WITH the coronavirus rapidly spreading across the world the first Scottish case was confirmed yesterday.
The patient, from Tayside, has been taken to hospital and efforts are being made to track down anyone they may have been in contact with. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has stated Scotland is “well prepared for a significant outbreak” and has stressed “we’re still very firmly in the containment stage of this infection”.
Scotland is the last nation in the UK to have a patient test positive for the virus with the infected count now standing at 36 across the country.
The University of Stirling issued a statement last month saying –
“The University is monitoring the situation and continues to work with the Scottish Government and other relevant agencies. We urge students and staff to monitor the advice being issued by those agencies regarding the coronavirus outbreak. Links to these sources of information are contained within the University-wide communications which have been issued.”
Information is available for all students on the Portal homepage.
Anyone with concerns they may have the virus should self-isolate and call the NHS non-emergency number 111 for further guidance.
The coronavirus strand, given the official name Covid-19, emerged in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, located in Hubei province. The virus has spread rapidly throughout China, Asia and on to North America and Europe with major outbreaks as far afield from the epicenter as Iran and Italy. At the end of January the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
At the time of writing the global death toll sits at over 3000 with a global infected count approaching 90,000.
Journalism Studies undergraduate at the University of Stirling
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