Coronavirus / Shetland the only health board with no new cases
NHS Shetland is urging the public to follow the latest Covid-19 guidelines and continue to be vigilant despite the low number of confirmed cases in the isles.
On Friday, Shetland was the sole health board area in Scotland where no new cases were confirmed during the last 24 hours.
Since early March there have been a total of 63 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Shetland.
During her daily briefing first minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed almost 1,200 new Covid-19 cases; 16.9 per cent of those tested.
There are 629 people in hospital, and nine more deaths have been recorded.
The first minister reiterated that as of today (Friday) people are required to wear face coverings in a workplace canteen when queueing, entering or leaving.
The wearing of face coverings in other indoor communal workplaces such as corridors and social spaces will become mandatory as of Monday.
Speaking ahead of the first minister’s daily update NHS Shetland’s professor for public health Shantini Paranjothy said that due to the low number of cases in the isles it was almost inevitable that a degree of complacency was creeping in.
“There is always that when you are in a situation like that for a while,” she said. “I think there definitely is some complacency, but we have to be very mindful that the situation is quite serious across Scotland.”
She said that good infection control practices such as thorough and regular hand washing and maintaining distances “particularly at workplaces where it can be quite challenging to do all of that” were key in preventing the spread of the virus.
She added: “It is the October holiday, so there is movement and travel. So it is about reminding people that we have to continue to be vigilant and continue following the guidance.”
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