Covid in Scotland: Contact tracers to prioritise ‘high risk’ cases

Contact tracers in slotxo Scotland will prioritise cases where there is a “high risk” of transmission, as soaring Covid rates put pressure on the system.

The Scottish government said calls will only be made to the most urgent cases, while texts will be used “more extensively” for cases deemed low risk.

Determining the priority level of a case will depend on individuals filling out contact tracing forms online.

Health secretary Humza Yousaf said it was a “practical approach”.

It comes after NHS Grampian warned that the increase in cases meant it would not be able to trace the contacts of everyone who tests positive.

The health board said there had been a “dramatic increase” in the workload of its contact tracing teams.

On Thursday, the number of daily cases reported in Scotland surpassed 4,000 for the first time – although that fell to 3,823 on Friday and 3,108 on Saturday.

Saturday’s figure accounted for 9.6% of all the tests analysed. The latest figures recorded a further three deaths of patients who had recently tested positive.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics said that Scotland continued to have the highest Covid rate in the UK last week, with about one in every 150 people thought to have the virus.

This equates to about 35,900 people.