Deaths involving COVID-19, Week 19 - 4th to 10th May

As at 10th May, 3,213 deaths have been registered in Scotland where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) today.

Between 4th to 10th May, 415 deaths relating to COVID-19 have been registered, a decrease of 110 from the previous week, 27th April to 3rd May. Deaths involving COVID-19 as a proportion of all deaths rose from 16% in week 14 of this year, to 36% in week 17 but has fallen to 29% in week 19.  The is the second weekly reduction in deaths involving COVID-19 in a row.

For the first time, NRS has today published additional analysis looking at the impact deprivation has on COVID-19 mortality. This shows people living in the most deprived areas of Scotland were 2.3 times more likely to die with COVID-19 than those living in the least deprived areas.  It also shows 91% of people who died of COVID-19 in April had at least one pre-existing condition. The most common pre-existing condition was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease - 31% of all deaths involving COVID, followed by ischaemic heart disease at 13%.

To place these statistics in context, the total number of deaths registered in Scotland from 4th to 10th May was 1,434 (39%) more than the average number of deaths registered in the same week over the last five years, 1,034. This is a decrease of 245 from the number of excess deaths registered in week 18. Of these 400 excess deaths, 96% were deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death.

More than half of all registered deaths involving COVID-19 in week 19 occurred in care homes, 57% compared to 60% in week 18. The number of deaths in care homes has gone down for a second week in a row, from 314 to 238.

Three quarters of registered deaths involving COVID-19 to date were people aged 75 or over, 76%.  Age-standardised death rates (adjusting for the age-structure of the population), were almost 50% higher for men than for women (716 vs 479 per 100,000 population for deaths occurring in April).

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:              

“Every death from this virus is a tragedy. These statistics, alongside the other important evidence being made available by the Scottish Government and Health Protection Scotland (HPS), are valuable to the understanding of the progress and impact of the COVID-19 virus across Scotland.

These latest figures show that for the second week running since reporting of registered deaths relating to COVID-19 began there has been a reduction in COVID-19 related deaths.  We have also published, for the first time today, analyses  of how the mortality rate related to COVID-19 varies by deprivation and across urban and rural areas of Scotland.

Our aim is to ensure that our statistical publication provides information that is as useful as possible and adds value to the understanding of how the virus is spreading throughout the country. We will continue to review and develop these statistics as new information is made available.”

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland and an infographic summary is available on this website.