COVID19: the story behind the data

Today, we are publishing the first of a series of weekly reports intended to provide a narrative around the statistics and data that are routinely published on COVID19 – including the daily reports from Scottish Government and the weekly information from the National Registrar of Scotland.

The report this week considers some of the demographic characteristics (age, sex and deprivation) of people affected by the virus. It also looks at some of the wider impact of the virus on the healthcare system, for example the number of contacts with NHS 24 and hospital admissions, comparing recent trends in activity with historic norms.

Scott Heald, Head of Profession for Statistics at Public Health Scotland said:

“On the 1st of March 2020, the first person in Scotland tested positive for COVID-19. On the 17th of March NHSScotland was placed in Emergency measures by the Cabinet Secretary. Schools have been closed since the 20th of March and the country has been in lockdown since the 23rd of March. All of these measures have had a significant impact on our lives and our health and care services. Since the start of the COVID19 outbreak, Public Health Scotland (PHS) has been working closely with the Scottish Government and Health and Care colleagues to survey and monitor this impact.

“By publishing these weekly reports, we hope to add to the overall understanding of how the virus is affecting us, and to tell the story behind the daily updates so that we can continue to take action to protect the population and save lives, based on the best available evidence we have.”

For more information on our response to COVID19, visit our COVID19 webpages.

View the COVID19 Statistical Report