Reevel Alderson
BBC Scotland Home Affairs correspondent

No new jury trials are to start in Scottish courts as part of measures to avoid the further spread of coronavirus. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) said jury trials which have already started will run to their conclusion where that is practicable.

The restriction will be in place until further notice. It is not known at this stage whether the government is to legislate to alter the current legal time bars which mean criminal trials have to begin within a fixed timescale.

Under the rules, an accused person can only be held in custody for 140 days without trial. If that is exceeded without a court order the accused must be freed.

Dr Andrew Buist points out the core GP service must be maintained, explaining yesterday he saw within one hour a pregnant lady with a problem, made a home visit to a man dying from prostate cancer and he saw a teenager threatening suicide.

He says the public need to be understanding of what GPs are doing and be patient.

One GP practice in Dundee, which normally takes 200 calls in a day, yesterday took 800 which is unsustainable, says Dr Buist who warns "we will fall over if that continues".

Prof Leitch agrees and says the core health service must carry on.

The science requires the virus to be in fluid, to transport in some form to the next person and for that person to take it in, explains Prof Leitch.

So if he had the virus he would have to cough or spit in some form at Kaye directly or onto a surface that the presenter then touched and put in her nose, eyes or mouth to pass it on, he says.

"You need to be 2 metres apart for that to be almost impossible."

At 2m his saliva will not reach Kaye, at 1m it's pretty difficult, if closer than 1m it is likely.

"So keeping that level of social distancing will be helpful."

It is not spread in the air and is not just hanging about, you can't get it walking in a corridor, he points out, it is droplet spread.

Clean your shiny surfaces and door handles and wash your hands for 20 seconds so those droplets will not be there.

Kaye asks about fabric, as sleeves are being used to open doors, to which Prof Leitch explains the virus does not last as long on fabric as solid surfaces.

Most schools across Scotland remain open and the official advice is for pupils and staff to attend if they are symptom-free.

However, families and whole households have been urged to self-isolate for 14 days if one member has a new persistent cough or fever leading to lower school attendance levels on Tuesday morning.

One secondary pupil told BBC Scotland there were only seven children, out of a usual 30, in his class.

Maureen McKenna, the executive director of education at Glasgow City Council, told BBC Scotland this morning that attendances were low.

A spokeswoman for the council later said that there were no official figures for school attendance but "anecdotally" they were thought to be down about 50% or 60%.

She said it was "totally understandable" for parents to keep their children off school if they were worried about their health or spreading symptoms to others.

No other local authorities have put on a figure on school attendance.

Several major entertainment venues in Aberdeen have closed due to coronavirus measures.

Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) said His Majesty's Theatre, the Music Hall and Lemon Tree were shut with immediate effect until further notice.

Pub and restaurant operator PB Devco also announced it had closed several venues.

They include Soul, the College, the Queen Vic, the Howff, and the Bieldside Inn.

APA said it was an "incredibly complex and fast-moving situation" and the decision had been taken with a "heavy heart".

Schools and leisure facilities are closing in parts of the Highlands and Islands.

In Inverness, Charleston Academy will be closed to S1-3 pupils from Wednesday until further notice and Smithton Primary was shut on Tuesday due to multiple staff absences.

All sport and leisure facilities, libraries and museums in the Western Isles will be closed indefinitely from 17:00 on Tuesday and all school lets cancelled until further notice.

Image source, Google

A GP has tested positive for Covid-19 after a patient with the virus visited Crookston Medical Centre in Glasgow.

The patient did not have direct contact with the doctor, but developed symptoms after a likely unrelated exposure.

The doctor tested positively for the virus on Saturday.

Crookston Medical Centre has since restricted its services to mainly telephone triage, telephone consultations, video consultations and email consultations while the surgery is cleaned.

The surgery has attempted to contact all patients who have into contact with the affected doctor.

However it has not been possible to contact everyone due to telephone contact numbers not being up to date.

The surgery has reminded patients that updating contact information is vital.

A statement from the medical centre says: "It is highly likely that the virus is much more prevalent in our country than would appear to be the case from the official figures and hence the reason that we need to continue to be vigilant and wherever possible self-isolate if we develop symptoms of new onset cough, fever, muscle pains and breathing difficulties."

Dr Andrew Buist, who leads Scotland's GPs as the chair of the BMA's Scottish GP Committee (SPGC) joins on the line.

He says: "We're holding up in general practice, yeah it's a busy time, we're all on a learning curve."

Dr Buist says general practice looks radically different from last week:

• all routine appointments have been cancelled
• if a patient wants to be assessed, it's a telephone call first
• patients will be managed without being seen if at all possible
• of course some patients do need to be seen
• any patients with coronavirus symptoms are identified and seen in a separate area

A 42-year-old asthmatic who needs oral steroids when he gets ill asks if he should self-isolate for 12 weeks.

If they qualify for the flu vaccine they should self isolate, but if not cutt back social contact as much as possible replies Prof Leitch.

Self-isolation is for the symptomatic and those with very, very high level disease, he points out.

Should a wedding go ahead at the end of March? No, replies Prof Leitch.

Image source, .

Here are the guidelines he outlined earlier:

1. Those with symptoms - a new persistent cough or a fever - Your whole household has to stay at home for 14 days. If you live alone it is seven days. If somebody in the household gets it, the seven days must happen for them too.
2. The "very" high risk people - people having chemotherapy etc - they will be contacted directly by the NHS.
3. The over-70s, pregnant women, and people who get the flu vaccine - Be very serious about social contact. Do not go to work, do not travel on public transport.
4. Everybody else - Limit social contact as much as you can. You can still work but we are asking as many as possible work from home. Don't use public transport unless you have to. Don't meet in big groups or socially in small groups in pubs, restaurants etc. "The virus seems to give us more danger in the smaller groups," Prof Leitch says. "That does not mean you cannot visit your mum and dad," he says. "You can as long as you are symptom free".

