A total of 895,184 influenza (Adult 18+), 187,009 influenza (Children 6 months to 17 years) and 690,663 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to the Scottish population since 4 September 2023 during the Winter Vaccination period in new data released by Public Health Scotland. Information on vaccine uptake for the COVID-19 and influenza vaccine programmes is available via the Public Health Scotland – vaccination surveillance.
As yet, COVID-19 has not been shown to follow the same seasonal patterns as other respiratory pathogens.
The number of acute Covid-19 admissions to hospitals has decreased slightly to 258 in the week ending 15th October, from 275 the previous week.
However, the number of patients in hospital with Covid has increased to 389 from 347.
One of the few ways of tracking Covid within the community is through analysis of RNA levels in the waste water. Below are the last published figures for Kirkwall, 11th October 2023.
Weekly deaths registered in Scotland – National Records of Scotland for week 16th to 22nd October 2023
The provisional total number of deaths registered in Scotland in week 42 of 2023 (16th October to 22nd October) was 1,188 (25 or 2% above the 5-year average). There were 30 deaths mentioning COVID-19.
Those figures in more detail:
Deaths involving Covid
- Age 45 -64: 2 deaths, 1 female, 1 male
- Age 65 – 74: 5 deaths, 2 female, 3 male
- Age 75 – 84: 10 deaths, 6 female, 4 male
- Age 85+: 13 deaths, 9 female, 4 male
There were 5 deaths in Care Homes, 1 at Hospital/Non Institutional setting, and 24 in Hospital.
Of the 30 deaths involving Covid, Covid was the underlying cause in 23 of them.
There were 1,188 deaths due to all causes, an excess of 25 taken over a 5 year average. Excess deaths were in: Circulatory +4 and Other Causes +44.
Fiona Grahame
Categories: Uncategorized
A little update: As at 22nd October 2023 the number of Covid-patients in hospital has gone up to 427.
And even this is – in my opinion – likely an underreporting since so many won’t even be tested.
For reasons that are beyond me, the public has apparently decided to move on, ignore numbers of hospitalisations (of which each and every indvidual one will add to pressures in an already rather defunct NHS) as well as ignore deaths.
A “handful” of deaths appear to be an acceptable price for most for just getting on with normal life, with the convenience of not even using the most simple and reasonable measures for protection.
Tuesday in the Balfour: not a single mask in sight…
What are we going to do if the high levels of infection and repeat infection pave the way for a – still very possible – unpleasant virus evolution?
What are we going to do if the virus jumps back into animal reservoirs and comes back to haunt us in (again) changed capacity?
What are we going to do if a ‘recombination between SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV’ (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-023-01396-6) happens? Given the present conflict situation in the Middle East, the risk of this happening might now be much greater than before. Just to remind everybody that – to my knowledge – there is so far neither a vaccine nor an effective treatment for MERS-CoV and the mortality rate is much more unpleasant. Its transmissibility does not (yet?) compare to Sars-CoV-2, but in case of a recombination this could change.
In my opinion we are playing with fire and we are flying more or less blind… and we do not exhibit the maturity one should expect. More diseases – and possibly pandemics – will be coming our way. Some aggravated and facilitated by climate change, others by an overcrowded planet with uneven access to science, healthcare, resources and so forth.
If we do not learn any lessons now, there isn’t much hope we will learn them then.
A few lone voices, crying in the wilderness – while on the telly – endless ads. for holidays.
My thoughts too… and the public is being brainwashed into some kind of a personal right to holiday (travel), of being the saviours of the industry and so forth… simply ignoring the fact that some “industries” (ever noticed that once a trade becomes an industry, then the problems multiply?) are doing more harm than good.
I am not against travel, not at all… but it should be responsible. In my book, mass tourism doesn’t fall into this category because it just pushes consumption.
I wonder whether we will ever re-think a concept of a world that is completely based on consumption… no matter what… if pandemics, conflicts, planetary destruction don’t make us think, what will?