Pub connected to 'number of coronavirus cases' at university

A pub close to Aberdeen University has been linked to a number of positive coronavirus cases among students in the city.

Health management officials say they are aware of Covid-19 infections among those who attended The Bobbin pub on King Street, either on or after September 17.

Aberdeen City Council officers have visited the premises and informed the incident management team that they are satisfied with the measures in place.

The positive tests linked to the pub are among 62 cases overall connected to the university.

A spokesperson for the incident management team said: “A multi-agency investigation is ongoing into 62 cases of Covid-19 identified within the University of Aberdeen student population.

“This figure includes those living in various locations, including university halls of residence, private flats and private halls elsewhere.

“The cases are currently not being treated as a single cluster. 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.”

Meanwhile, NHS Tayside’s public health team said there are now 96 cases positive cases of Covid-19 linked to two student halls in the city.

Seventy-two cases have been confirmed at Parker House – an increase of four from Monday – as well as 24 cases at Abertay University’s Meadowside Halls.

Dr Daniel Chandler, Associate Director of Public Health and chair of the IMT said: “We are continuing to work closely with our colleagues to monitor this ongoing situation and to ensure there is support in place for students should they need it.

“There have been no reports of positive cases experiencing serious illness or complications.

“Contact tracing is continuing and I would encourage all students who develop symptoms to self-isolate and book a test as soon as possible. I would also urge students who test positive to provide us with feedback on their most recent contacts as soon as possible. This information will help our contact tracing efforts to track and limit the spread of the virus.”

Scotland recorded 806 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, which is 11.5% of newly-tested people.

It’s the highest daily total in the pandemic so far, but Nicola Sturgeon stressed some of the test samples are from Friday and Saturday.

Of the 806 new cases, there are 302 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, where a large cluster broke out last week at the University of Glasgow.

There are 180 cases in Lothian, where there is a significant outbreak out of Edinburgh Napier University.