Latest walk through Covid- 19 testing centre opens in Aberdeen
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As Scotland recorded 465 new cases of Covid-19 which equated to 7.9 per cent of newly tested individuals, focus has turned to Universities across the country as cases continue to rise.
In the NHS Greater Glasgow area 219 new cases were confirmed with the large majority focused on the University of Glasgow.
NHS Grampian recorded 19 cases in the last 24 hours, many of which were also confirmed as being related to student accommodation.
A spokesperson for the incident management team at NHS Grampian said: “A multi-agency investigation is ongoing into 16 cases of Covid-19 identified within the University of Aberdeen student population.
“The cases are currently not being treated as a single cluster.
"Investigations are at an early stage and efforts are being made to identify any linkages between them.
“There is currently no evidence of spread to the wider community and, working with the university, various control measures have been implemented in an effort to curb the risk of any further transmission.”
Just days ago Police were called to the same site at Aberdeen University to deal with lockdown breaches.
In a statement an Aberdeen University spokesman said: "We can confirm that a number of students have tested positive for Covid-19.
"We are working closely with NHS Grampian’s Health Protection Team and will be offering help and support to those required to self-isolate as a result.
"Those who have been identified as close contacts of the confirmed cases will have been contacted by Test and Protect last night or today and will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.
"Due to the anticipated large number of students at our Wavell House halls of residence, that potentially have had close contact with all the cases, and the rapidly changing nature of this situation, the Health Protection Team has advised that all residents in Wavell House are required to self-isolate with immediate effect for 14 days unless advised otherwise.
"All those affected are being supported by the accommodation team to ensure they have access to food and other supplies.
"Affected areas of Wavell House are also being given a deep clean.
"Assistance will be provided to affected students to support the need for them to study online while self-isolating.
"We appreciate this will be an anxious time for many but the safety of our staff, student and wider community are paramount.
"At the same time, it is vital that we all work together to comply with the guidelines to help keep our community safe and mitigate the risk of new cases."
It has come as no coincidence then that the latest walk through testing centre has been opened in the vicinity of the Old Aberdeen campus at the Roy Strathdee building off King Street.
The former Officer Training Corps building sits next to Seaton Park and is within 10 minutes walk of Hillhead Halls where Wavell House is located.
On the opening Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Containing and suppressing Covid-19 relies on testing being accessible to everyone.
"This walk through testing centre in Aberdeen builds on the sites already in place in St Andrews and Glasgow and will further increase testing capacity ahead of potential spikes as we move into winter.
“Sites like this one can be operational in a matter of days, and we are working at pace with the UK Government, NHS National Services Scotland and local authorities to roll out more across the country so that more people have access to local testing."
The walk through centre is only for those who are showing symptoms and have already booked a test online.
UK Government minister for Scotland, David Duguid, said: “The UK Government is committed to helping all parts of the UK fight coronavirus and providing people in Scotland with testing facilities.
"This new walk-through centre in Aberdeen city centre, funded by the UK Government, will play a key part in tackling the virus in the north-east of Scotland, and joins our existing drive-through facility at Aberdeen Airport.
“Testing will play a vital part over the coming months, helping to manage local outbreaks and protect livelihoods.
"This walk-through centre will help people in Aberdeen get tested quickly."
