A pensioner has become the first person to die from coronavirus in Perth and Kinross in nearly three months, leading the Depute First Minister to call the virus “a real and present threat”.
The Courier understands the victim is a woman from the Auchterarder area who was until recently a patient at St Margaret’s Community Hospital in the Perthshire town.
The 10-bed hospital was closed to new admissions last Thursday after a patient tested positive for Covid-19.
NHS Tayside put the restrictions in place for seven days and also placed a temporary ban on visitors to St Margaret’s.
The health body said it would provide a further update on the situation at the hospital on Thursday.
Perthshire SNP politician John Swinney said he wanted to offer his condolences to the family of the victim.
The Depute First Minister said: “This is very sad news, and my thoughts are with the friends and family of the victim.
“Covid is still a real and present threat, and it is vital that we all continue to follow Scottish Government guidance so as to ensure that the progress we have made so far is not undone.”
The death is the first confirmed case linked to the virus to occur within the local authority area since June 9.
It was the only new Covid-19 related death in Scotland reported in Wednesday’s NHS Open Data statistics which confirmed the victim was a person over the age of 85.
Nicola Sturgeon also confirmed 156 new cases on Wednesday, including one in Perth and Kinross, three in Angus and three in Fife.
There were no new cases recorded in Dundee.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, 2,495 people in Scotland have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus.
Wednesday’s announcement takes the number of people who have contracted Covid-19 to 20,788.
There are 258 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, a decrease of six in 24 hours, with five in intensive care – one fewer than Tuesday.
The 2,495 deaths announced at First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) is lower than the National Records of Scotland (NRS) weekly statistic which records people who have died with confirmed or suspected coronavirus.
Under that measurement the total stands at 4,228 with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate of six cases between August 24-30.
Two of these took place in a care home, three in a hospital and one in a home/non-institutional setting.
The weekly NRS figure peaked at 661 deaths in the week of April 20-26.
