STURGEON: Three-month high in cases is a concern
A THREE-MONTH high in coronavirus cases in Scotland is “undoubtedly a concern”, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister said she feels “a greater sense of anxiety today” than at any time “probably for the last couple of months”.
In the last 24 hours, 160 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded, the highest since May 16.
It brings the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 20,478.
The majority of new cases are in the central belt, with 69 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area and 27 in Lanarkshire.
Speaking during the daily coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh yesterday, Sturgeon said: “The number of cases we are seeing right now is a reminder to all of us the virus is still a very real risk, it is a development that concerns me and it is one we are taking very seriously.
“We mustn’t lose sight of how important it is if we are to keep schools open, build economic recovery and retain a bit more normality in our lives that we do continue to suppress the virus and push as close to elimination of it as we possibly can.”
Sturgeon added not all of the new cases were linked to larger outbreaks, saying the rise of cases in Greater Glasgow and Clyde “seems to reflect a number of small clusters, rather than one or two more significant outbreaks”.
She added that an incident management team was looking at a cluster of 22 cases in Ayrshire and Arran, many of which she said “seem to be linked to indoor gatherings that took place the previous weekend”.
Elsewhere, a cluster of Covid-19 cases is being investigated by NHS Forth Valley – with five positive cases reported in the region.
Contact tracing has identified five businesses with links to those who have tested positive.
Four of the linked sites are in Dunblane – Tesco, the Village Inn, GS Meldrum Newsagents and Dunblane Tennis Club – while the McDonald’s branch in Stirling’s Drip Road has also been pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Public Health Protection Unit was last night carrying out contact tracing at a Scots firm after an outbreak of coronavirus.
The “small staff cluster” was identified at McKesson UK on Polmadie Road, Glasgow. Both Lloyds Pharmacy and AAH Pharmaceuticals form part of pharmaceutical wholesaler McKesson UK.
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde said there is no risk to the wider community as a result of this cluster directly or through the handling of medicines within the business.