Expert: ‘Hope for best, prepare for the worst’

Preparations for Scottish outbreak accelerate as specialist urges people to ‘keep our fingers crossed’

Nicola Sturgeon chaired a Scottish Government resilience meeting yesterday, as preparations for a coronavirus outbreak in Scotland accelerate.

Councils, health authorities and travel operators in Tayside and Fife said they all had plans in place to deal with the virus and were working with national agencies to ensure they were ready to act if any cases are confirmed.

The first minister led the meeting to discuss preparedness in Scotland, following outbreaks in northern Italy and elsewhere.

Health Minister Jeane Freeman was among those in attendance and said those present are “expecting an outbreak and are working hard to ensure we have plans in place to contain it as best we can”.

Her comments came after Scotland’s chief medical officer said people could be banned from gathering in large numbers to contain the spread of the virus, known as Covid-19, if it hits Scotland.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 412 people had been tested for the virus in Scotland, and all returned negative results.

Across the UK, 13 people have been confirmed to have the virus from 6,795 patients tested.

Ms Freeman said: “Though the risk to individuals remains low, and all test results have come back negative so far, the chief medical officer has advised that it is highly likely we will see a positive case in Scotland as coronavirus continues to spread.

“We are 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 an established plan to respond to anyone who becomes unwell.”

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “We have well-rehearsed procedures in place to deal with the coronavirus, with these having been developed to deal with any such communicable virus.

“We are actively working with colleagues nationally and the Scottish Government to ensure we are well prepared to address any suspected cases which may present within the region.”

Fife Council’s emergency resiliency manager said the local authority was following NHS Fife and Health Protection Scotland advice.

Perth and Kinross Council said it had similar resilience procedures.

Train operator ScotRail said it was regularly “updating its people with the latest public health guidelines”.

A Stagecoach spokesperson said: “As a matter of course, we have a rigorous cleaning regime in place for our buses, coaches and trams, and we have issued reminders to our teams about hygiene good practice.

“We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and have contingency arrangements in place to manage a range of issues which have the potential to affect our operations.”

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood said the government and NHS were working on “containment first” and then – if coronavirus was discovered in this country – a range of measures to try to limit the number of people infected.

“If we do have a cluster, as has happened in Italy, then we move into delaying the spread,” she said.

In Italy, Serie A football matches are being played behind closed doors, church services in the affected regions have been cancelled and Milan’s famous opera house, La Scala, has temporarily shut.

China’s outbreak could hit its peak by the end of February, Dr Calderwood suggested, but a European outbreak could last “several months”.

Professor Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, said it was too early to say whether an outbreak in Scotland might force the mass closure of public places like cinemas, churches and football stadiums.

He said: “The problem with this coronavirus is we don’t have a vaccine, we don’t have antivirals. We may get them – we can’t bank on it – we don’t know how long it’s going to take to develop a vaccine, we don’t know how good it’s going to be, and if we do develop one it might be quite expensive as well which is another issue.

“At the moment let’s hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed – but prepare for the worst.”