ONE in four deaths from coronavirus in Scotland has occurred in care homes, according to new figures.
As of April 12, 962 deaths have been registered in Scotland where COVID-19 was mentioned in the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) today.
And the data reveals that some 237 are in care homes. Some 1 in 10 deaths occur at home or non-institutional settings.
It comes as the government pledged that care home residents and staff with COVID-19 symptoms will be tested for coronavirus as laboratory capacity increases.
READ MORE: Eleven residents die at care home from suspected coronavirus
Charities had warned that older people are being "airbrushed" out of coronavirus figures in the UK.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was "determined" to ensure everyone who needed a test had access to one.
Labour welcomed the pledge but said the social care sector needed more support.
Age Scotland in response to the new data said older people must receive fair and equal access to medical treatment.
According to NRS's weekly data, from 6th April to 12th April, 608 deaths relating to COVID-19 have been registered, up from 282 deaths in the previous week, 30th March to 5th April.
Almost 70% of all registered deaths involving COVID -19 to date were people aged 75 or over.
The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Board area has the highest coronavirus death rate with 2.7 deaths per 10,000 of population, followed by the Borders area with 2.6 deaths per 10,000 of population.
The highest number of registered deaths involving COVID-19 up to 12th April were of people living in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board area with 193 deaths. To date, there have been no registered deaths involving COVID-19 in the Western Isles.
Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: “All of these deaths are tragic for the families involved. These statistics, when placed alongside the other important evidence being made available by the Scottish Government and Health Protection Scotland (HPS), are valuable to the understanding of the progress and impact of the COVID-19 virus across the country.
“To add context to these statistics, we have updated this week’s publication to include a national breakdown by the location of death, providing additional information on where an individual has died, whether that is in hospital, in a care home, at home or in another location. We have also added information on the trend in deaths by date of death in addition to date of registration.
“We are actively considering how we continue to develop the content of our statistics to ensure they provide the most useful information possible and add value to the understanding of how the virus is spreading throughout Scotland.”
Care providers have been calling for more testing for weeks, with charities saying the virus is "running wild" amid outbreaks at more than 2,000 homes.
Brian Sloan, Age Scotland chief executive, said the latest figures were "devastating" and added: "The fear we have had over the past few weeks about the impact this is having on some of the people most at risk has now sadly become a reality.
“No age group is immune but these grim figures highlight once again the devastating effect that this virus has on the lives of older people.
“Each and every death is a tragic loss to those who knew and loved them. Care homes must be supported with everything they need to prevent and stop the spread of this virus among residents and staff.
“It is more important now than ever that older people know that their lives matter. We must have assurances that care home residents have fair and equal access to medical treatment. Decisions about treatment should be made on a case-by-case basis, through open discussions with doctors, patients, their families and other healthcare professionals and not by broad assumptions. There is never an excuse to use a person’s age as a factor when deciding on medical care or admission to hospital. To do so would be blatant discrimination."
Britain's largest care home operator, HC-One, has said the virus represented about one-third of all deaths at HC-One's care homes over the last three weeks. And MHA, a charity which operates 131 homes, said it had recorded 210 coronavirus-related deaths to date.
Mr Sloan added: “We know care home staff across Scotland are working tirelessly in very difficult circumstances to provide the highest standards of care for their residents. It is imperative that social care and care home staff are not seen as second tier. They are very much frontline workers delivering critical services that keep people alive. They must be given robust protection equipment to keep themselves and their residents safe from infection. They should never be expected to work in an unsafe environment.
“We also urgently need more widespread testing to be made available for everyone who needs it, whether they work in a hospital, care home or community setting.
“Unfortunately we expect more older residents of care homes in Scotland will die in the coming days, weeks and months as a result of coronavirus. Care homes are close knit communities where staff and residents love and care for one another, never more so than now when family members cannot visit their loves ones. Older residents and their carers deserve our full support as they navigate this difficult path ahead.”
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