University virus alert
Male from campus kept in isolation Email sent out to 10,500 students
THOUSANDS of students at a Scots university have been told a man from their campus is undergoing tests for the killer coronavirus.
Bosses at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh sent an email to its 10,500 students yesterday which disclosed that the man concerned is being kept in isolation and undergoing tests as a ‘precautionary measure’.
Ann-Marie Dalton-Pillay, secretary of the university, said: ‘A member of our university community at our Edinburgh campus is in precautionary self-isolation while they await the results of a test for coronavirus.
‘The health and well-being of our students, staff and visitors is of paramount importance and I would like to offer reassurance that nothing has been confirmed at this time.
‘The university remains open as usual and we will notify our students and staff of the outcome of the test once it is known. We are offering support and guidance to everyone in our global Heriot-Watt community and continue to monitor the situation here in Scotland closely with Health Protection Scotland, who are managing the situation.’
Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University sent out an email earlier this week after a person developed flu-like symptoms upon returning from Thailand. As a precaution, they were advised to remain at home for 14 days.
Figures from the Scottish Government yesterday show the number of suspected cases tested has risen steadily.
So far 148 people in Scotland have been tested for the strain of coronavirus known as Covid-19, but none has tested positive. NHS bosses have launched plans to test people at home amid fears of a ‘worst case scenario pandemic’. They are determined to keep possible patients away from hospitals to stop the virus spreading.
Community isolation centres are also being proposed to keep the virus at bay.
All tests from Scotland are now being processed at two laboratories, one in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh. The Government said the new testing facilities, which opened on Monday, mean negative results can be returned more quickly than they were previously, when all samples were sent to London for screening.
NHS Lothian has unveiled plans to test people at home, and other health boards may do the same.
Professor Alison McCallum, NHS Lothian director of public health, said: ‘The planning we are doing is going to be based on pandemic flu because that’s the closest thing we’ve got. In Lothian, since the first possible case was notified on January 22, 65 suspected cases have been tested and to date all of them have been negative.
‘We have been able to set up very rapidly a community testing facility where we have a car and trained staff go out to people to avoid them having to come into healthcare facilities.
‘We are looking at community facilities that would allow people who can’t isolate themselves at home to be cared for outside hospital. There is still a chance containment will work, but we have to plan for the most reasonable worst-case scenario.’
The Scottish Government said: ‘The expectation is that health boards should test wherever possible within 24 hours of presentation to facilitate contact tracing should a test result be positive.’
South of the Border, two GP surgeries closed after patients visited with suspicious symptoms.
The Ritchie Street Health Centre in Islington, north London, posted a message on its website stating it would be closed until today ‘due to the coronavirus’.
The Ferns Medical Practice in Farnham, Surrey, said it was undertaking a deep clean after a patient had come in following a visit to an affected region.