Outbreak response ‘not over egged’

Expert says concerns are legitimate but cautions against panic and stigma

Concerns about the risks posed by coronavirus are not being over-hyped, the Scottish Government’s national clinical director said after the number of people diagnosed with the disease increased.

With 27 people in Scotland now confirmed as having Covid-19, Professor Jason Leitch warned escalation measures appear “inevitable”.

Responding to the suggestion the outbreak has been overblown, he said “we are not over egging this pudding” but cautioned against “creating a stigma” around those who fall ill.

Prof Leitch spoke as the number of cases diagnosed in Scotland increased by four on Monday’s total.

The latest update shows seven cases in the NHS Lothian area, six in Grampian and three each in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lanarkshire.

Fife, Forth Valley and Shetland all have two cases, while the Ayrshire and Arran area and Tayside have one apiece.

Oil giant Shell said a member of staff at its base in Aberdeen had tested positive for coronavirus and it had advised those working closely with the individual to work from home and contact NHS24.

Across the UK, the number of patients confirmed with the virus reached 382 and a sixth person, in their 80s, has died.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman confirmed all Scottish cases were either linked to overseas travel to affected areas or resulted from someone coming into contact with a person who already had the disease.

Ms Freeman stressed “we have no evidence yet of community transmission” in Scotland, saying the country was still in the “containment phase”.

Prof Leitch said it was legitimate for there to be concerns and the outbreak would last “months, not weeks”.

He said a decision to escalate the response will happen in a UK-wide manner once there is “sustained community spread” rather than a critical number of cases.

The NHS is planning for non-essential operations to be cancelled once the “trigger point” for escalation is reached, he said, in an effort to free up hospital beds to treat those seriously ill.

Asked about people with underlying health conditions who are believed to be most at risk, Prof Leitch said: “People should be behaving sensibly and normally with these health conditions.

“Just now, the advice for these people is to go about their business as usual.

“Don’t panic buy, make sure you’ve got your medicines in place, make sure you’ve got friends and family who can look after you and know where you are.”

On how to treat the coronavirus, Prof Leitch said: “The reason people are sick is pneumonia and therefore you need to give their body time to recover.

“This is not a bacteria, you can’t give them antibiotics and until we get a treatment – which we may never get – we have to support the individual to recover themselves. That means highflow oxygen, it might mean ventilation, which is artificially breathing for them, and then their body will – in many, many people – recover from that.”

He added “the most likely reason in Scotland today for a cough or a cold is a cold, not coronavirus”.