Scotland saw a large increase in the number of coronavirus deaths recorded in the second full week of 2022.
National Records of Scotland (NRS) confirmed there were 132 deaths linked to the virus recorded over the period January 10 to 16 – a rise of 60 from the previous week’s total of 72.
It said while the rise would be “partly due to registrars catching up on a backlog of death registrations” while offices were closed over the festive break, it added that “does not explain all of the increase”.
NRS said its analysis shows the number of deaths involving Covid-19 began to increase in mid-December, going from a low of six per day to reach an average of 13 every day in early January.
Of the latest deaths, 91 involved people aged 75 or older, 21 were aged 65 to 74, and 20 were under 65.
There were 14 deaths in North Lanarkshire 13 in South Lanarkshire, and 12 in Edinburgh – with 25 of Scotland’s 32 council areas recording at least one Covid-linked fatality last week.
More than half of the deaths (77) occurred in hospitals, 45 were in care homes, and another 10 took place in someone’s home or other non-institutional setting.
The NRS statistics, which are published weekly, 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 as they include suspected or probable cases of Covid.
Pete Whitehouse, director of statistical services at NRS, 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.”
NRS also noted there have been six cases in Scotland in which the underlying cause of death was due to the adverse effects of vaccination against Covid, and one death where an adverse effect was mentioned on the death certificate.
By the end of December 2021, figures from Public Health Scotland showed 4.4 million people across the country had had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.
Meanwhile, the latest Scottish Government figures published on Wednesday show Scotland recorded 29 coronavirus deaths and 8,495 new cases in the past 24 hours.
It means the death toll under this measurement, of people who tested positive for the virus in the previous 28 days, has risen to 10,122.
There were 1,571 people in hospital on Tuesday with recently confirmed Covid-19, up 25 on the previous day, with 44 in intensive care, down 15 on the day before.
So far 4,401,876 people have received the first dose of a Covid vaccination, 4,092,558 have had their second dose, and 3,223,113 have had a third dose or booster.
