Covid-19 deaths nationwide down again making it 11 weeks in a row
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Scotland has reached one week for with no new deaths from confirmed cases of Covid-19, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.
It means that the death toll under that specific measurement of confirmed cases only remains at 2490.
The announcement came shortly after National Records of Scotland numbers which also include suspected cases and revealed there were 13 deaths nationwide in the last seven days.
She noted that it is the eleventh week in a row when the more comprehensive NRS figures have declined on the previous seven day period while it is also the third week in a row when the overall deaths from all causes also fell.
Ms Sturgeon revealed that a new health intelligence network has been set up in Scotland to quickly identify potential outbreaks using a variety of different analytical methods from testing to gathering data from calls to the NHS.
She said:“I am very pleased to say that in the past 24-hours no deaths have been registered of a person who had been confirmed through a test as having the virus and this is now the seventh day in a row in which no deaths have been recorded in daily figures.
“It means that the total number of deaths in Scotland under that measurement remains at 2490.
“National Records of Scotland have just published its regular weekly report and that is more comprehensive than our daily figures as it includes deaths of people who have been confirmed though a test as having Covid-19 but it also covers cases where the virus had been entered on a death certificate as a suspected or contributory cause of death.
“Today’s report shows that by Sunday, the total number of registered deaths with a confirmed or a presumed link to the virus was 4187.
“Of those 13 were registered in the seven days up to Sunday that is a decrease of four on the week before, the number of Covid-19 deaths in care homes increased slightly from five to seven and deaths in care homes made up just over half of all deaths last week.
“The total number of deaths recorded last week in Scotland from all causes, not just Covid-19 fell below the five year average for the same time of year and this is the third week in a row now that the total number of deaths has been below that five-year average.
“Last week was the eleventh week in a row in which the number of deaths from Covid-19 deaths has fallen.
“These weekly figures show the virus is now being driven to very low levels in Scotland.
“The Scottish Government is publishing a new paper today which sets out our approach to the surveillance of the virus as we move forward and the management of outbreaks.
“The prevalence of the virus in Scotland has now fallen to very low levels but as we all go out and about more it becomes increasingly important that we are very alert, hyper-vigilant, to any early warnings that case numbers might be starting to increase.
“Our test and protect system is absolutely vital to that because that means we pick up on individual cases or clusters of cases and are then able to work to disrupt the chains of transmission.
“We are also using other sources of information to give us as early a warning of any potential problem as possible, so for example NHS call data asking about Covid-19 symptoms is potentially a very early indicator of community transmission.
“Whole genome sequencing allows us to assess the likelihood of different cases being part of the same cluster.
“We have also established a data and intelligence network which has representation from academia and key public health officials which is able to assess relevant information quickly and then allow that information to inform decision-making.”
