Coronavirus death toll in Borders now up to 17 as number of cases here rises to 139

Confirmed cases of the disease, also known as Covid-19, are continuing to go up in the region and now stand at 139.

A daily update issued by the Scottish Government on the spread of coronavirus through the country reveals an increase of nine cases today, April 6.

The death toll claimed by the illness in the region has risen by one overnight to 17.

The first five fatalities claimed here by Covid-19 were announced on Monday, and that figure rose to seven on Tuesday, eight on Wednesday, 11 on Thursday, 14 on Friday, 16 yesterday and 17 today.

They’re among a death toll of 222 nationwide, up from 220 yesterday, and 4,934 across the UK.

Almost a third of the 139 people in the region diagnosed with coronavirus are NHS Borders staff, it has been revealed.

Out of 140 of the health board’s 3,500 staff tested so far, 43 have been confirmed to have the disease, with 11 yet to get their results back and 86 being given the all-clear.

Some 3,961 cases of the illness have been confirmed nationwide, up from 3,706 yesterday.

UK-wide, 47,806 people have tested positive for the illness, up from 41,903 the day before.

Some 24,036 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in Scotland, with 20,075 proving negative.

It’s nearing four weeks now since the first two cases of the illness were confirmed in the Borders on Wednesday, March 11, and over a month 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 last Wednesday; 23 last Thursday; 28 last Friday; 35 on Saturday; 50 on Sunday; 63 on Monday; 77 on Tuesday; 87 on Wednesday; 93 yesterday; 100 on Friday; 110 on Saturday; 130 yesterday; and 139 today.

Though rising rapidly, the number of cases of Covid-19 in the Borders is still lower than those reported in the neighbouring health board areas of Dumfries and Galloway, Lanarkshire and Lothian, up to 144, 512 and 577 respectively.

Warning that the worst of what the coronavirus outbreak has to unleash on Scotland is almost certainly yet to come, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon told a briefing in Edinburgh: “Tackling this virus remains a job for every single one of us.

“I do understand how difficult these restrictions are. I know they will seem harder as the weather improves. However, they remain crucial.”

The near-4,000 Scots confirmed to have coronavirus are likely to be only a small fraction of the actual number infected, though, according to former Scottish chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood.

Dr Calderwood, replaced on an interim basis by Gregor Smith following her resignation yesterday after being caught flouting lockdown rules, estimates that only around one in 64 cases of Covid-19 has been detected this side of the border.

That guess, if correct, would put the likely figure for the region at more than 8,300 out of a population of 115,000 or thereabouts.

Currently, 41 patients confirmed to have Covid-19 are being treated at hospitals in the Borders, along with a further 10 suspected to be infected but awaiting test results.

Seven are being cared for in the intensive treatment unit at the Borders General Hospital at Melrose.

So far, 17 coronavirus sufferers treated at hospitals in the region have recovered and been discharged.