Scotland recorded 132 coronavirus deaths in the second full week of 2022, new figures have revealed.

Data from National Records of Scotland (NRS) showed the number of cases with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate over the period January 10 to 16 – a rise of 60 from the previous week’s total of 72.

By January 16, 12,675 deaths had been registered in Scotland where the virus was mentioned on the death certificate.

According to NRS, 91 of the latest deaths were among those aged 75 or older while 21 involved people aged 65 to 74, with 20 of those who died under 65.

There were 14 deaths in North Lanarkshire, 13 in South Lanarkshire and 12 in City of Edinburgh, with 26 of Scotland’s 32 council areas having at least one fatality over the week.

More than half of the deaths were in hospitals, with 77 taking place in this setting, as well as 45 in care homes, while 10 deaths were recorded in homes or other non-institutional settings.

The statistics are published weekly and cover all deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was 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 Herald:

Analysis of the data showed that 93% of people whose death involved Covid-19 (11,326 people) since the beginning of the pandemic had at least one pre-existing condition with the most common condition being  dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.  

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: “The latest figures show that last week there were 132 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 60 more deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,501, which is 27, or 2%, fewer than the five year average.”

It was noted that the large increase in deaths this week will be partly due to registrars catching up on a backlog of death registrations following registration office closures over the holiday period.  However, it does not explain all of the increase. 

The analysis of deaths by date of occurrence shows that the number of deaths involving Covid-19 began to increase in mid-December, from a low point of six deaths per day to reach an average of 13 deaths per day in early January.

There have been six deaths in Scotland in which the underlying cause of death was due to the adverse effects of vaccination against Covid-19, and one death where an adverse effect was mentioned on the death certificate, which is an increase of one from the figure reported last month.