Public have vital role to play in helping contain any outbreak.

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.

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine 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.”

Background

The positive samples have been sent to Public Health England’s WHO designated Colindale laboratory in London for confirmatory testing.

Advice for travellers who have visited affected areas is available at NHS Inform.

More advice on travel can be found on Fit for Travel and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

NHS Inform Q&A

Up-to-date information on the situation in Scotland is being published by Scottish Government.

Under the terms of International Health Regulations, high consequence infectious diseases like coronavirus (COVID-19) are reportable to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

A coronavirus is a type of virus. Typical symptoms include fever, a cough that may progress to a severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune symptoms, older people, and those with long term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China. This is a rapidly evolving situation which is being monitored carefully.

Specific guidance on handling the coronavirus has been shared with NHS staff.

For patient confidentiality reasons we cannot give out information that would identify any patients.

There have been a total of 1043 negative test results in Scotland since the start of the outbreak.

According to Scottish and UK protocol, all patients presenting with a history and symptoms which may be suggestive of coronavirus will be isolated and appropriate infection prevention and control measures put in place.