Coronavirus death toll in Borders up to 30 as number of cases here nears 280

And that mounting list of fatalities is higher still according to alternative figures produced by the National Records of Scotland.

Taking into account all death certificates blaming Covid-19, as the disease is also known, it puts the figure for the region at 41 as of Sunday, 13 higher than the 28 listed by the Scottish Government at that point as it only counts fatalities among those previously tested and found to be positive.

That puts the Borders seventh out of Scotland’s 14 health board areas for deaths as a proportion of population, down from third last week and second the week before.

Its Covid-19 death rate now stands at 3.6 per 10,000 of the region’s population of around 115,000, behind Greater Glasgow and Clyde on 6.3, Lanarkshire on 4.7, Ayrshire and Arran on 4.4, Lothian and Forth Valley both on 4.1 and Tayside on 4.

The first five fatalities here attributable to the virus were announced on Monday, March 30.

That figure, going by the Scottish Government’s calculations, rose to seven the day after, March 31; eight on Wednesday, April 1; 11 on Thursday, April 2; 14 on Friday, April 3; 16 on Sunday, April 5; 17 on Monday, April 6; 19 on Tuesday, April 7; 20 on Friday, April 10; 22 on Saturday, April 11; 23 on Sunday, April 12; 26 on Monday, April 13; 27 on Thursday; 28 on Friday; 29 on Monday, April 27; and 30 today, April 29.

They are among 1,415 coronavirus patients killed by the disease in Scotland so far, up from 1,332 overnight, and 21,678 UK-wide, a rise of 586 on the day before.

Another seven cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the Borders today, taking the total for the region to almost 280.

Some 11,034 cases of the illness have now been diagnosed nationwide, up from 10,721.

Across the UK, 161,145 people have tested positive for the illness, up 3,996 on the day before.

It’s well over a month now since the first two cases of the illness were confirmed in the Borders on Wednesday, March 11, and almost two months 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 on Tuesday, April 7; 160 on Wednesday, April 8; 167 on Thursday, April 9; 177 on Friday, April 10; 189 on Saturday, April 11; 199 on Sunday, April 12; 204 on Monday, April 13; 208 on Tuesday, April 14; 215 on Wednesday, April 15; 220 on Thursday, April 16; 229 on Friday, April 17; 231 on Saturday, April 18; 237 on Sunday, April 19; 239 on Monday, April 20; 240 on Tuesday, April 21; 243 on Wednesday, April 22; 248 last Thursday; 253 on Friday; 258 on Saturday; 259 on Sunday; 269 on Monday; 272 yesterday; and 279 today.

The number of cases of Covid-19 in the Borders remains higher than in one of its neighbouring health board areas, Dumfries and Galloway’s total being 244, but is still well below the two others, Lanarkshire and Lothian being up to 1,329 and 1,907 respectively.

Altogether, 114 Scots are in intensive care receiving treatment for coronavirus, four of them in the Borders, with 103 having tested positive and the others awaiting results.

Some 51,499 tests for the illness have been carried out in Scotland so far, with 40,728 returning negative results.

At a briefing in Edinburgh today, Scottish Government first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “A total of 1,727 patients are currently in hospital with either confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That is a decrease of 27 from yesterday.

“A total of 114 people, as of last night, were in intensive care with either confirmed or suspected cases of the virus, and that is a decrease of 12 on yesterday’s figures.

“These are encouraging figures.

“However, I also have to report that in the past 24 hours, 83 deaths have been registered of patients confirmed as having the virus, and that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 1,415.

“Over the course of the pandemic, I can sadly confirm that six members of NHS staff and five members of the social care workforce have died from the virus, and my thoughts, and the thoughts of all of us in the Scottish Government, are with their family and friends.

“It will not necessarily be the case that all of these members of staff contracted Covid-19 through their work.

“However, it is really im nears 280portant for us to understand how many front-line workers lose their lives from this virus.

“It’s also really important that we ensure appropriate investigation into the circumstances and, of course, learn any lessons that we can from those circumstances.

“The numbers that I have read out – for health and care workers, and indeed for all deaths – are not just statistics, and this is a point that is important for me to make every single day.

“Behind every one of these statistics is an individual an individual who was loved and cherished, an individual who is now deeply missed by those that they’ve left behind.

“Once again, I want to send my deepest condolences and thoughts to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus.”