Coronavirus Scotland: Scottish primary school forced to shut after visitor told to self-isolate

A Scottish primary school was forced to shut after a person who had been in the building was told to self-isolate by the NHS.

Merkland Primary School in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, was forced to shut this morning amid the coronavirus spread in Scotland.

Staff at the school say they made the decision to close it for the day as a “precaution”, reports the Daily Record.

The school, which supports young people with additional needs, is currently undergoing a deep clean and is due to reopen tomorrow.

Merkland Primary School forced to shut this morning after visitor told to self-isolate by the NHS amid coronavirus fears

Ann Davie, depute chief executive for education at East Dunbartonshire council, said: “The Council took the decision this morning to close Merkland School as a precautionary measure having learned that someone who had been in the premises had been contacted by the NHS and advised to self-isolate in relation to coronavirus (COVID-19) as a result of their contacts.

"Whilst closure was not a health advice requirement given the low risk nature of the contact, given the potential vulnerabilities of some in this school community, the precautionary decision was taken to close the school today to enable a deep clean to be carried out.

"That deep clean is being completed, and in line with current health advice, the school will be open as normal tomorrow.”

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Scotland as of today (Wednesday 11) stands at 36 and a total of 2,316 people have now been tested for the virus.

The Scottish Government confirmed the figures this afternoon.

Two Edinburgh doctors have tested positive for the virus after returning from Italy.

A third consultant at Murrayfield’s private Spire facility was also tested but returned a negative result.

All three travelled together for a skiing holiday.

The pair are the first confirmed cases of medics in the UK contracting the potentially deadly COVID-19 virus.

The coronavirus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

The announcement comes after more than 100,000 cases have been confirmed world wide.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of World Health Organization said the number of cases outside China had increased 13-fold over the past two weeks.

He said he was "deeply concerned" by "alarming levels of inaction" over the virus.