Weekly Covid figures see slight rise in number of deaths in Scotland to 47

CONFIRMED or suspected coronavirus deaths in Scotland rose slightly in the week to Sunday, according to the latest figures.

Data from National Records of Scotland (NRS) shows there were 47 deaths over the period, one more than the previous week.

Of those who died, 36 were aged 75 or older, nine were 65 to 74 and two were under 65.

As of November 13, there have been 16,052 deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

NRS analysis of deaths up to October 31 this year found that, after adjusting for age, those in the most deprived areas were 2.4 times more likely to die with Covid than those in the least deprived areas.

Pete Whitehouse, NRS director of statistical services, said: “The latest figures show that last week there were 47 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is one more than in the previous week.

“People living in the most deprived areas were 2.4 times as likely to die with Covid-19 as those in the least deprived areas. The size of this gap slowly widened over the period of the pandemic but has narrowed since January 2022, when the gap was 2.5. The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,219, which is 52, or 4%, more than the five-year average.”

Of those who died in the week to Sunday, 21 were female and 26 were male. Forty-three deaths were in hospital, three were in care homes, and one was at home or in a non-institutional setting.

Of the 15,995 Covid deaths between March 2020 and October 2022, 93% (14,942) featured at least one pre-existing condition, with dementia the most common (22%).

Between December 2020 and the end of October this year, 4.4 million people were given at least one vaccine.