Staff members at Perthshire care home test positive for coronavirus.

Three staff members at Perthshire facility are self-isolating – as Tayside family visits resume

Three staff members at a Perthshire care home have been told to self-isolate after testing positive for coronavirus.

The confirmed cases are employees at Parkdale care home in Auchterarder whichwasplacedintoa28-daylockdown after a resident died after contracting Covid-19.

Barrie Thom, 93, was the first fatality linked to the virus in Perth and Kinross since June 9.

Perth and Kinross Council, which runs the Parkdale facility, has tested all staff and residents and is monitoring the situation.

Anyone who tests positive or shows symptoms of the virus will be required to self-isolate.

A spokesperson Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership told The Courier: “No residents have tested positive but three members of staff are self-isolating.

“We would like to reassure residents, their relatives and colleagues that we are taking every possible step to protect them and prevent any further spread of the virus.

“The staff team at Parkdale is working in partnership with NHS Tayside, Public Health Scotland, and Perth and Kinross Council. The situation continues to be monitored together with the NHS Health Protection Team (HPT).

“The multi-agency group has assessed the infection and prevention control plans that are in place in the care home, and they have confidence in the stringent measures we have introduced to control the spread of coronavirus.”

The cases come as families across Tayside were told they could visit loved ones inside care homes for the first time in months after restrictions were lifted by the local health board.

NHS Tayside announced that indoor care home visits will return today across the region in the wake of the Coupar Angus coronavirus outbreak.

The Incident Management Team charged with controlling the 2 Sisters cluster decided to push back the reintroduction of indoor visits on August 23, the eve of the date when restrictions were due to be lifted.

However, with the number of new daily cases at the chicken factory remaining low, health officials confirmed the measure can now be lifted.

The latest figures from Coupar Angus show there are 201 cases connected to the 2 Sisters outbreak including 174 factory workers and 27 community contacts.

Care homes will be able to welcome indoor guests as long as they have had their reopening plans and risk assessments reviewed and signed off by NHS Tayside HPT.

Dr Daniel Chandler, associate director of public health, believes the announcement will be of “great comfort” to families.

He said: “We have been able to make this decision thanks to the exceptional efforts of our contact tracing colleagues both locally and nationally.

“We have been able to map and investigate all new cases of Covid-19 across Tayside, which gives us the confidence to reintroduce indoor visiting at care homes.

“We know this will be a great comfort to many people of Tayside, who can now visit their loved ones indoors.”

The Scottish Government has set out guidance and criteria for care homes to follow and families are advised to contact individual facilities for visiting arrangements.