Deaths involving COVID-19 Week 49: 6 - 12 December 2021

As at 12 December 2021, 12,303 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 6 to 12 December, 84 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, a decrease of seven deaths from the previous week.

17 deaths were aged under 65, 16 were aged 65-74 and there were 51 deaths in people aged 75 or over. 44 were female and 40 were male.

There were 11 deaths in Glasgow City, eight in Aberdeenshire, and eight in Fife. In total, 23 council areas (out of 32) had at least one death involving COVID-19 last week..

64 were in hospitals, 11 were in care homes, and nine were at home or a non-institutional setting.

Our monthly analysis shows that the age-standardised rate of COVID-related deaths was lower in November 2021 (95 per 100,000 people) compared to October 2021 (126 per 100,000 people).

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:

“The latest figures show that last week there were 84 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is seven fewer deaths than the previous week.”

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,314, which is 174, or 15%, more than the five year average.”

Adverse effects of vaccination against COVID-19 were recorded as the underlying cause of five deaths in Scotland since the pandemic began. One additional death occurred in November 2021 where an adverse effect was mentioned on the death certificate, although it was not the underlying cause of death. By 30 November 2021 statistics from Public Health Scotland state that 4.4 million people had been given at least one vaccine dose.

Of the 12,210 deaths involving COVID-19 between March 2020 and November 2021, 93% (11,326 people) had at least one pre-existing condition.  Just under one quarter of people whose death involved COVID-19 had dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.  

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website.

Background

NRS figures include deaths where ‘suspected’ or ‘probable’ COVID-19 appears on the death certificate.

Data for 2021 are provisional and subject to change in future weekly publications. The data will be finalised in summer 2022.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Donna Green
NRS Communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]