Covid Scotland: Dundee case numbers decline as rest of Tayside and Fife rises

By Saskia Harper

October 14 2022, 2:34pm

One in 50 Scots tested positive for Covid in the week ending September 29.

Recorded Covid case numbers across Tayside and Fife have increased in the past week, except in Dundee where figures are on the decline.

The city saw an almost 90% increase in positive cases last week, with 72 people testing positive between September 24 and 30.

However, this week, 60 people in Dundee have confirmed a positive case, meaning numbers are down 16.7%.

Elsewhere in Tayside and in Fife, however, case numbers have risen.

Angus saw the largest increase in cases, with 66 people testing positive this week, compared with 45 last week – a 46.7% rise.

Shoppers in Kirkcaldy queue during lockdown. Image: Steven Brown/DC Thomson.

In Fife, there were 261 recorded positive cases this week and 225 the week previous. This is an increase of 15%.

And in Perth and Kinross, there was an 11.5% increase compared with the week before. A recorded 107 people tested positive this week.

The previous week saw 94 positive tests.

What are Covid case numbers nationally?

This week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data revealed one in 50 Scots tested positive in the week ending September 29.

This is compared with one in 45 the week before.

The ONS says the trend is still “uncertain” in Scotland, meaning it’s unsure whether cases are currently increasing or decreasing.

The estimated number of people testing positive for Covid-19 in Scotland was 109,700. This means around 2.08% of the population tested positive.

In England one in 35 tested positive the same week. The figures were one in 40 in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Numbers of positive tests have mostly increased in Tayside and Fife this week, but decreased in Dundee.

This is the first time in months Scotland has had the lowest estimated average ratio of the population testing positive for Covid-19 across the four UK nations.

According to Public Health Scotland, in the week ending October 9, there were:

On average 838 patients in hospital with Covid-19, a 12.6% increase from the previous week ending October 2 (744);
17 new admissions to ICUs with a laboratory confirmed test of Covid-19, a decrease of one from the previous week (October 2).

And according to National Records of Scotland, in the week ending October 9, there were 36 deaths involving Covid-19 (nine fewer than the previous week).

This means there have been a total of 15,817 deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.