Prof Leitch reiterates measures are being taken to reduce the risk to those who are vulnerable.

He also emphasises if anyone can work from home they should do so and everyone should limit their social contact as much as they can.

"I know that's not fun and I'm not enjoying it either."

It's about common sense, he stresses and points out people can absolutely go for a walk if they are over 70, like his parents for example.

Pivoting to teenagers he points out they must cut back on social contact too, says Scotland's National Clinical Director, and he praises the Young Scot Tips on How to Deal With the Coronavirus Outbreak, external.

Giancarlo Rinaldi
South Scotland reporter, BBC news website

A decision has been taken to cancel all formal Scottish Borders Council meetings with immediate effect.

The local authority has contacted all community councils, recommending they do not hold meetings until further notice too.

Image source, DSRL

In the Highlands, Inverness’ Smithton Primary School has closed on Tuesday because of multiple staff absences. The school said there were no known or suspected case of Covid-19 and hopes to reopen later in the week.

Scotland’s mobile cinema, the Screen Machine, has suspended screenings until it is “safe and appropriate” to resume touring.

Dounreay nuclear power site near Thurso has asked anyone who suspects they have the virus, or are over 70 years old, or pregnant or have concerns about underlying health conditions not to attend the site. Homeworking has been encouraged for employees who can do so.

And the Royal Navy has said planning for major military exercise Joint Warrior, which largely takes place around Scotland and due to start next week, was “ongoing”.

The navy could not confirm at this stage nations and units taking part. A spokeswoman said: “We are monitoring the situation with coronavirus carefully and will take health advice into consideration during planning."

Prof Leitch insists we are now at a different point of the curve and everyone in the world is learning.

Yesterday the SAGE group, "the room of clever people if you want to call it that", said, particularly in London, we are at the tip of quite a rapid acceleration.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) provides scientific and technical advice to support government decision makers during emergencies.

Scotland is behind that by days or weeks, but we want to move as whole country and the UK must act together, Scotland's National Clinical Director explains.

The data shows we are about to hit a period of rapid acceleration which is why the actions were announced yesterday, he adds, saying we always new more radical steps were going to be taken to protect the vulnerable.

"What will happen, with these interventions, instead of having the peak and instead of intensive care being overwhelmed, we will reduce the vulnerable group who are the ones who get sick remember. We will reduce that to below the capacity of the NHS so the health service will manage."

Prof Leitch says he is still confident about this strategy and that what is being done is the best for the country, but adds you can't seek certainty.

Prof Leitch tells Kaye these guidelines will be in place for weeks and months.

Scotland's National Clinical Director says there is not a test for those who have had the virus and recovered, but it will be a complete game changer when we get it - probably in months.

This will be made available first to the critical workforce, for example healthcare workers and nuclear power workers, he explains.

Prof Leitch goes on to explains there are changes to the way the NHS works, doubling intensive care capacity and stopping elective procedures from next week.

He also points to increased provision of protective kit for NHS staff and adds there is a lot of things in place at the moment.

Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland's National Clinical Director, summarised what the latest guidelines are. He said they had got more complicated.

Scotland's National Clinical Director said there were fundamentally four groups of people and different advice for each:

1. Those with symptoms - a new persistent cough or a fever - Your whole household has to stay at home for 14 days. If you live alone it is seven days. If somebody in the household gets it, the seven days must happen for them too.
2. The "very" high risk people - people having chemotherapy etc - they will be contacted directly by the NHS.
3. The over-70s, pregnant women, and people who get the flu vaccine - Be very serious about social contact. Do not go to work, do not travel on public transport.
4. Everybody else - Limit social contact as much as you can. You can still work but we are asking as many as possible work from home. Don't use public transport unless you have to. Don't meet in big groups or socially in small groups in pubs, restaurants etc. "The virus seems to give us more danger in the smaller groups," Prof Leitch says. "That does not mean you cannot visit your mum and dad," he says. "You can as long as you are symptom free".

The Health and Sport Committee, external is taking evidence on the Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) (Scotland) Bill which will extend self-referral rape examinations across Scotland.

Among those giving evidence will be Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood, Rape Crisis Scotland and Victim Support Scotland.

We will continue bringing you coverage of the latest on the coronavirus outbreak in Scotland.

Read the committee papers here., external

Anne-Marie Watson
Travel reporter

Main trunk routes like the M8 Glasgow –Edinburgh corridor have seen some traffic, but nothing like the usual rush hour congestion.

Regular listeners to BBC Radio Scotland and drivers were calling to report more or less clear running traffic as they made their way to work heading east.

The M74 from Lanarkshire towards Glasgow city centre at 9am was practically empty, although an accident on the nearby A725 East Kilbride expressway did cause some delays in the area.

The view across the Queensferry Crossing at 8am showed a spectacularly lovely sunny morning – but with very few vehicles using the route.

The speed sensors have started to pick up a few minute delays after the time you would think the morning commute was largely over, perhaps in a sign that people are staggering journeys.

Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland's National Clinical Director, told BBC Scotland's Kaye Adams programme he was not anxious.

"I'm concerned but I've been concerned for weeks," he said.