SCOTLAND’S Covid-19 death rate has fallen faster than England’s since the end of May, dropping to a third of that south of the Border.

According to analysis from The Herald, using figures from the UK and Scottish governments, for most of May Scotland and England recorded roughly the same death rate per day – moving from about seven per million population to four per million by the end of the month.

However since the end of May the trajectory has split, with Scotland falling to fewer than one coronavirus death per day for every million people, while England is around three per million.

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Since the UK began to leave lockdown, Scotland has moved at a slower pace – people spent longer staying at home, schools have stayed closed and non-essential shops have had to wait a few weeks longer than those in England to throw open their doors.

The First Minister has said these slow and cautious measures would be rewarded in the fight against Covid-19.

She told MSPs yesterday: “The prize for going more slowly now is a recovery that is much more sustainable and one that will, I hope, allow more normality to return to our daily lives.”

There is no single reason for the trajectory split at the end of May – though it overlaps with the Dominic Cummings row, which some public health experts warned could risk eroding the public’s co-operation in England.

The Prime Minister defended his top adviser after it emerged he had driven from London to Durham while sick with Covid-19 at the height of lockdown.