Possible coronavirus case in Levenmouth placed in quarantine

Testing carried out on several individuals throughout Fife

A Levenmouth woman is among a number of Fifers who have been tested for possible coronavirus symptoms.

Public health officials have confirmed they have been carrying out community testing on several individuals across the region. A team is understood to have visited the Levenmouth patient at home yesterday.

Experts at a specially-established coronavirus screening laboratory in Edinburgh were examining nose, throat and deeper respiratory samples taken from her last night.

NHS Fife said it could not comment on individual cases, but The Courier understands the woman had recently stopped off in Singapore on the way back from a family trip to Australia and started showing signs of the infection.

She has been placed in quarantine for the next 14 days as a precaution, pending the outcome of further test.

“All of those tested in Fife so far have been confirmed as negative.

DR ESTHER CURNOCK

Dr Esther Curnock, deputy director of public health at NHS Fife, said: “In recent weeks we have established a community testing team to enable those with mild symptoms meeting criteria to be tested in their own homes.

“Importantly, all of those tested in Fife so far have been confirmed as negative for coronavirus.”

Scotland’s public health minister said there was no need for panic as he visited one of the country’s two testing laboratories yesterday.

Joe Fitzpatrick said: “We are clear that this is a serious threat and we’re preparing for worst-case scenarios but right now the risk in Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, remains low, so there’s no evidence to suggest that people should be walking around Scotland wearing face masks at this time.”

Screening laboratories in Glasgow and Edinburgh have tested 202 possible cases since testing began in Scotland on Monday February 10, with all proving negative.

Combined with the previous tests at the Public Health England facility in Colindale, London, 290 tests from Scotland have been carried out since the outbreak began, with none coming back positive.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 4,916 people have been tested for Covid-19 in the UK, with nine confirmed as positive.

Picture: PA. Public Health Minister Joe Fitzpatrick, centre, Professor Rory Gunson, left, and support technician Douglas Condie in the coronavirus testing laboratory at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.