First Covid deaths since July as hospital admissions rise

TWO Covid-19 deaths have been recorded in Scotland, the first confirmed fatalities in more than a month.

Nicola Sturgeon yesterday announced the first newly registered deaths of people diagnosed with coronavirus since July 16.

Scotland’s death toll is now 2,494, with a rise in those admitted to hospital and intensive care units.

Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I think all of us have become used to hearing news of no deaths under these daily figures.

‘These two new deaths today are, of course, devastating for those who will be grieving the loss but they should also be a reminder to us that the threat of Covid hasn’t yet gone away.’

Miss Sturgeon said 67 people tested positive in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to 19,998.

Of those who tested positive, 249 were in hospital, up six in 24 hours. Two patients were in intensive care, a rise of one.

Separate figures from the National Records of Scotland showed that by Sunday, August 23, there had been 4,222 deaths where coronavirus was either confirmed or suspected. That includes six deaths in the week to August 23, three more than in the previous week. Four of those deaths were in care homes.

Miss Sturgeon said total deaths recorded last week from all causes was 40 higher than the five-year average for the same time of year, but she stressed that this figure can ‘fluctuate’.

The First Minister also updated MSPs on the ‘main clusters’ of coronavirus in Scotland.

A total of 166 positive cases have been linked to the 2 Sisters food processing plant in Coupar Angus, Perthshire, she said, with 146 workers and 20 others affected.

This was up by ten from the previous day. Miss Sturgeon said that ‘almost all’ employees had now been tested.

She also told MSPs that more than 5,000 people had been tested in the Tayside area over the past seven days, adding that ‘good progress’ was being made in tackling that cluster and there was ‘still no evidence at this stage of wider community transmission’.

Miss Sturgeon said 31 cases had been identified in a cluster linked to Kingspark School in Dundee.

Meanwhile, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said that it was carrying out contact tracing at Lady Alice Primary in Greenock, Renfrewshire.

But it added there was no evidence of transmission within the school itself.

The number of cases in a cluster linked with pubs in Aberdeen remained at 261, the First Minister told MSPs.

Pubs, cafes and restaurants in the city began to reopen yesterday as lockdown measures imposed on August 5 in response to the outbreak were lifted.

There have been 435 cases of coronavirus in the NHS Grampian area over the past month, Miss Sturgeon added.

‘Threat has not gone away’