Coronavirus in Scotland - the Numbers

15 April 2020 - SACC

Chart of daily number of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Scotland

Last Updated 18.30, 16 April 2020

7102 people have so far (16 April) tested positive for COVID-19 in Scotland and 779 of those people have died. 1799 people are in hospital with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. 196 of them were in Intensive Care Units.

Deaths of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 equate to 126 deaths per million people in Scotland (based on the estimated mid-year population for 2018). The actual rate of COVID-19 deaths will be higher, as this figure omits deaths in care homes and the community (where people are not tested for COVID-19).

Data on registered deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate lags behind data on people who have been tested. These figures are higher, as they include people who have died in care homes and in the communty without having been tested. The latest available figures show that by 12 April, COVID-19 had been mentioned on the death certificates of 962 people. 566 of those people had tested positive for COVID-19.

A quarter of all registered deaths involving COVID-19 occurred in care homes. 62% of registered deaths were in hospitals and 13% were at home or non-institutional settings. Almost 70% of all registered deaths involving COVID -19 to date were people aged 75 or over.

For the week 30 March to 6 April, there was an excess of 643 deaths over the average number of deaths for the same week over the last five years - an increase of 59% over the 5-year average. For the week 6 April to 12 April there was an excess of 869 deaths over the average number of deaths for the same week over the last five years - an increase of 79% over the 5-year average.

Before 23 March the numbers of deaths was close to the 5-year average. So the more recent data strongly suggests increased mortality linked in some way to the pandemic. Explanations could include COVID-19 deaths not recorded as such, poorer medical care as a result of the burden on the NHS or changes to health and social care policies and practice, or circumstances arising from the lockdown.

Data on deaths of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 is provided by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and published on the Scottish Government website. Data based on death certificates is provided by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

Coronavirus data from both HPS and NRS is collected on the SPICe (Scottish Parliament Information Centre) blog and updated daily. It is presented in useful interactive graphs, but they may not display properly unless viewed with Chrome browser.