Vaccinations:

Since 4 September 2023 (the current Winter 2023 vaccination programme) 1,552,615 influenza (Adult 18+), 504,487 influenza (Children 6 months to 17 years) and 1,304,129 COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Scotland. Among adults aged 75 years and older, 81.9% were vaccinated against influenza and 81.3% received the COVID-19 vaccine this winter. Public Health Scotland, 14th December 2023

Influenza

Influenza (flu) cases in Scotland have increased by 59% in the last week. The Number of acute influenza admissions to hospital has increased to 123 (week ending 10 Dec 23) from 95 the previous week.

Covid

The Number of acute COVID-19 admissions to hospital has increased to 215 (week ending 10 Dec 23) from 187 the previous week.

The Number of inpatients with COVID-19 in hospital (seven day average) has also increased for the same period to 352 from 275 the previous week.

Monitoring for  fragments of coronavirus’ ribonucleic acid (RNA) in local waste water samples shows mostly positive records across Scotland. The data for the area covered by the Kirkwall waste water system (7th Dec 23) is as follows:

National Records of Scotland Weekly Deaths published 14th December.

The provisional total number of deaths registered in Scotland in week 49 of 2023 (4th December to 10th December) was 1,220 (10 or 1% higher than the 5-year average). There were 25 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, 4 female, 1 male
• Age 745- 84: 13 deaths, 6 female, 7 male
• Age 85+ : 5 deaths, 3 female, 2 male

Two of the deaths were in Care Homes, 1 at Home/ Non Institutional Setting, and 22 in Hospital.

There were 25 deaths involving Covid, Covid was the underlying cause in 19 of them.

There were 1,220 deaths due to all causes, an excess of 10 deaths taken over a 5 year average. Excess deaths occurred in Circulatory +21, and Other Causes +33.

Due to public holidays, statistics on births and deaths registered in the two weeks ending 24th and 31st December 2023 will be published on Friday 5th January 2024. These will return to the usual weekly release from Thursday 11th January.

Fiona Grahame