THE new weekly death figures from the National Records of Scotland are more comprehensive than the daily totals we have been used to so far.
The daily figures from Health Protection Scotland show the number of people who have died in the preceding 24 hours with a laboratory-confirmed case of coronavirus.
These cover patients who tested positive and then died within 28 days.
The new NRS figures are based on death registrations where Covid-19 was recorded as one of potentially many factors on the death certificate.
This includes suspected or probable Covid-19, a lower threshold than the daily lab-confirmed death figures from Health Protection Scotland.
This broader definition of deaths in which Covid-19 is implicated helps explains why the NRS figures are so much higher than previous ones.
Whereas the running daily total was 220 confirmed deaths in Scotland by April 5, the NRS figure is 354, a staggering 61 per cent higher.
However, the NRS figures are based on death registrations during a seven day period, rather than the deaths which actually occurred in that period.
This is because there is a natural lag between a death and its registrations.
In Scotland, most deaths are registered within three days, but the legal limit is eight days.
This means more Covid-19 associated deaths will have occurred than the NRS data is yet showing.
So even though the number dwarfs the previous running total, the true figure will be higher still because of the delay in the death certificates being registered.
A planned move to seven-day registrations should help reduce delays.
The NRS figures cover the three weeks since the first registered death Covid-19 in Scotland: the weeks ending March 22, March 29 and April 5.
Because they are based on death certificates, the weekly NRS figures provide a greater level of information than the stark single figure for daily deaths.
The NRS data shows a gender breakdown in Covid-19 victims and their age bands.
For instance, over 60% of all Covid-19 deaths involved people aged 75 or over.
It also reveals ‘co-morbidities’, other factors such as diabetes or COPD, helping experts understand which patients are most at risk from the virus.
Deaths can also be broken down by Scotland’s 14 regional health boards.
Comparisons with figures elsewhere in the UK are approximate rather than exact.
The nearest UK equivalent for the Scottish daily death figure from HPS is the daily one from the Department of Health.
However, while the Scottish figure includes deaths in all settings, the UK one is based on deaths in hospitals.
The weekly NRS data is best compared with weekly data from the Office of National Statistics, although this covers a period from Saturday to Friday, rather than the Monday to Sunday used in Scotland.
The ONS has only produced one week of figures so far, for the week ending March 27.
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