Scotland’s coronavirus death toll officially passes 10,000

The death toll from Covid-19 in Scotland has officially passed 10,000, according to new figures.

Data released weekly by National Records of Scotland (NRS) shows 34 deaths registered between April 5 and 11 relating to coronavirus.

The figure is down four on the previous week, and takes the total number of fatalities up to Sunday to 10,031.

#NRSStats show as at 11 April, 10,031 deaths have been registered in #Scotland where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. 34 deaths were registered 5 – 11 April, a decrease of 4 deaths. https://t.co/61kd2opGs1 pic.twitter.com/bJtI43viFT

— NatRecordsScot (@NatRecordsScot) April 14, 2021

Of the deaths recorded this week, 26 happened in hospital, five were in care homes and three at home or in a non-institutional setting.

The monthly analysis from the NRS suggests March 2021 was the first month since October 2020 where Covid-19 was not the top cause of death, but the fifth.

The statistics are published weekly and cover all deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate.

They differ from the lab-confirmed coronavirus deaths announced daily by the Scottish Government because the NRS figures include suspected or probable cases of Covid-19.

The NRS also warned care should be taken when interpreting the number of deaths in the past two weeks, as there may have been a delay in registering some fatalities due to the recent public holidays and the closure of registration offices for Easter.

Last week, the figure sat at 9,997 – however six deaths were also recorded in the daily figures from Public Health Scotland.

The daily figures for Wednesday indicate three coronavirus deaths and 278 positive tests were recorded in the past 24 hours.

It brings the death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – to 7,636.

Scottish Government figures show 222,660 people have tested positive since the start of the outbreak, up from 222,382 the previous day.

The daily test positivity rate is 1.3%, down from 1.6%.

In Scotland, there are 119 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down from 133, while 20 patients remain in intensive care.

And 2,694,971 people have been given their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, up 12,265 from yesterday, with 634,422 receiving a second dose.

The latest figures come ahead of a relaxation of restrictions.

Nicola Sturgeon announced at a briefing on Tuesday that people would be able to travel between local authority areas for the purposes of socialising, recreation or exercise from Friday.

Rules on gatherings outdoors will also be relaxed, allowing six adults from six households to meet up. Children under 12 are not counted in the total number.

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Sturgeon said: “From the end of this week, you will be able to meet up with family and friends who live in different parts of the country.

“Many of those reunions will be long-awaited, and much anticipated. I hope you enjoy them.

“But please do remember that meetings at this stage must still be outdoors – not inside our homes. Please be careful. And remember that due to physical distancing, public transport capacity will be limited.”

Planned timetable for levels system

April 26 – Sturgeon “extremely confident” areas in level 4 will move to level 3. Islands already at level 3 will remain there

May 17 – Whole country expected to move to level 2

Early June – Move to level 1

Late June – Move to level 0

The announcement came as Sturgeon said “significant progress” has been made in reducing the number of Covid-19 cases in Scotland.

The first minister said figures are now at their lowest since September, and have fallen by 40% in the past two weeks.

But she warned against complacency as Scotland continues to tackle the virus, saying: “We’ve got to be careful not to do too much all at once, because we don’t want the virus quickly gaining ground again, particularly because this new variant is we know more infectious and setting us all back.”