Families of workers at a factory hit with Covid-19 have been told to stay at home and self-isolate until the end of the month.

Health bosses issued an urgent update to restrictions in place at the 2 Sisters plant in Coupar Angus on Thursday evening.

All 900 staff at the plant were told to enter quarantine after an outbreak of the virus earlier this week.

As of 2pm on Thursday, August 20, 43 people connected to the factory have tested positive for the virus - 37 of whom are workers.

The cases have mild symptoms and none has required medical care.

READ MORE: Coupar Angus food processing plant closed after coronavirus cluster

During her latest coronavirus update at Holyrood, Nicola Sturgeon said the cluster is “reflected in the fact that 27 of today’s 77 cases are in the Tayside area”.

She described the 43 cases identified so far as “a significant cluster”.

Dr Emma Fletcher, Associate Director of Public Health for NHS Tayside, said, “This is a critical change to our advice this evening.  We are putting in place this extra measure to help prevent further spread of the infection in the community.

“It’s also really important that everyone in the Tayside area is extra vigilant in following the FACTS guidance, in particular the over 70s, and those who were shielding or in high-risk groups.

“A large proportion of the workforce has already come forward for testing which is excellent but we would strongly encourage all workers who have not yet been tested to take up this offer, even if they don’t have any symptoms. 

“We continue to work closely with the factory and Local Authority colleagues to ensure that all workers have the right information and support to access testing.”