Argyll and Bute's weekly Covid death total is on the up again, according to the latest government figures.

Statistics from the National Records of Scotland (NRS), published on Wednesday, show that there were five more deaths in Argyll and Bute where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate during the week of November 1-7.

It's the highest number of Covid-related deaths in the area for a single seven-day period since seven deaths were recorded in the week to February 15, and the second highest number for a single week this year.

It means the total number of Covid-related deaths in the area now stands at 40 in 2021, and 126 since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

The NRS data does not disclose how many deaths in the weekly total, if any, happened in Helensburgh and Lomond.

As of November 7, 2021, 11,818 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) was mentioned on the death certificate.

In the week from November 1-7, the country saw 140 deaths registered that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, five more than the previous week's total.

25 deaths were aged under 65, 43 were aged 65-74, and there were 72 deaths in people aged 75 or over. 78 deaths were male and 62 were female.

Glasgow City (23 deaths), East Ayrshire (14) and North Lanarkshire (11) had the highest numbers of deaths at council level.

In total, 25 (out of 32) council areas had at least one death last week.

Of the 14 deaths, 116 were in hospitals, 10 were in care homes, and 14 were at home or in a non-institutional setting.

Pete Whitehouse, director of statistical services at the NRS, said: “The latest figures show that last week there were 140 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is five more deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,288, which is 209, or 19 per cent, more than the five year average.