The cumulative total of Covid cases in Orkney is now at 188 as another positive test result was recorded in the Health Board area.

The stats for Scotland published on 25th of August 2021 are as follows:

• 5,021 new cases of COVID-19 reported
• 47,991 new tests for COVID-19 that reported results
  • 11.0% of these were positive
• 5 new reported death(s) of people who have tested positive
• 44 people were in intensive care yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 391 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 4,088,894 people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 3,603,429 have received their second dose

In May SEPA began exploratory work to pinpoint fragments of coronavirus’ ribonucleic acid (RNA) in local waste water samples with the backing of Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS), alongside Scottish Water, CREW (Centre of expertise for Waters) and academic partners from the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute and Heriot Watt University.

Analysis on samples from across Scotland has identified traces in waste water from 12 health board areas. The results have been shared with PHS and areas with positive RNA findings are consistent with the areas known to have confirmed Covid-19 cases. SEPA

This shows the current results:

Deaths in Care Homes – Public Inquiry Announced

The Scottish Government is setting up a public inquiry into the numbers of deaths in care homes from Covid as people were transferred into them from hospitals.

The Inquiry is expected to take place at the end of this year and the public are now encouraged to share their ideas and comments on the suggested approach via email by 30 September.

Public feedback on the aims and principles paper should be sent to COVID-19publicinquirysetupteam@gov.scot

Click on this link to find out more about the Public Inquiry.

Deaths:

In the week ending 22 August, 41 deaths were registered where COVID-19 was on the death certificate

Since the start of the outbreak:

• 8,085 people have died who have tested positive as at 25 August
• 10,505 deaths have been registered in Scotland where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate up to 22 August
• 32% of COVID-19 registered deaths related to deaths in care homes, 61% were in hospitals and 7% were at home or non-institutional settings (as at 22 August)

Although Scotland is currently at Beyond Level 0, if cases and hospitalisations continue to rise then some restrictions might need to come into force again.

To keep everyone safe people are reminded to:

• get the vaccine when you are offered it
• wear a face covering where required
• wash your hands regularly, and cover your nose and mouth if coughing or sneezing
• self isolate and take a PCR test if you have symptoms
• take regular tests if you don’t have symptoms to reduce the risk of spreading the virus
• meet outside if you can, and open windows when indoors
• keep your distance from people not in your group
• work from home, or do a mixture of home and office working if possible
• use the Protect Scotland and Check-in Scotland apps