Covid cases linked to people who 'travelled to London'

A “small number” of coronavirus cases in the north-east of Scotland have been linked to people who “travelled to London in recent days”.

NHS Grampian said it expects the “number to rise in the coming days”.

The new cases follow the Scotland vs England match at Wembley Stadium in London last week.

Thousands of Scotland fans flocked down south to watch the Euro 2020 game, which ended 0-0, despite warnings to stay away if they didn’t have a match ticket or a safe place to watch it.

With Trafalgar Square reserved as a fan zone for key workers only, the Tartan Army instead rallied in the likes of Leicester Square and at Hyde Park.

On Thursday it was revealed that five deaths and 2999 coronavirus cases were recorded in Scotland overnight – the second day in a row the case number has hit a record high.

Lothian topped the table with 823 cases, closely followed by 702 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region.

Two hundred of the cases were in the Grampian health board region.

A total of 661 cases have been reported in the area over the last seven days, representing 112.9 cases per 100,000 of the population.

A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said: “In Grampian we are aware of a small number of cases of Covid-19 affecting people who travelled to London in recent days.

“We expect this number to rise in the coming days.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously said the vaccination programme is breaking the link between cases and the number of serious illnesses from Covid-19.

But she cautioned that a rise in cases will still put “huge pressure” on the NHS and “cause suffering and loss”.