PEOPLE who are not positive for Covid-19 could be told to isolate from their families before test results are issued as a precaution, Scotland’s national clinical director has warned.
The Scottish Government has issued its framework for a test, trace, isolate policy that it intends to roll out when it is safe to ease lockdown measures.
As well as increasing capacity to be able to deliver up to 15,500 tests per day in order for mass testing to take place, the framework stresses that results will need to “be provided as rapidly as possible" for the isolation element to be effective.
People could be provided with isolation accommodation by the Scottish Government to reduce the risk of them spreading the virus to other members of their household.
Nicola Sturgeon announced this afternoon that testing capacity in Scotland has increased by more than 2,000 and combined with the Lighthouse Laboratories set up by the UK Government, the total capacity has now risen to more than 10,000 per day.
READ MORE: Coronavirus in Scotland: Covid victims could be quarantined 'away from household'
The First Minister also said she expected the Scottish capacity to rise to 12,000 by next Friday.
Currently, when home test kits are used, “a Royal Mail courier will arrive the day after to collect it and take it to the lab” with an aim that “results will then be received via text within 48 hours.”
Ms Sturgeon said she was holding a “detailed session with expert advisers” this afternoon on the issue.
She added: “The quicker the test result, the quicker the rest of the system kicks in. That is one of many things that we are working through in detail right now to make sure that we have got a workable, effective, robust test, trace, isolate system in place.”
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Professor raises 'big problem' with Nicola Sturgeon's test, trace, isolate strategy
Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland’s national clinical director, said that “if you have symptoms, we won’t wait for the test – we will begin the tracing process”.
He added: “We will be ready when that positive test comes back, so actually you might be isolated and then be told the test result on x was actually negative – so we’re very sorry you had to isolate for 24 hours, but now you can go back out.
“Each element will run in parallel. Of course, the quicker the test, the quicker we will be able to be definitive about those who are isolating.”
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