Coronavirus deaths fall in weekly update

Confirmed or suspected coronavirus deaths in Scotland fell last week, according to the latest figures.

Data from National Records of Scotland shows that in the week to December 18, there were 38 deaths involving Covid-19 – three fewer than the previous week.

It means that as of Sunday, there have been 16,252 deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

It comes after the latest Public Health Scotland figures showed that in the week ending December 18, there were on average 872 patients in hospital with Covid-19.

This was a 18.6% increase from the previous week ending December 11 when the figure was 735.

In the week to December 18, there were 13 new admissions to intensive care with a laboratory confirmed test of Covid-19, four up on the previous week.