Death toll claimed in Borders by coronavirus up to 31 but no rise in cases overnight for first time in weeks

That latest fatality takes the death toll claimed by the disease in the region to 31.

It’s now been a month since the first five fatalities here attributable to the virus, also known as Covid-19 were announced on Monday, March 30.

That figure 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 last Thursday, April 23; 28 last Friday; 29 on Monday; 30 yesterday; and 31 today, April 30.

They are among 1,475 coronavirus patients killed by the disease in Scotland so far, up 60 from 1,415 overnight, and 26,097 UK-wide, a rise of 765 on the day before.

There has been no increase in cases of coronavirus confirmed in the Borders today, with the total for the region remaining just short of 280.

That’s the first time no daily rise has been reported since Tuesday, March 24.

Some 11,353 cases of the illness have now been diagnosed nationwide, up 319 from 11,034 yesterday.

Across the UK, 165,221 people have tested positive for the illness, up 4,076 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 rose 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 on Tuesday; and 279 yesterday.

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 246, but is still well below the two others, Lanarkshire and Lothian being up to 1,374 and 1,980 respectively.

Altogether, 109 Scots are in intensive care receiving treatment for coronavirus, with 101 having tested positive and the others awaiting results.

Some 54,639 tests for the illness have been carried out in Scotland so far, with 43,286 returning negative results.

Giving an update in Edinburgh today, Scottish Government first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “There have now been 11,353 positive cases confirmed. That is an increase of 319 since yesterday.

“A total of 1,748 patients are currently in hospital with either confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19. That is an increase of 21 from yesterday.

“A total of 109 people last night were in intensive care, again with either confirmed or suspected cases. That is a further decrease of five since yesterday.

“Since March 5, a total of 2,538 patients who had tested positive for the virus and been admitted to hospital as a result have now been able to leave hospital.

“However, on a sadder note, I also have to report that in the last 24 hours, 60 deaths have been registered of patients confirmed through a test as having the virus. That takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 1,475.

“These numbers, as I stress every single day, are not just statistics. They represent people who are right now deeply missed by friends, families and their wider network of loved ones, so once again, I want to send my deepest sympathies and condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus. We are all thinking of you at this time.

“I also want to thank – as I always do – our health and care workers.

“At eight o’clock this evening, I will join with many others in applauding our health and care workers in what I think has become a very precious and very special moment in the week.

“To health and care workers, I hope that this shows you, albeit in a symbolic way, just how grateful everybody across the country is for the extraordinary and very courageous work that all of you are doing.”

Ms Sturgeon also warned that there looks to be no imminent end to the current lockdown, saying: “I have to be straight with you that it may very well be too early, even this time next week, in any meaningful way, to safely lift any of the current restrictions.

“We have worked very hard as a country to bring down the transmission rate of this virus, and we are definitely seeing results from those efforts.

“In fact, we see that fewer people are now in intensive care than two weeks ago, and that figure appears to be reducing now on an ongoing basis, and hospital admissions, although they are fluctuating, as you see today, are also on a slowly reducing curve.

“Overall, we think that transmission in the community of the virus has been reduced very significantly as a result of the lockdown, although of course we know that it remains higher in settings such as care homes.

“The progress we have made is real and it is significant, but it is still very fragile.

“The margins we have for ensuring the virus does not take off again are really, really tight.

“That means we must be very cautious at this stage.

“That’s why it’s so important that everyone sticks with the restrictions.

“In recent weeks, people have been absolutely superb at doing that – and I will never be able to tell you how grateful I am to all of you for that.

“You are the reason that the NHS has not been overwhelmed, as I really feared a few weeks ago that it might be, and by sticking to the guidance, you have undoubtedly saved lives.

“However we are now seeing slight increases in people using our roads. In addition, more people are using concessionary bus travel than a few weeks ago.

“Both of these trends are from low starting points, but they are still sources of some concern.

“Car traffic we’ve observed on major roads is less than a third of its pre-lockdown levels, but it has increased this week by about 5% compared to last week. On some town and city roads, traffic has been 10% higher than in the week before.

“All of it adds up, and the fact remains that if everyone eases off, the virus will quickly take off again and it will have devastating consequences for all of us.

“I know this is a long hau, but, as things stand, our progress against the virus, albeit very real progress, is too fragile for us to let up.”