Covid in Scotland: Vigilance plea over Jedburgh outbreak
- Published
People with symptoms have been urged to book a test
A health board has urged the public to remain "vigilant" after a Covid-19 outbreak was reported in a Borders town.
NHS Borders said it was currently dealing with 17 cases around Jedburgh.
It said they were associated with family groups and home care services provided by SB Cares.
The health board said that while infections in the region remained low compared with other areas people should keep watching out for symptoms.
It added that not all of the confirmed cases were resident in the town and that its test and protect team was working to trace any contacts.
Public health director Tim Patterson said anyone developing symptoms should self-isolate immediately and book a test.
Cases have been reported around Jedburgh
"Whilst you wait for your test all of your household members must self-isolate," he said.
"This is really important to prevent potential spread of this highly contagious virus."
Jen Holland, chief operating officer with SB Cares, said it had contingency plans in place to ensure service provision in Jedburgh could be safely maintained.
Prof Jason Leitch, Scotland's national clinical director, said he was aware of the outbreak when a question was raised about it during First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's daily briefing.
He said it illustrated the difference in types of incident there could be across the country.
"If we get local public health test and protect working well, we will manage that kind of outbreak," he said.
"Although people may get sick - and it is still horrid to get the virus - that is very different from community transmission across a large area of Scotland where you can't manage it as individual outbreaks.
"The Jedburgh outbreak is presently controlled and the incident management team will meet again today to see if there is anything else they need to do or anything else they need from us."
