Covid in Scotland: Shetland outbreak continues to grow

Another 14 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in Shetland the past 24 hours - bringing the total number in the current outbreak to 72.

NHS Shetland said many testing positive were asymptomatic, raising concern they may have unknowingly spread the virus.

The health board said many infections happened before Christmas when the islands were in level one.

Shetland is currently in level three but officials have warned a move to level four is possible.

NHS Shetland's consultant in public health Susan Laidlaw urged anyone with a new cough to get tested, even if they do not have other Covid symptoms.

She said: "We are hearing people say that they have had a new cough but didn't get a test because they didn't think it was a 'Covid' cough.

"Any new continuous cough should be a prompt to get a test, along with a high temperature or loss/change in taste or smell."

She said she hoped that people had stayed at home for New Year which should have an impact on the infection rate.

"We are still fighting back a wave of infections," she added.

"The simplest guidance at the moment is to stay at home with your own household as far as possible and avoid meeting others as much as you can. If you do come into contact with others then remember FACTS."

The health board said the majority of the infections occurred before and during the Christmas weekend, with a lot of the cases within families and extended families.

Several hundred people on the islands have been asked to isolate.

Dr Laidlaw said that those who are isolating because they are positive, or a contact of someone who is positive, would often receive an automatically generated text messages telling them how long to they should self-isolate.

If people had have had numerous contacts, they might get multiple messages with different dates, in which case they should always go by the latest date, she said.

All of mainland Scotland and Skye moved into the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions on Boxing Day, with Shetland and other island communities place in level three.

The confirmed cases have spread from the north mainland of Shetland to Lerwick, with the situation described as by far the most serious outbreak in Shetland since March.

Indoor visits at all of Shetland's care homes have been suspended.