Of Scotland’s 12,823 deaths linked to Covid-19, only 241 were people aged under 65 with no underlying health conditions.
The statistic – uncovered by the Sunday Mail in data compiled by National Records of Scotland – has led to fresh criticism of the Scottish Government’s failure to protect elderly and vulnerable people during the pandemic.
Aamer Anwar, lawyer for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, said: “There was nothing inevitable about the many lives lost.
"The testing regime, infection control and PPE provision was a disaster, while many vulnerable people who didn’t have Covid in hospitals or care homes picked it up there and died.
“The failure to protect life is one of the areas we are requesting the Public Inquiry must consider if lessons are to be learned.”
About 30 per cent of all Covid deaths in Scotland – almost 4000 residents – were related to care homes.
By comparison in Norway – a country of a similar population to Scotland – less than 100 people are understood to have died in care homes and just 1439 have died of Covid in total.
The country also spent far less time under strict lockdown.
In April 2020 the Sunday Mail revealed the shocking practice of sending patients with Covid-19 from hospital into care homes.
Rules on testing before discharge were changed by then health secretary Jeane Freeman within days of our story.
A large number of infections were also contracted in hospitals by people who hadn’t been admitted for Covid but would have had weakened immune systems.
Scottish Conservative Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “We have known since day one the elderly were most at risk of dying from Covid.
"That’s why the errors made by SNP ministers early in the pandemic – when many elderly patients were discharged from hospital to care homes without having been tested for Covid – proved so devastating.
“A public inquiry into the scandalously high death toll in Scotland’s care homes remains essential for bereaved relatives.”
Scottish Labour’s Jackie Baillie said: “The tragic mistakes made in Scotland’s care homes are nothing short of a national scandal. It is essential that we learn the lessons of this appalling death toll so these mistakes are never repeated.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “The revelation that untested and Covid-positive patients were shipped out of hospitals and into care homes was one of the most jaw-dropping moments of the whole pandemic.”
The Scottish Government said: “As we’ve done since it became clear that age was the greatest risk factor, we have prioritised protection of the oldest and most vulnerable in our society, with the oldest first to receive protection through vaccination.
“We closely monitor statistics relating to excess deaths. We also established an independently-led public inquiry to provide scrutiny and answers to the questions people have about how this pandemic has been handled, including the impact on care homes and their residents.”
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