Coronavirus: Skye care home deaths rise to seven

Home Farm in Portree has been at the centre of a major outbreak

A seventh resident has died at a care home at the centre of a significant Covid-19 outbreak on Skye.

Thirty of the home's 34 residents and 29 staff have tested positive for the infection at Home Farm in Portree.

The outbreak, when it was detected at the end of April, was the first time the virus had been confirmed on Skye.

The care home's owners HC-One said earlier this week it did not know the source of the infection and has insisted it took precautions.

An Army-run mobile testing unit was set up on Skye following the outbreak.

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HC-One, which operates 56 homes in Scotland, has said it is "doing everything" it can to keep residents and staff safe.

On Tuesday it said the "likelihood" was that Covid-19 had been present in the local community.

The company was responding to concerns the infection arrived with workers brought in from outside the island.

A spokesman said: "We don't know the source of the outbreak. I don't think that is something that can be known since the virus can be entirely symptomless in some people.

"We know who tested positive first, but that's not really an indication that they are the source, merely that they took the test first."

Retesting this week saw the numbers of residents and staff with Covid-19 rise each by one, HC One said.