Aberdeen virus lockdown could be extended as cases rise

Aberdeen’s lockdown might be extended for another week as the number of cases continues to rise, the First Minister said.

Pubs, cafes and restaurants in the city have been closed since last Wednesday.

There have been 231 confirmed instances of the virus in the Grampian area since the start of the local outbreak on July 26.

A total of 157 have been linked to the Aberdeen cluster, while 852 contacts have been identified during tracing.

In the last 24 hours, a further 18 cases have emerged, although it is not yet known how many are connected to the ongoing outbreak, which led to an initial seven-day local lockdown.

However, NHS Grampian said none of the cases linked to the cluster had required hospital treatment.

Nicola Sturgeon said restrictions would not be kept in place longer than necessary.

But she added: “Having done it, we need to make sure we do it long enough to get the cluster and the outbreak under control, and so I can’t rule out and won’t rule out the possibility that we may have to extend for a further seven days.”

Sturgeon said she expected the number of cases in Aberdeen to keep rising over the coming days.

She said: “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 in the community.

“And the advice we put in place about not travelling to and from Aberdeen, unless absolutely essential, should reduce the risk of cases spreading from Aberdeen to other parts of Scotland.

“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 effectively as possible.”