Scottish laboratories can now carry out tests on samples from suspect cases

TESTING for the coronavirus is to be carried out in Scotland now after new facilities were set up to carry out the work.

Up until now, all samples taken from people suspected of having the disease north of the Border have had to be sent to England for testing.

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said having the new facilities in Glasgow and Edinburgh would greatly reduce the time it takes for results.

But while laboratories at Glasgow and Edinburgh’s Royal infirmaries will carry out the work, if someone does test positive for the disease a confirmatory test will be carried out at Public Health England’s laboratory in Colindale, London.

Under the terms of International Health Regulations, high consequence infectious diseases such as novel coronavirus are reportable to the World Health Organisation.

Ms Calderwood said while there have not been any confirmed cases of the virus in Scotland, there is a “high likelihood” a patient will test positive for the disease at some point.

So far four people in the UK have been confirmed as having contracted the disease, while a British man in Majorca has also tested positive.

Meanwhile, 41 people have been tested in Scotland, with all checks for the disease so far negative. this visceral opening solo embodies the everyday experiences of young black British men he spoke to when researching Born To Manifest for his company, Just Us Dance Theatre.

When he turns towards us, as if to fight back, he is still constantly floored by stresses that undermine his attempts to stand tall.

A second dancer, Dani Harris Walters, enters and – although Toonga seems to reject all offers of assistance – there is a coming together of both men in a duet where Walters’ supportive

Welcoming the new testing facilities, Ms Calderwood said: “Since the beginning of this global outbreak we have been working hard to develop a testing facility within Scotland.

“I am pleased we will now have two Scottish facilities, greatly reducing the time it takes to confirm negative results.”

“Although all Scottish tests have so far been negative, we are prepared for the high likelihood actions allow Toonga to walk away, with dignity. And then, as it were, history repeats itself. Walters is soon flinching and beleaguered, trying to walk along a narrow beam of light as if it were a tightrope to mental and physical safety.

These are harsh images, and the fierce physicality of Toonga’s mix of movement styles – martial arts, hip-hop, contemporary – judder with brutality. But there is a striking, defiant provocation when both men mimic the gestures and vocalisings of apes – confronting racist stereotypes by connecting with emblematic African roots.

If pride in culture and identity is explored by Toonga and Walters in Born To Manifest, those themes are also to the fore in the short, sharp curtain-raiser performed by local young people who brought their own experiences of exclusion, aggro and vulnerability to Toonga’s workshops.

A manifestly rewarding performance all round. we will also see a positive case in Scotland.

“Our NHS is well equipped to deal with infections of this kind.

“We have a proven track record of dealing with challenging health issues and have been preparing for this possibility since the beginning of the outbreak.”

In China, where the outbreak began, the death toll from the virus has risen to more than 800.