More virus cases linked to local clusters in Scotland

A number of new coronavirus cases linked to local outbreaks around Scotland have been confirmed.

Infections linked to the cluster from of a 2 Sisters food processing plant in Coupar Angus, Perthshire, have risen by 11 in the last 24 hours.

It takes cases associated with the cluster up to 177, with 157 workers and 20 of their close contacts testing positive for Covid-19.

All of the 11 new cases are workers, Nicola Sturgeon said at Friday’s Scottish Government coronavirus briefing.

All staff at the factory and their households have been ordered to self-isolate until August 31, and the First Minister said there remains evidence of wider community transmission as a result of the cluster.

She also confirmed four new cases linked to an emerging local outbreak in Hawick, in the Borders.

It takes total infections from the cluster up to 11, which emerged from three businesses in the town: Morrisons, the Trinity Bar and Baguette & Go.

And there are two new cases linked to the cluster at Kingspark School in Dundee, taking the total to 36, comprising 22 staff, 11 contacts and three pupils.

No new infections have been connected to the Aberdeen pubs cluster which led to a three-week local lockdown that began winding down this week.

Sturgeon said the situation in the north-east city was now “under control”.

She said 51 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Scotland overall on Friday, which is 0.6% of newly-tested Scots.

Ten of those are in the Tayside area, dealing with the 2 Sisters and Kingspark clusters, while 14 are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde but just two are in the Grampian region.

A total of 255 people are in hospital around the country with Covid, two fewer than Thursday.

Of those, three patients are being treated in intensive care, one more than the day before.

No deaths among confirmed coronavirus patients have been reported in the last 24 hours, meaning total deaths so far this week remain at two.

The latest figures come as the First Minister announced the opening of the first of 22 planned walk-through coronavirus testing centres across Scotland.

The facility, at Victory Memorial Hall in St Andrews, Fife, opens its doors from Friday.

Six walk-in sites will be created before the end of September mainly in areas with large student populations, Sturgeon said, ahead of the new semesters getting under way at universities and colleges.

A further five will open in October, with a total of 22 planned for the winter months when a surge in demand for testing is anticipated.

The First Minister said: “Today’s opening is a first stage but an important first stage in developing walk through centres and making testing more accessible for people in different parts of the country.”

Bookings are recommended for the walk-through centres which can be done through the NHS Inform website.