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Latest update: Aberdeen cluster numbers show first signs of slowing down


By David Porter

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The number of daily cases of Covid-19 has dropped for the first time since the outbreak began.

Speaking at her daily breifing, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "I can confirm that an additional 29 positive cases were confirmed yesterday and it takes the total number of cases in Scotland to 19,027.

The First Minister has not ruled out extending the Aberdeen lockdown.
The First Minister has not ruled out extending the Aberdeen lockdown.

"The provisional information I have is that 18 of the 29 cases are in the Grampian health board area.

"It is not yet clear how many are connected to the ongoing outbreak in Aberdeen.

"A total of 267 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed Covid, that is six more than yesterday and three people are in intensive care and that is the same as yesterday.

"I’m also very pleased to say that yet again in the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients who tested positive over the previous 28 days and therefore the number of deaths under that measurement remains 2491.

"Obviously though the total number of deaths still reminds us every single day of the dreadful impact of Covid and my condolences again go to everyone who has suffered loss.

"And as always, I want to thank everyone who is working hard to help our country through this pandemic.

She continued: "I’ve just mentioned that in the last 24 hours, 18 new cases were confirmed in the Grampian Health Board area.

"That means that in the 15 days since July 26, a total of 231 cases in Grampian have been identified.

"We understand that 157 of those are linked in some way to the Aberdeen cluster.

"And a total of 852 contacts have now been identified from those 157 cases.

"Now it’s important to stress that those 852 contacts might not equate exactly to 852 people – there is likely to be some overlap between different cases.

"But that figure helps to give some idea, I think, of the scale of the tracing exercise which is underway in Aberdeen.

"The majority of those contacts have already been traced, and tracing procedures are in place for the others. And that in itself shows how hard and well our Test and Protect teams are working – even in relation to a large and complex cluster.

"In addition, I hope that the measures that we put in place in Aberdeen last week will help to slow and then stop transmission before it becomes widespread within the community.

"And the advice we have put in place about not travelling to or from Aberdeen - unless absolutely essential - should reduce the risk of cases spreading from Aberdeen to other parts of Scotland."

She stressed: "That said we do expect the number of cases and contacts in the Aberdeen cluster to rise further in the days ahead.

"But I want to take the opportunity again to thank all those working hard locally to seek to contain this cluster as quickly and as effectively as possible.

"More generally, the events of the past fortnight have been a reminder of how fragile Scotland’s overall position is and that is the same in countries across the world.

"We have seen and we are still seeing, thankfully, low rates of transmission in most parts of the country.

"But we have also seen in Aberdeen how quickly that can change, it can literally change in an instant.

"And it will change, if we drop our guard.

"So, for that reason, whenever you are out and about, please continue to think about your own actions, not just in Aberdeen but wherever you happen to be in the country.

"Let me remind you that no more than three households should be meeting together indoors at any one time – in each other’s homes, and in places like bars and restaurants.

"It is important to recognize that household limit applies in places like bars and restaurants just as it does in your own home.

"And people from different households should be staying physically distant from each other at all times.

"And again that is something we advise strongly if you are in a bar, just as we do if you are meeting other households in your own house.

"And each of us should be thinking about our recent behaviour.

"Many of us will have dropped our guard that little bit, then now is the time to recognise that and try to rectify it, because the fact is we all still need to be really careful right now.

"And Aberdeen is very hard proof of that fact."

During questions the First Minister pledged that the restrictions won't be kept in place longer than is deemed necessary, but the cluster must be brought under control and that she could not rule out the possibility of having to extend the lockdown for another week when it is reviewed on Wednesday.


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