Borders Covid deaths remain at a standstill

Just short of five weeks have now gone by without any new cases of coronavirus being confirmed in the region.

There’s been no increase in the number of positive test results in the Borders since Wednesday, June 17, and it remains at 345.

It’s also now been over a month since the death toll here claimed by coronavirus went up by more than a single case at a time, the last such occasion being a rise of three to 71 on Sunday, June 14.

The 74 fatalities for the region cited in figures issued by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) yesterday, taking into account all deaths linked to coronavirus and not just among those previously tested and found to be infected, are among 4193 nationwide measured by those criteria.

There were six new Covid-19 linked deaths recorded in Scotland last week according to new NRS figures - the lowest weekly fatalities for 12 weeks.

At her daily coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh yesterday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the weekly total of deaths was “the lowest we have seen since we started to record them”.

She said: “Today’s report shows once again that Covid-19 has been driven, as of now, to very low levels in Scotland.

“But the figures also remind us that more than 4000 people have lost their lives to this virus, and we must always remember that each of those deaths was of a unique and irreplaceable individual.”

It’s now four and a half months since Scotland’s first official diagnosis of the disease was announced on Sunday, March 1, after spreading across the world from Wuhan in China, with the first two cases in the Borders following on Wednesday, March 11.

Ms Sturgeon also warned that an outbreak in North Lanarkshire was “a clear reminder that Covid has not gone away”, and that “it does not take much for a small number of cases to become a much bigger number”, adding: “While public health teams are working incredibly hard to contain outbreaks, it is not just their job - each and every one of us has a part to play in keeping this virus at bay.”

Deaths linked to Covid-19 accounted for less than one per cent of deaths recorded by NRS last week, down from a peak of 36% in late April.

However the total number of deaths registered has risen back above the five-year average, by 32 “excess” deaths, after weeks of below-average figures.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed that next review of lockdown restrictions in Scotland will be made next week.