), West Dunbartonshire (10 deaths) and West Lothian (9 deaths) had the highest numbers of deaths at council level. In total, 24 (out of 32) council areas had at least one death involving Covid-19 last week.

The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,353 – 315, or 30%, more than the five year average.

There has been 1 further death where the underlying cause was adverse effects of  the COVID-19 vaccine. This takes the total to 5.   By 30 September 2021 statistics from Public Health Scotland state that 4.2 million people had been given at least one vaccine dose.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: “The latest figures show that last week there were 126 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 17 fewer deaths than last week.

“With 1,353 deaths from all causes this week, this is now the 20^th consecutive week with excess deaths above the five year average and is the highest level of excess deaths (315 this week) since week 1 (4 – 10 January) of 2021.”

Beyond Level 0

The legal requirement for physical distancing and limits on gatherings has been removed from Monday 9 August when all venues across Scotland are able to re-open.

Some protective measures will stay in place such as the use of face coverings indoors and the collection of contact details as part of Test and Protect. Capacity limits of 2000 people indoors and 5000 people outdoors will also remain in place although some exceptions may be possible on a case by case basis. These will be reviewed on a three weekly basis to ensure they remain proportionate.

Adults identified as close contacts of someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 will also no longer be automatically required to self-isolate for 10 days from 9 August. Anyone who is double-vaccinated with at least two weeks passed since their second dose and who has no symptoms will be able to end self-isolation if they return a negative PCR test. The same conditions will also apply to anyone aged between five and 17 years old, even if they have not been vaccinated. The requirement to take a PCR test will not apply to children under the age of five.

Test and Protect will also implement revised guidance for under 18s. This means that the blanket isolation of whole classes in schools will no longer happen and a targeted approach, that only identifies children and young people who are higher risk close contacts, will be adopted. Fewer young people will have to self-isolate, and most will be asked to self-isolate for a much shorter period of time. To allow time to monitor the impacts of these changes, the majority of the mitigations that were in place in schools in the previous term will be retained for up to six weeks. This will help support a safe and sustainable return to education after the summer break.

While the gateway condition on vaccination has been met, with 92% of those over the age of 40 protected by two doses of the vaccine, there are still many more people who have not had the vaccine, cannot have it, or are not yet eligible for it. Invitations for vaccines are now going out to 12 to 17 year olds with specific health conditions that make them more vulnerable to Covid. This follows the recent advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. The government expects to have offered first doses to this group by the end of August.

The JCVI has now recommended vaccination to young people aged 16 and 17.