4,070 deaths have been registered where Covid19 was mentioned on the death certificate with the published weekly figures from the National Record of Scotland (NRS) up to 14th of June 2020.

You can download the report here: covid deaths report week 24 NRS

Deaths in Scotland, related to Covid19 continue to decrease.

47% of COVID-19 deaths registered to date related to deaths in care homes.
46% of deaths were in hospitals and 7% of deaths were at home or non institutional settings.

The number of deaths in Care Homes continue to decrease but still account for 50% of where these occur.

Deprivation continues to be a significant factor in communities where deaths are occurring. The rate is over twice that of those in less deprived areas.

Older people and those with an existing health condition are also extremely susceptible to the deadly effects of the virus.

92% had at least one pre-existing condition. The most common pre-existing condition was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (38% of all deaths involving COVID) followed by ischaemic heart disease (11%)

Clear communication and access to information is vital in a public health emergency. The Scottish Government website does provide a lot of information but it takes quite some time to scroll, click, click again and then download a spreadsheet. That is not ease of access.

Suspected Reported Covid19 Cases in Scottish Care Homes

Here are the stats for Health Board areas.

This table illustrates the numbers of tests  – care home staff and residents.

Number of Tests – Care Home Staff and Residents

This data is submitted as management information by NHS Boards to Public Health Scotland and details the number of tests by NHS laboratories for care home staff and residents that have been carried out since 20th April.

The data does not include tests that are carried out by UK routes (regional testing centres and mobile testing) and therefore is likely to underestimate testing for staff.

It also does not include any tests that have been delivered through the Scottish social care portal.

As staff and residents can be tested more than once this will capture repeat testing that has happened since the 20th April.

This table shows the previous week’s data 

Number of Tests – Care Home Staff and Residents

All of that data is about the number of tests carried out. This table illustrates the number of people (staff and residents) in care homes who have been tested in the last week.

Number of Residents and Staff tested

This data is provisional management information submitted to Scottish Government by NHS Boards and details the number of people (i.e. staff and residents) tested in the last week.

The number of tests for staff capture both those undertaken via NHS routes and those via the Scottish social care portal.

This was the first return of the new data collection and the Scottish Government will continue to work with NHS Boards to refine data reporting and also data capture.

The data for individual NHS Boards reflect local circumstances and therefore comparisons should not be made between NHS Boards.

You can find all of this data on the Scottish Government website and here: Covid-19 in Scottish Adult Care Homes 17 June 2020

NHS Orkney

Here is a graphic produced by NHS Orkney. These figures are for the 8th of June. In total Orkney has recorded 8 positive results for Covid19 and 2 people have sadly died.

In other news related to Covid19 , Orkney MSP, Liam McArthur, LibDem has called  for an investigation into allegations made about the management of NHS Orkney raised by Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen,  Clinical Quality Advisor at NHS Orkney, who tender his resignation from his post.

Liam McArthur said:

“The concerns raised by Dr Dijkhuizen in his resignation letter are extremely serious and will have given rise to understandable anxiety within the local community.

“It is essential, therefore, that immediate action is now taken to fully investigate these allegations so that any failings can be quickly identified and addressed.

“However, any investigation must also be seen to be fair and impartial.  Given that Dr Dijkhuizen’s criticisms are directed largely at members of the Executive team and board, it is hard to see how NHS Orkney can simply be left to investigate themselves.

“I have therefore written to the Health Secretary and the Chair of NHS Orkney seeking clarification about how this investigation will be carried out and reinforcing the need for urgency, transparency and independence in the interests of staff, patients and the wider community.”

As ever at The Orkney News we recommend this site for quality data and statistical information: Scotland Coronavirus Tracker

Reporter: Fiona Grahame