Deaths involving COVID-19 Week 50: 7- 13 December 2020

As at 13th December, a total of 6,092 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) today.

Between 7th to 13th December, 224 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, a decrease of 8 from the previous week

To place these statistics in context, the total number of all-cause deaths registered in the week 7th to 13th December was 1,276, representing 40 more deaths than the average over the previous five years, which is a 3% increase.

Today, we also published updated analysis, covering the period from March-November, on mortality by pre-existing conditions, urban and rural areas, place of death and deprivation. The key findings show:

After adjusting for age, people living in the most deprived areas were 2.3 times as likely to die with COVID-19 as those in the least deprived areas.  This gap has increased in recent months.

Of the 5,822 deaths involving COVID-19 between March and November 2020, 93% had at least one pre-existing condition.  The most common main pre-existing condition was dementia and Alzheimer’s, accounting for 28% of all deaths involving COVID-19.

After adjusting for age, there were 147 deaths involving COVID-19 per 100,000 population. Rates for males were significantly higher representing 181 compared with 122 for females.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: 

“Today’s figures show there have been over 6,000 deaths where COVID-19 has been the underlying cause or a contributory factor. This is devastating for families, friends and communities who have been affected by the loss of loved ones.

“The latest statistics show another slight fall in the number of COVID-19 related deaths. This is consistent with recent trends which have shown the number of deaths have decreased slowly for three out of the last four weeks, since the recent peak we saw a month ago.

“Today’s additional analysis also shows that the deprivation gap is widening, the death rate in the most deprived areas is now 2.3 times that of the least deprived areas. Earlier in the pandemic this gap was 2.1 times.”

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website.