An investigation has been launched following an outbreak of coronavirus at an Aberdeen hospital.
A total of 26 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been detected and linked to Ward 109 at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
The figure includes both staff and patients, and it is understood to involve more than 10 members of staff.
Following the discovery, NHS Grampian closed the ward, with no new patients being admitted and no visiting allowed.
Patients already in the ward are able to remain there and will continue to be treated as normal.
A spokesman for NHS Grampian said: “Following 26 detected cases of Covid-19 associated with Ward 109 at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the ward has been closed to new admissions and visiting.
“An Incident Management Team has been set up to investigate these cases.
“Care is being provided to patients on the ward as normal.”
Aberdeen Central MSP Kevin Stewart said: “My thoughts are with the patients and families affected by this outbreak at this deeply worrying time.
“NHS Grampian and all the staff at ARI have clear procedures and rigorous protocols in place to be followed in such circumstances and I trust these will be duly followed.
“NHS staff work on the frontline of this pandemic day in and day out and we cannot thank them enough – let’s hope this outbreak is brought under control quickly and everyone affected makes a speedy recovery.”
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North East Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald said: “As long as this virus is out there in communities, staff and patients in hospitals are at risk. I know NHS Grampian will work to isolate all those who have been infected in this outbreak as soon as possible. The Scottish Government now needs to introduce routine weekly testing of all health and care staff, whether or not they show symptoms. That is the only way to protect our NHS in the longer term.”
Yesterday it emerged that 1,115 more people across Scotland had received positive results on Sunday.
Three more deaths have been recorded across the country, but the actual figure is likely to be higher as register offices are generally closed at weekends.
The total number of Covid-19 related deaths in Scotland now stands at 3,039.
The latest figures take the number of positive cases in Scotland since the outbreak began to 73,443 with the new cases representing 7.3% of newly tested individuals.
A total of 1,245 people are in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19 and 111 of those are receiving treatment in intensive care.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 1,040,552 people in Scotland have been tested. Of these people, 967,109 were confirmed negative.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon brought in a new five-tier system to help bring down numbers last week.
Restrictions are set to be reviewed by the Scottish Government on a weekly basis.
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