First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reveals 58 more people have died from Covid-19 in Scotland in last 24 hours

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has revealed that a further 58 people have died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 1,120.

Ms Sturgeon also said during her daily briefing that a return to normal life is “not on the cards in the near future,” and that social distancing and limited contact with others will be a “fact of life for a long time,” until treatment or a vaccine becomes available, “possibly for the rest of this year and maybe beyond.”

She said gatherings in pubs and at public events were likely to be banned and restricted for some time, and that pupils might not be able to attend school at the same time due to social distancing.

Nicola Sturgeon gives her daily briefing.

NRS figures

Data released on Wednesday by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) revealed that, as of April 19th, there have been 1,616 deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

For context, the NRS data shows the total number of deaths registered in Scotland from April 13th-19th was 1,911 – nearly 80 per cent higher than the average number of deaths registered in the same week over the last five years (1,067). Of these 844 excess deaths, three quarters were deaths where covid-19 was the underlying cause of death.

And the latest NRS report says that a third of all registered deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in care homes, with 56 per cent in hospitals and 10 per cent at home or other settings.

The NRS report is published weekly on Wednesdays and contains figures up to the latest Sunday. The statistics cover any deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate.

During today’s announcement, Ms Sturgeon also said Scottish Government daily figures showed 28 less people are now in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 in Scotland, with seven less people in intensive care.