Deaths involving COVID-19 Week 7: 15 Feb - 21 Feb

As at 21st February, 9,347 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) today. 

In the week 15 – 21 February, 290 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, this is a decrease of 35 deaths from the previous week.

Over 80% of deaths this week occurred in hospital, representing 235 deaths, 34 deaths occurred in care homes, 20 at home or in non-institutional settings and 1 in another institution.

Care home deaths involving COVID-19 continue to fall at a faster rate than other locations, showing a 19% decrease in the latest week and a 69% decrease over the last four weeks.

Deaths from all causes remain higher than usual for this time of year, with 157 excess deaths recorded across all locations in the latest week, showing a 12% increase when compared with the average for the period 2015 to 2019.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: 

“My thoughts and condolences are with all the families and wider communities who have lost loved ones as a result of this virus.

“Today’s statistics show some welcome news, for the fourth consecutive week the number of deaths have fallen and in the latest week the number of deaths have decreased by 11%. Deaths in care homes over the last month have fallen at a faster rate than deaths in other locations.”

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