Don’t lose focus
THE number of recorded coronavirus deaths in Scotland has now hit triple figures.
But the alarming jump of 569 recorded UK deaths from the previous day should be kept in perspective.
The Government is trying to more accurately represent the impact of Covid-19.
This transparency is welcome and should help focus the minds of anyone left underplaying the crisis.
We know the death rate will rise in the days and weeks to come.
Globally, the number of infections has now reached one million.
But imagine how much worse it would be if we failed to follow the advice to stop spreading the disease?
CORONAVIRUS had yesterday claimed the lives of 126 people in Scotland.
The figure was 50 more than 24 hours earlier and there were 2602 people confirmed with the virus in the country. Some 162 were in intensive care.
It also emerged that the number of UK deaths had soared to 2921 - up 569 on Wednesday - with 33,718 confirmed cases.
The number of infections around the world moved past a million, after doubling in less than a week. And more than 51,000 people have died.
Announcing the grim new toll in Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was at pains to point that only 10 of the 50 new deaths reported had happened within the previous 24 hours and blamed “delays in family liasion” for them not being added to previous totals.
Sturgeon said: “Every single death from this virus is a tragedy and my thoughts are with the family and friends of all those who have lost their lives. One of the most difficult parts of having a friend or family member die from Covid-19 is that the very nature of this virus means that family cannot be there at the time of death and only limited numbers of family or friends are able to attend funerals.
“It is a particularly cruel virus in that respect.”
From next week, there will be changes in the way deaths are reported – no longer relying on health board notification but on confirmed National Records of Scotland death registration figures. And “presumed” deaths from Covid-19 will also be added to the total, which should show a steep rise in cases.
Meanwhile, Health Protection Scotland yesterday announced that anyone treating or caring for the “most vulnerable” patients should wear masks at all times. It is something which medics have been asking for a ruling on for weeks.
The “revised guidance” on Personal Protection Equipment and how to use it is intended to “build confidence in the health and social care workforce that they are being properly protected”.
Sturgeon said the revision reflected the “more advanced stage of Covid-19.” Health Secretary Jeane Freeman added: “Urgent work has been under way with input from a range of royal colleges and prevention, infection and control experts to rapidly review the existing PPE guidelines for health and social care staff to reflect where we are in the transmission of this virus.
“The guidance itself recognises the safest levels of PPE to protect health and social care workers and specifies the type of PPE that should be worn in various health and social care settings where patients or residents are being care for.”
It came as the BMA issued new ethics advice to medics, in recognition of the possible shortage of ventilators, which said patients could have their treatment withdrawn and offered to others who are more likely to survive.
But Sturgeon insisted that everything was being done to “make sure we don’t get to that point”.