The number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Scotland has risen to 171.
More than 40 patients in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area are now known to have the condition - with 29 in the Lothians and an additional 20 in Lanarkshire.
READ MORE: Glasgow could become Covid-19 'hub' due to weather pattern
Figures released by the Scottish Government on Monday revealed 4,895 tests had been carried out for the Covid-19 strain of the disease.
Dozens of schools across the country have closed their doors as deep cleans are carried out following reports of the virus.
Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said if all schools were to shut it would need to be for a minimum of three months to “really suppress the spread of the virus in these types of institutions.”
Speaking at a briefing in Edinburgh she said: “The thought that children would not mix together for three months is impossible and we therefore risk having children congregating in other areas together, the virus spreads again so we actually have measures put in which are ineffective in keeping the virus from people.”
READ MORE: Health boards condemn theft of hand sanitiser from hospitals
She added: “Talking about closing schools for two weeks, it’s very very clear from the science that that is not a scientific way to either prevent the spread of this virus or indeed to protect vulnerable people.
“It’s the length of time that is absolutely key.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel