FIFE recorded one of the highest coronavirus-related death rates in Scotland last week.

A total of four people passed away in the Kingdom with COVID-19 mentioned on their death certificates between September 12 and 18.

This was the joint second highest figure in the country, with Perth and Kinross documenting the same number, while West Lothian registered five.

According to the National Records of Scotland (NRS), there were 40 coronavirus-related deaths across all council areas last week, the same as in the previous week.

Of these, 30 were aged 75 or older, four were aged 65 to 74, and six were under 65.

Out of the 15 women and 25 men who lost their lives, 31 were in hospitals, six were in care homes, and three were at home or a non-institutional setting.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: "People living in the most deprived areas were 2.4 times as likely to die with COVID-19 as those in the least deprived areas.

"The size of this gap slowly widened over the period of the pandemic but has narrowed since January 2022, when the gap was 2.5.

"The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,127, which is 65, or 6 per cent, more than the five year average."

The age-standardised rate of COVID-related deaths was lower in August 2022 (45 per 100,000) compared to July 2022 (79 per 100,000), at the peak of the pandemic this rate was 585 per 100,000.

Of the 15,632 deaths involving COVID-19 between March 2020 and August 2022, 93 per cent (14,593) had at least one pre-existing condition, with the most common being dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.