Covid-related deaths have risen markedly in Renfrewshire after the area became a Coronavirus hotspot in recent weeks.
The BA.2 sub-variant of the ultra-infectious Omicron sparked a sharp rise in cases in Renfrewshire last month.
We told how Renfrewshire had become a covid hotspot, with the seven-day positivity case rate standing at 3,265 in the week until March 20 - a seven day positivity rate of 1,820.1 per 100,000 population.
Later figures until March 27 show a decline in cases, with the seven-day positivity test rate revealing 2,682 people tested positive - a positivity rate of 1495.1 per 100,000.
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But the data still left Renfrewshire in the top seven of Scotland's worst hit local authority areas.
However, the number of Covid-related deaths in the area had remained stable for weeks, hovering around one.
But last week data from the National Records of Scotland for the week up until March 27 revealed that six people in Renfrewshire had died where covid was mentioned on the death certificate.
Now the latest figures from the agency has revealed 11 deaths in the area where the virus was logged on the death certificate in the week beginning March 28.
The last time such a high death toll was recorded in the area was in October 2021 when 10 such deaths were logged in a single week.
It takes the total of covid-related deaths in Renfrewshire since the beginning of 2022 to 43.
Scottish national data reveals there were 170 Covid-related deaths in the country last week - down 23 from the previous period.
The provisional total number of all deaths registered in Scotland in week 13 of 2022 - which covers March 28 to April 3) was 1,260 - 17 per cent above the five-year average.
But figures for Covid cases in Renfrewshire show a further drop in numbers, with the seven day positive case rate dropping to 1,742 for the week from March 28 to April 3 - a seven day positivity rate of 971.1 per 100,000 population.
In East Renfrewshire, 796 people returned positive tests for the same period - a seven day positivity rate of 828.6 per 100,000.
New figures from the Office of National Statistics also reveal that cases of Long Covid in Scotland have reached a record high.
Some 59,000 people in the country report being affected by symptoms for more than 12 months - up from 9,000 last month.
Data also suggests that 20 per cent of people say their daily lives have been impacted by continuing symptoms of the condition.
Now charity chiefs at Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland have urged the Scottish Government to take urgent action to address services for the number of people affected.
Allan Cowie, director of Service Delivery at Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, said: "The Scottish Government needs to approach Long Covid with more urgency. How many more records need to be broken before we see urgent action?
"We know that good work is being done in different parts of the country to support people with the condition. But we're not seeing the speed and urgency to join things up and make sure everyone is getting the help they desperately need now. We can’t keep delaying – more needs to be done."
He added: "We need to make sure there is a wraparound service in place where people can easily be referred through to third sector services like ours from the NHS. By having this in place we can make sure patients aren’t falling through the cracks."
The charity has a Long Covid Support Service jointly funded by the Scottish Government.
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