Coronavirus cases in Borders up to 215 as national death toll rises 84 to almost 700

A daily update issued by the Scottish Government reveals an increase of seven cases in the region today, April 15, up from 208.

There has been no increase in the death toll claimed here by Covid-19, as the disease is also known, however, for the second day in a row and it remains at 26.

The first five fatalities in the Borders attributable to the virus were announced on Monday, March 30, and that figure rose to seven the day after, eight the next day, 11 a week ago last Thursday, 14 a week ago on Friday, 16 last Sunday, 17 on Monday, 19 on Tuesday, 20 on Friday, 22 on Saturday, 23 on Sunday and 26 on Monday.

They are among a death toll of 699 nationwide, up 84 from 615 yesterday, and 12,107 across the UK, up 778 on the day before.

Altogether, 6,748 cases of the illness have been confirmed nationwide, up from 6,358 yesterday.

Across the UK, 93,873 people, including British prime minister Boris Johnson, have tested positive for the illness, up 5,252 from the day before.

Some 34,064 tests for coronavirus have been carried out in Scotland so far, with 27,316 returning negative results.

It’s over a month now since the first two cases of the illness were confirmed in the Borders on Wednesday, March 11, and a month and a half since Scotland’s first case, in Tayside, was announced on Sunday, March 1, after spreading across the world from Wuhan in China.

That figure went up to three on Friday, March 13; five on Saturday, March 14; seven on Sunday, March 15; eight the following Thursday, March 19; nine on Friday, March 20; 10 on Saturday, March 21; 11 on Sunday, March 22; 12 on Monday, March 23; 15 on Wednesday, March 25; 23 on Thursday, March 26; 28 on Friday, March 27; 35 on Saturday, March 28; 50 on Sunday, March 29; 63 on Monday, March 30; 77 on Tuesday, March 31; 87 on Wednesday, April 1; 93 on Thursday, April 2; 100 on Friday, April 3; 110 on Saturday, April 4; 130 on Sunday, April 5; 139 last Monday, April 6; 149 last Tuesday; 160 on Wednesday; 167 on Thursday; 177 on Friday; 189 on Saturday; 199 on Sunday; 204 on Monday; 208 yesterday; and 215 today.

The number of cases of Covid-19 in the Borders is higher than in one of its neighbouring health board areas, Dumfries and Galloway’s total being 207, but is still well below the two others, Lanarkshire and Lothian being up to 873 and 1,040 respectively.

Altogether, 195 Scots, six of them in the Borders, are in intensive care receiving treatment for coronavirus, as of last night, with 191 having tested positive and the others awaiting results.

Giving an update on the spread of coronavirus, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon told a briefing in Edinburgh today: “As at nine o’clock this morning, I can report that there have been 6,748 positive cases confirmed. That is an increase of 390 from the figures reported yesterday.

“A total of 1,748 patients are currently in hospital either with suspected or confirmed Covid-19. That is a decrease of 53 from yesterday’s figures.

“And a total of 195 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected cases of Covid 19. That is a decrease of one on yesterday’s figures.

“These hospital and intensive care unit figures do give us cause for some very cautious optimism at this stage, but I want to caution again that it is too early to be definitive about that, so my caution is not against cautious optimism but against reading too much into these figures at this point, not least because in the last 24 hours, I am afraid, 84 deaths have been registered of patients who had been confirmed as having Covid-19.

“That takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, as of 9am this morning, under that measurement, to 699.

“I would remind you, though, as I have said over the last couple of days, that death registration is likely to have been lower over the Easter weekend, which means our figures that we have reported in the last couple of days were artificially lower because of that, so today’s higher figure will, in part, be a reflection of that.”