Coronavirus spreads to Forth Valley as first case is confirmed

Chief Medical Officer for Scotland Dr Catherine Calderwood has confirmed a further three patients in Scotland have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to six.

The patients are currently clinically well and are receiving appropriate clinical care.

The patients are from the Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow & Clyde and Grampian areas. All three new cases are contacts of known cases.

Dr Calderwood said: “With all these cases, our thoughts are with those diagnosed and their families. Scotland is well equipped to deal with this kind of infection and we are doing everything we can to contain the virus at this stage and minimise the risk to the public.

“Clinicians are now conducting contact tracing, the process of gathering details of the places those who have tested positive visited and the people they have been in contact with.

“Close contact involves either face-to-face contact or spending more than 15 minutes within two metres of an infected person. The risk is very low in situations where someone may have passed a patient on the street or in a shop.

“Health protection teams will contact those who are at risk from the current cases – those who are not contacted are not at risk. We can all play our part to limit the spread of the virus by washing our hands frequently for 20 seconds as well as always carrying tissues and using them to catch coughs and sneezes, then putting the tissue in a bin, and don’t touch your face.”

The annuncement comes after Falkirk Council had a coronavirus scare of its own at one of its offices.

The local authority confirmed this week an employee at The Forum, in Callendar Business Park, had been sent home from work after returning from a holiday abroad displaying “cold like symptoms”.

There had been reports the premises had been “deep cleaned”, but a council spokesman stated this was not the case.

He added the employee had been asked to stay at home in line with current national NHS guidance.

Circumstances have now changed following today’s update, but yesterday NHS Forth Valley could not confirm if any patients from the area had contracted coronavirus and directed The Falkirk Herald to the Scottish Government, which stated at that time two further patients in Scotland tested positive for the coronavirus, or COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to three as of Wednesday, March 4.

Those patients – one comes from Grampian and the other stays in Ayrshire – are now receiving appropriate clinical care.

Falkirk Council is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, employer in the area and for now it states it is still following national guidelines to the letter when it comes to the coronavirus.

Details on the council website tell residents what to do if they believe they may have the coronavirus – call their GP or NHS24 on 111 – and how they can best avoid contracting the virus – washing hands frequently.

At the moment anyone displaying symptoms of a suspected case of coronavirus will be placed on sick leave, where normal absence management procedures apply, until symptoms resolve.

If you test positive for the coronavirus you should follow the advice of your GP regarding returning to work.

Visit www.falkirk.gov.uk or www.nhsinform.scot for more information.