New virus alert after cluster linked to a Scots pharmacy
Warning ahead of latest step in easing lockdown
A COVID cluster linked to a pharmacy has been identified amid fears of a rising weekly death rate in Scotland.
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday revealed there had been 22 new cases – 14 of them in Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
She warned of a possible cluster after eight of the new cases were linked to a number of businesses in the area, including a pharmacy.
Medics said contact tracing is under way and an incident management team has been set up to work with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), the Scottish Government, Health Protection Scotland and local teams.
The First Minister will today update the country on the next steps out of lockdown, but she has warned there will be no ‘significant’ easing of restrictions.
It is expected Miss Sturgeon will say that schools are set to reopen from August 11 and the shielding programme will be paused.
There will also be indicative dates for the reopening of businesses such as indoor gyms.
It comes amid growing concern over Scotland’s economic future, with companies in some sectors expressing frustration that they have not yet been able to welcome back customers. Businessman Duncan Bannatyne has said he could be forced to permanently close gyms in Scotland.
Last night, NHSGGC said: ‘A cluster of eight positive Covid-19 cases has been identified in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area and a thorough investigation is under way.
‘Contact tracing of individuals has identified a number of businesses, including a pharmacy in Inverclyde, as being linked to the cases.’
According to the board ‘none of the cases are experiencing anything but mild symptoms’.
A spokesman added: ‘Close contacts are being advised to self-isolate and other identified contacts are being followed up and given appropriate advice.
‘To respect and maintain patient confidentiality no further details will be released at this time.’
Last night, Stuart McMillan, Nationalist MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, said the cluster was located in Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire.
He tweeted: ‘News has broken that there has been a cluster of Covid-19 cases in Port Glasgow.
‘I have spoken to the Scottish Government and the health board, and their track and trace investigation team are working on this as we speak.’
Miss Sturgeon yesterday confirmed there had been 22 new cases across Scotland in 24 hours with no further deaths for the 13th day in a row.
An incident management team meeting took place yesterday, and Miss Sturgeon said ‘all new positive cases are thoroughly investigated for any links and contacts will be traced’.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) released a new ‘dashboard’ which allows Scots to access data indicating if they are living in a Covid hotspot.
The latest data shows that council areas Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire and Glasgow had the highest rates.
Referring to today’s update on the route map out of lockdown, Miss Sturgeon said the Scottish Government is ‘very likely to adopt a very cautious approach’.
She said: ‘We have made very significant changes over the past three weeks, including the resumption of indoor hospitality and tourism, and it is still too early to be completely assured about the impact – or hopefully the absence of impact – of these.’
Miss Sturgeon added that the Scottish Government plans to make ‘major changes’ – which have been previously announced – over the next three weeks.
While the First Minister admitted that there may appear to be some ‘anomalies’ in what is allowed and what is still not permitted under lockdown restrictions, she stressed there were ‘rational explanations’.
But she said it is also necessary to consider the cumulative impact of all the changes that are made and ‘that we have to be sensible about the order in which we make changes so that we don’t create a situation where we are doing too much too quickly and therefore giving the virus the chance to overwhelm us’. The
‘Cases are thoroughly investigated’
First Minister said certain parts of the economy and some people could be ‘disappointed’ if the changes they want to be made do not happen in today’s review.
But Miss Sturgeon said that she will announce, as far as possible, indicative dates in the future when other restrictions could be lifted, although this would be ‘conditional on continued suppression of the virus’.
Meanwhile, a Scottish Government report shows that in the past week more than 16million items of personal protective equipment have been distributed across Scotland.
‘In total, since March 1, more than 362million items have been distributed,’ the First Minister said, adding this shows the scale of the work being done to keep health and care workers safe.