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HEALTH SECRETARY’S VOW ON VIRUS
In Scotland, we have a proven track record of dealing with challenging health issues.
While all tests for coronavirus (COVID-19) have so far come back negative, we are well prepared to deal with positive cases and are part of a UK-wide response on the matter.
As Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood outlined this week, it is highly likely that we will see a positive case soon as coronavirus continues to spread.
We are therefore expecting an outbreak and are working hard to ensure we have plans in place to contain it as best we can.
The NHS and Health Protection Scotland have established plans to respond to anyone who becomes unwell. While we are well-prepared for a significant outbreak in Scotland, there is currently no treatment or vaccine.
This means preventing the spread of any outbreak will be vital and the Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Scotland and Health Protection Scotland to ensure this.
Everyone has a vital role to play in helping contain any outbreak by following the latest health and travel advice and following basic hygiene precautions.
If you have been to an affected area then it is important that you visit the NHS Inform website to see the latest health advice.
The information differs depending on where you have been and whether you have symptoms or not. If you are symptomatic having returned from an affected area then you should call your GP or NHS 24 on 111 – but importantly don’t go to A&E or your GP practice in person.
You can reduce your risk of getting and spreading respiratory infections by avoiding direct hand contact with your eyes, nose and mouth as well as by maintaining good hand hygiene.
Washing hands with soap and water or alcohol hand sanitiser after coughing or sneezing, going to the toilet and before eating and drinking is also important.
Other advice includes avoiding direct contact with people who have a cold or the flu and not using their personal items as well as covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing with tissues and disposing of them.
As the spread of coronavirus grew globally, NHS Scotland and Health Protection Scotland moved quickly to set up testing laboratories in Glasgow and Edinburgh which has increased the speed of test results. Public health legislation in Scotland has also been updated to make coronavirus a notifiable disease, which means that medical practitioners are now required to share patient information with health boards if they have reasonable grounds to suspect a person they are attending to has coronavirus.
Across the country, testing arrangements are also being expanded. This include testing in contained areas at local health centres as well as community testing in the home.
NHS Lothian is the latest health board to introduce drivethrough testing, where patients with mild symptoms drive to a contained area of the hospital for examination.
Other boards are running community testing, which allows people to be tested in their own home.
This involves staff from public health teams attending people’s homes in protective suits.
Today we announced that, as a precautionary step, tests for coronavirus are also being increased to include a sample of people displaying flu-like symptoms who are not known to have travelled to an affected area, to assist in detecting community transmission early in the event of an outbreak in Scotland.
This means that hospitals and GP surgeries will now conduct tests on some patients with coughs, fevers or shortness of breath – regardless of whether they have travelled to a place where the virus is known to be spreading.
Not everyone with flu will be tested but this is a sensible step to take. In Scotland, 41 GP practices will take part in testing patients for flu and submitting samples to be tested for coronavirus.
Clinicians will also introduce testing for the virus for people who are admitted to critical care units with pneumonia.
We will continue to ensure we are as prepared as possible for the likelihood of coronavirus cases in Scotland and will continue to work with health boards, local authorities and other governments across the UK in ensuring plans and preparations are in place to respond.