The weekly report from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) on deaths involving Covid published on 3rd November 2022 is as follows:
- As of 30th October 2022, there have been a total of 15,958 deaths registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate.
- In week 43 there were 47 deaths involving COVID-19 (five more than the previous week).
- The provisional total number of all deaths registered in Scotland in week 43 of 2022 (24th to 30th October) was 1,277 (152 or 14% above the 5-year average).
Covid related deaths – Ages
- Age 15 – 44: 2 deaths, Males
- Age 45 – 64: 3 deaths, 2 Female, 1 Male
- Age 65 – 74: 6 deaths, 3 Female, 3 Males
- Age 75 – 84: 18 deaths, 11 Female, 7 Male
- Age 85+ : 18 deaths, 11 Female, 7 Male
Deaths due to all causes in the week 24th to 30th of October 2022 was 1,277. There were 152 excess deaths (14%) taken over a 5 year average. Of the 47 deaths where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate, Covid was the underlying cause in 24 of them.
5 deaths occurred in Care Homes; 1 at Home/Non Institutional Setting; 41 in Hospital.
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It makes one wonder… Cuba has roughly double Scotland’s population but only roughly half the number of Covid deaths. Ok, it is an island and Scotland is only part of an island, but still some comparison might be worthwhile. Owed to their own particular circumstances, Cuba didn’t have much of a choice but develop their own vaccines. Otherwise they would have fallen victim to vaccine inequality like so many other nations worldwide. They seem to have done very well (see pdf which can be downloaded here: https://mediccreview.org/executive-summary-insights-from-cubas-covid-19-vaccine-enterprise/). Can lessons be learned? Such as that small independent island nations (even with complicated political and economic conditions which would not be to everybody’s taste) can approach public health crises in the way which is best suited for them, even if this was forced by circumstances?
I wonder which outcome it would have been if Scotland had become independent prior to the pandemic. Having grown up at a time where Schengen had not been implemented and even in Europe border posts were just completely normal (and simply added a couple of minutes for passport checks when you crossed any borders), I cannot really see how border posts on our short land border in connection with some testing and/or vaccination requirements would have been such a big problem.
New Zealand did stick to strict border controls for a long time. It was obvious that the relaxation would lead to a significant increase in cases. Still, the consequences were mitigated by avoiding the high caseload of previous variants and the time window the border opening delay has provided for vaccination. Today, New Zealand’s Covid death toll stands at 2,106 since the beginning of the pandemic (https://www.health.govt.nz/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-current-cases). Scotland’s toll stands at 15,958…