Fife records 21 new Covid-19 cases in last 24 hours

There were 21 new cases confirmed in Fife overnight.

Saturday’s Scottish Government figures show the total number of positive cases recorded in the health board region since the outbreak began is now 1091.

The latest data was released the day after the principal of the University of St Andrews asked students to do a voluntary lockdown this weekend.

It also comes after two primary schools and two nurseries in the region confirmed positive cases this week, with children in some classes being asked to self-isolate as a precaution.

Earlier this week NHS Fife also confirmed cases linked to the Royal Mail's delivery office in Dunfermline and Amazon’s Fulfilment Centre in the town.

Primary one pupils at Glenrothes school to self-isolate

According to the daily figures, there have been 49 cases confirmed in Fife in the last seven days.

NHS Fife is asking members of the public to help stop the spread of the virus locally, and this weekend the health bosses are reminding people to play their part by following the guidelines.

A statement on its website said: “Our Test and Protect programme is working really hard to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in Fife.

"The potential for community transmission of the virus remains and we want your help to prevent it.

“Gatherings involving multiple households, particularly those held indoors, create the biggest opportunity for the virus to spread.

“Please avoid get togethers with more than two households and groups of more than six people.

"That will help us avoid further transmission, it will reduce the number of cases and mean fewer people having to isolate.

“We all need to take this seriously so this means we all need to practice good hand hygiene, sticking with the guidance around physical distancing, avoiding crowded places and where distancing is more difficult, and where you are asked to do so, please wear a face covering.

“Help us reduce the spread of Covid-19 in Fife.”

The Scotland wide picture has seen an increase in 350 cases of Covid-19 since Friday, and three people who had tested positive for the virus have died.

The total number of people in Scotland to have been tested since the start of the outbreak is now 718,954 – 24,126 of them returned a positive result, while 694,828 were negative.