New figures reveal almost half of Covid-19 related deaths in Lothian were in care homes.
The statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) also showed that in West Lothian there have been 34 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate as of April 19.
Nationally, there have been 1616 deaths in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
Between April 13 and April 19, 651 deaths relating to Covid-19 have been registered, up from 610 deaths in the previous week, April 6 to April 12.
Almost three quarters of all these registered deaths involving Covid-19 were people aged 75 or over. Of all the deaths, 55 per cent were male and 45 per cent were female.
In West Lothian of the 34 deaths, five occurred at care homes, six at home and 23 were in hospital.
The figures for Lothian show that there has been a total of 256 deaths, 114 at nursing homes, 114 in hospitals and 28 at home.
This means that 44.5 per cent of Covid-19 related deaths in Lothian have been in nursing homes.
Nationally only 34 per cent of all registered deaths occurred in such care homes. Fifty-six per cent of registered deaths were in hospitals and 10 per cent were at home.
MSP Angela Constance said: “To continue to care for our senior citizens we need more care staff and there are measures now in place to recruit students, retirees and returners to social care.
“Testing for staff and care home residents is being expanded and it’s good news that the new testing site in Livingston will include social care staff. Care home access to NHS Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has increased but ongoing vigilance will be required to ensure the right supplies get to the right place at the right time.
“Any concerns about access to PPE can be forwarded to Covid-19-health-PPE@gov.scot - there is a team of 20 people monitoring emails seven days a week.”
MSP Neil Findlay said: “I am really concerned for the staff and residents of our care homes.
“It is my view that there has been an abject failure from day one by the government to follow the World Health Organisation advice to test, trace and isolate every suspected case in the community as has been done successfully in other countries. It is also appalling that patients leaving hospital are going into a care home setting without having been tested and staff working in this environment are not being supported by regular testing to ensure they have not contracted the disease. I want to be clear – I know the fantastic work our NHS and care home staff are doing but they need to right equipment and a proper testing regime to keep them and their patients safe.”
MSP Miles Briggs said: “It is extremely concerning that almost half of all Covid-19 deaths in Lothian have been in care homes.”
