The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Estimated 65,000 Scots could have coronavirus
National total on the rise as Sturgeon tells country to prepare for tough first weekend of Covid-19 lockdown
Health officials have estimated more than 65,000 people in Scotland could now have coronavirus.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood revealed the figure – a rise on Thursday’s estimate of between 40,000 and 50,000 – as the confirmed number of positive Covid-19 cases in the country rose by 165 to 1,059.
It comes as the Scottish Government ramped up its support for mental health services ahead of the country’s first weekend in lockdown.
Another eight people have died after contracting Covid-19, bringing Scotland’s death toll to 33. Seventy-two people are now in intensive care after testing positive for the disease.
At a briefing in St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh, Dr Calderwood said most of the 65,000 people estimated to have contracted the virus in Scotland will either be unaware they have it or have been self-isolating after suffering symptoms.
“There will come a time that I will be able to talk to you about the numbers being infected and that rate slowing, but that time is not yet and that time will not be for some weeks to come,” she said.
“I was quoted yesterday in some of the press as estimating there were somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people in Scotland with coronavirus. While it is dangerous to go day-by-day I want to really emphasise that I would now be estimating that there are more than 65,000 people in Scotland infected.
“The importance there is that only 1,000 have been confirmed. So the vast majority of those people maybe don’t realise they have coronavirus or perhaps have symptoms, and thank you to them for self-isolating and keeping away from other people.”
It comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced fresh mental health support ahead of the country’s first weekend on lockdown.
NHS mental health support lines will soon be manned 24 hours a day after a £3.8 million boost.
At the press conference, Ms Sturgeon said: “I spoke earlier in the week about the importance of looking after mental health during this period as well as our physical health.
“I can confirm today we are putting an additional £3.8m immediately into NHS mental health support services.
“Half a million of that will support the Breathing Space phone line and web service and £2.1m will be for the NHS mental health hub which offers advice on wellbeing and mental health issues to people who have called the NHS 24 service.
“In the coming weeks the hub will be taking on more staff and be available 24 hours a day. A dedicated mental health page has also been added to NHS Inform.”
Talking about the weekend ahead Ms Sturgeon said: “We are about to go into our first weekend since lockdown measures were announced.
“It is vital that all of us stick with this. The most important thing all of us can do is to follow the advice and stay at home wherever possible.”
It comes as Ms Sturgeon said new police powers to enforce social distancing rules during the lockdown officially came into force on Thursday night.
They mean businesses in breach of social distancing rules could be forced to close and people found leaving their homes for anything other than a “reasonable purpose” may be fined or face prosecution.
“I will be able to talk to you about the numbers being infected and that rate slowing, but that time is not yet and that time will not be for some weeks to come