SPECIALIST facilities have been set up in Edinburgh and Glasgow so that testing for coronavirus can now be carried out in Scotland.
All samples taken from people suspected of having the disease so far have had to be sent south of the Border for testing.
Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, said having the new testing facilities, at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, would greatly reduce the time it takes for results.
However, if someone does test positive for the infection, a confirmatory probe will be carried out at Public Health England’s Colindale laboratory in London.
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Calderwood said while there have not been any confirmed cases of the virus in Scotland after 41 people were tested, there is a “high likelihood” that a patient will test positive in the future.
Four people in the UK have been confirmed as having contracted the disease, while a British man in Majorca has also tested positive.
Calderwood said: “Ever since the beginning of this global outbreak we have been working hard to develop a testing facility within Scotland. I am pleased that we will now have two Scottish facilities, greatly reducing the time it takes to confirm negative results.”
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She added: “Although all Scottish tests have so far been negative, we are prepared for the high likelihood that we will also see a positive case in Scotland.
“Our NHS is well equipped to deal with infections of this kind. We have a proven track record of dealing with challenging health issues, and have been preparing for this possibility since the beginning of the outbreak.”
In China, where the outbreak began, the death toll rose by 89 yesterday to 811, but fewer new cases were reported.
A total of 2656 new virus cases were reported in the 24 hours ending at midnight on Saturday, most of them in the central province of Hubei, where the first patients fell sick in
December.
That was down by about 20% from the 3399 new cases reported in the previous 24-hour period.
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“That means the joint control mechanism of different regions and the strict prevention and control measures have worked,” a spokesman for the National Health Commission, Mi Feng, said at a news conference.
But new cases have been reported in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Spain. More than 360 diagnoses have been confirmed outside mainland China.
Meanwhile, another plane carrying British citizens evacuated from Wuhan landed in Oxfordshire. The flight, with more than 200 people on board, including some foreign nationals, arrived at RAF Brize Norton shortly before 7.30am yesterday.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was the second and final flight to be chartered by the Government and had British Government staff and military medics on board.
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