SCOTLAND was suffering from record unemployment numbers and huge spikes in home deaths on the same day of a Downing Street "bring your own booze" party in the height of a national lockdown.
The Prime Minister apologised for attending the garden of No 10 during the first lockdown as he battled to save his premiership.
Mr Johnson acknowledged the public “rage” over the incident but insisted he thought it could have been technically within the rules.
He told MPs that he attended the May 20 2020 gathering for around 25 minutes to “thank groups of staff”.
“I believed implicitly that this was a work event,” he said.
It comes after an email, leaked to ITV News, revealed a Downing Street aide invited over 100 staff members for drinks.
During that time, The Herald front page read "A nation on the brink" as Scots struggled with the mounting toll of the pandemic.
On the day of the most recent alleged party, Scotland was in its 58th day of lockdown and confirmed its 14,655th Covid case.
A further 29 deaths were recorded, bringing the official toll to 2,134.
The day before, a report showed that Scotland suffered the biggest jump in unemployment of any of the UK nations at the start of the coronavirus lockdown.
The number of people out of work in Scotland rose by around 16,000 to 113,000 and Universal Credit showed a 69.1% jump in jobless claims between March and April to 2.1m, we reported.
READ MORE: Johnson set for PMQs showdown as he faces scrutiny over Downing Street party
While people couldn’t see loved ones at the time due to restrictions imposed by the UK Government, figures also showed a huge spike in the number of people dying in their own homes.
On that day, nearly 200 people a week more than normal were reported to have been dying in their own homes in Scotland since the Covid outbreak began.
An analysis of National Records of Scotland data by the Herald exclusively revealed there had been 3,881 deaths at homes - or 485 per week - between March 16 and May 10.
It was 67 per cent higher than the five-year average of 2,327 for the same eight-week period.
Not all of the deaths were linked to Covid, with 237 of 1,554 ‘excess’ deaths having the virus on the death certificate.
However, other deaths included dementia, heart disease, strokes, and cancer, during a time when Scotland’s hospitals were on the brink of being overwhelmed.
The Herald also reported on its front page that day, that domestic abuse case had soared by 50 per cent as a full nation was confined to their homes.
And nearly half of Scotland’s population confessed to have suffered from mental health issues over the first lockdown.
Scotland's Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline, Scottish Women’s Aid said calls had doubled since the same time in 2019 - and had risen by around 50 per cent since pre-lockdown.
The Herald’s Business briefing also covered a story on May 20, 2020, which stated that Scottish Tourism was ‘on the risk of collapse’.
During this day, Downing Street allegedly had more than legal number of people in the back garden, with the official investigation yet to be concluded.
However, the email released by ITV now shows that it was the intention to do so.
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