The number of deaths in Scotland linked to Covid-19 has risen by 60 in a week, new data shows.
A total of 132 deaths were registered between January 10 and 16 where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate.
Part of the rise is being put down to registrars catching up on a backlog from the festive period, but National Records of Scotland says this does not account for all of it – with the average deaths per day more than doubling since mid-December.
It comes despite the first minister confirming on Tuesday that the peak of Omicron is now believed to have passed.
What does the latest weekly data tell us?
- Of the 132 deaths registered last week involving coronavirus, 91 were aged 75 or older, 21 were aged 65-74 and 20 were under 65.
- 63 of the 132 people who died with Covid-19 were female and 69 were male.
- 25 of the 32 council areas in Scotland had at least one death – the highest being in North Lanarkshire were 14 were registered.
- 77 of the deaths were in hospital, 45 in care homes and 10 at home or a non-institutional setting.
Since the start of the pandemic, 93% of people whose death involved Covid-19 (11,326 people) have had at least one pre-existing condition.
The most common among these has been dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Meanwhile, there have been six deaths in Scotland in which an adverse effect of getting vaccinated against Covid-19 was an underlying cause, and one death where an adverse effect was mentioned on the death certificate.
An update from NRS stated: “The large increase in deaths this week will be partly due to registrars catching up on a backlog of death registrations following registration office closures over the holiday period.
“However, this does not explain all of the increase. Our analysis of deaths by date of occurrence shows that the number of deaths involving Covid-19 began to increase in mid-December, from a low point of six deaths per day to reach an average of 13 deaths per day in early January.”
Latest daily Covid stats
The latest daily figures from the Scottish Government show that 8,495 new coronavirus cases have been recorded across the country as an overall decline in the number of people testing positive continues.
A total of 29 further deaths have also been recorded among people who had tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, 1,571 people in hospital have tested positive in the last 28 days, and 44 in intensive care.
