Edinburgh has recorded more Covid-19 deaths as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the city.
The latest statistics from Public Health Scotland as of February 4 show that there were 26 Covid-19 deaths recorded in the month of January.
The death toll dipped in the month of November but in the last two months the PHS data tables show another spike.
The PHS numbers also show that Edinburgh remains the area in Scotland with the most amount of new infections of the coronavirus.
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There were 546 new cases recorded in the capital city, 100 more than second place Glasgow, and 2902 infections were returned across the week.
This means Edinburgh has an infection rate of 550 per 100,000 residents, above the national average of 440.
Roughly the same amount of deaths have been recorded in Edinburgh every month, since July of 2021, but it should be noted this is a significant drop from one year ago, before the vaccine was introduced.
Before the vaccination programme, Edinburgh was recording over 100 deaths per month in January and February 2021.
By March of that year the number of fatalities had trickled down to under 20 in the month, and in April and May there were only a handful.
But, with the onset of the Delta variant in the summer the number of deaths spiked up to around 20 to 30 per month.
In November the PHS statistics, as of December 6, showed that Edinburgh had returned 16 deaths with coronavirus on the death certificate, a small dip on previous months.
But infections have shot above 20 again in the past two months.
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon announced this week that a sub-variant of Omicron has been found in circulation in Scotland.
The BA.2 variant, which is also known as Stealth Omicron, was discovered through additional studies into Covid-19 tests in Scots labs.
The First Minister said that it is a ‘variant under investigation’ but continued by saying at this stage there is so far ‘no cause for any alarm.’
In recent weeks Ms Sturgeon has been gradually reducing the Covid-19 measures introduced before Christmas to halt the spread of the Omicron variant, and is next due to speak to Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, February 8.
