Sixth COVID case linked to Orkney vessel

NHS Orkney has confirmed, this afternoon, Friday, that one new positive COVID-19 case has been linked to an Orkney fishing vessel, bringing the number of positive cases in this cluster to six.

This is a further update in addition to figures released by the Scottish Government at 2pm, meaning that a total of 15 test-confirmed cases have been registered in Orkney, since the pandemic began.

Yesterday afternoon, the government announced that three new cases had been registered in Orkney, with a further two being confirmed, yesterday evening by NHS Orkney and this afternoon by the Scottish Government. It is expected that this sixth case, linked to the fishing boat, will be registered in Scottish Government figures at 2pm tomorrow.

The Incident Management Team (IMT) met again this afternoon to discuss progress so far and contact tracing across NHS Highland, NHS Grampian and NHS Orkney remains ongoing.

NHS Orkney is continuing to work with Scottish Government, Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and local environmental health teams to provide advice and support to all those affected.

NHS Orkney director of public health, Louise Wilson said: “We ask the Orkney community to continue following the physical distancing guidelines.

“Anyone who develops symptoms should self-isolate and contact NHS Orkney for a test.

“This is no time to be complacent but we can prevent the risk of the virus spreading further if we all follow the FACTS guidance.”

NHS Orkney has a direct phone line for people with symptoms to book a COVID test.

Call 01856 888 211 between 9.30am and 5.30pm.