Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Brazilian variant: Aberdeen flight passengers urged to call contact tracers

Aberdeen International Airport.
Aberdeen International Airport.

Passengers who were on a plane with three travellers later found to have the Brazilian strain of coronavirus have been urged by Jeane Freeman to call contact tracers, after incorrect information was provided.

The health secretary previously said all those on board the BA1312 flight from Heathrow to Aberdeen on January 29 would be called.

However, in response to a question in the Scottish Parliament, she said “as not all the data we’ve received about the passengers is correct, we’re asking anyone who was on that flight who did not provide up to date contact details” to call contact tracers.

She added there is currently “no evidence” of community transmission” but that this is being “closely monitored”.

Ms Freeman told MSPs there is a “connection” between the variant and a “local school”, with testing taking place.

The health secretary said: “Two of the individuals who are from those three cases required a level of hospital treatment.

“All those staff who were in contact with those individuals have been tested, in addition to the regular testing that our NHS staff undergo.”

Testing is also being offered to close contacts where they have experienced symptoms and to those passengers on that Heathrow to Aberdeen flight with testing offered to those experiencing symptoms.

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

‘Not usual practice’

NHS Grampian has stressed that the “overwhelming majority” of people living and working in Grampian will be unaffected by these particular cases.

A spokeswoman for the health board said: “In addition to our usual Test & Protect strategy, which identifies the close contacts of a detected case, we have also been establishing who their close contacts may be.

“This is best described as the contacts of contacts.

“All of these individuals are being followed up by our local Health Protection team and offered testing.

Brazilian variant contact

“Tracing contacts of contacts is not usual practice but is taking place for these cases as an additional precaution.

“We would again stress that the overwhelming majority of people living and working in Grampian will be unaffected by these particular cases.

“However, Covid-19, regardless of variant, spreads in the same way.

“Sticking to the current restrictions and followings FACTS will help limit the spread.”

Manaus

The health secretary said that this new P1 variant of coronavirus, first detected in the Brazilian city of Manaus, was “of concern in terms of both the possibility that it is more contagious than the current dominant Covid-19 strain in Scotland, and how it responds to the current vaccines”.

Her comments came after it emerged on Sunday that there were six cases in the UK of the new strain: three in England and three in Scotland.

Walk-in surge testing at The Mall in Cribbs Causeway, one of two sites in South Gloucestershire, after two cases of the Brazilian variant of coronavirus were identified in South Gloucestershire.

The three Scottish cases were found in asymptomatic passengers, who tested positive while self-isolating.

Ms Freeman said: “Contact tracing has been undertaken, close contacts followed up and offered testing as usual and, as an additional precautionary step, the close contacts of these close contacts have been identified and followed up.”

She added: “This additional step is being taken to ensure that all possible precautions are under way.”