Rise in infection rates in pupils is ‘inevitable’

A RISE in the number of pupils contracting Covid-19 is inevitable, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The first minister spoke about the clusters of the virus across the country, including those affecting schools, at the virus briefing in Edinburgh yesterday.

She stressed the importance of keeping schools open as the harm to children losing out on an education are “considerable”.

“But we will inevitably I think see more cases which involve school pupils in the weeks and months ahead,” she said. “In those cases, contact tracers will identify if other students or staff at schools need to isolate and will let them and their parents know.”

She also stressed current cases are community clusters with impact on schools rather than school-based clusters.

She said: “Though I don’t want to alarm anybody, I do want people to take notice – in fact I need people to take notice. These clusters show us that the virus continues to pose a serious risk.”

She also spoke of the “complex and potentially significant” coronavirus cluster linked to the 2 Sisters food processing plant in Coupar Angus, warning it is likely to lead to a surge of new cases in the coming days and weeks.

The latest Covid-19 figures showed 19,407 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up 49 from the day before. This includes clusters in Aberdeen, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire and Tayside.

Addressing the clusters, the first minister said 220 confirmed cases in the NHS Grampian area are linked to the outbreak in Aberdeen pubs, up from 207 on Monday.