Coronavirus: Two more Scotland cases confirmed as UK total hits 90
Two more cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Scotland, bringing the UK total to 90.
Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman announced the news this morning, telling BBC SCotland that cases in in the Grampian area and Ayrshire were confirmed last night.
One of the patients had recently travelled to Covid-19 hotspot Italy, while the other has had contact with a known positive case.
The first case of Covid-19 in Scotland was recorded in Tayside earlier this week.
It has now been confirmed that the man works for the Food Standards Scotland and also tested positive after travelling from Italy.
The number of cases in the UK has now hit 90, after yesterday saw 36 new cases confirmed.
Speaking to the Health and Social Care Committee this morning, chief medical officer Chris Whitty said that “containing [the virus] looks pretty optimistic now”.
However, he also said that confirmed cases will continue to rise through “community transition”.
He said: “There are now several – not large numbers – but several cases where we cannot see where this has come from in terms of a clear transmission, either because someone has come directly from overseas or because they’ve had a close contact with someone who has recently returned from overseas.
“That I think makes it highly likely therefore that there is some level of community transmission of this virus in the UK now.
“It is here at very low levels at this point in time, but that should be the working assumption on which we go forward.”
Whitty added that the UK was no longer looking to contain the outbreak, but instead was in the “delay phase”.