Number of deaths falls for eighth week in a row

The number of deaths from Covid-19 has fallen for eight weeks in a row, dropping to 5% of all deaths from a peak of 36% in late April.

Weekly figures released by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) reveal, as of June 21, a total of 4,119 deaths were recorded across Scotland, with 49 recorded since June 14, the lowest weekly total since late March.

Speaking during First Minister’s Questions, Nicola Sturgeon said the latest figures show evidence of “real and sustained progress”.

On May 21, estimates showed around 25,000 people had the virus, with most recent estimates showing this has fallen to around 2,900.

Ms Sturgeon said an update will be published tomorrow which she expects to have shown the number of infected people has decreased to 2,000.

She said: “This progress is due to people across Scotland doing the right thing and following the rules.”

Data released on NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect system showed 1,245 cases were reported where an individual tested positive for Covid-19 between the day the system launched on May 28 and June 21.

Contact tracing as been completed for 1,157 cases, with 1,551 contacts traced so far – a rate of 1.3 people contact traced per person on average.

Nine cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the overall number of confirmed cases across Scotland to 18,191.

Eighty people are in hospital, an increase of 15 since yesterday, and in the past 24 hours, four people across Scotland lost their lives to the virus.

A total of 506 people have lost their lives to the virus across Tayside and Fife since the pandemic began.