More than 50 people in Scotland have been tested for coronavirus, latest figures reveal.
The statistics published by the Scottish Government on Monday afternoon show 57 people in Scotland have been tested and all returned negative results.
The number of people tested in Scotland has risen by 16 since Sunday.
READ MORE: New powers will allow Government to forcibly quarantine coronavirus victims
Labs at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh have been set up to test patients in Scotland for the virus.
Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said while there have been no confirmed cases north of the border so far, there is a “high likelihood” that a patient will test positive for the disease in future.
In a statement on its website, the Scottish Government said: “The Scottish Government’s approach is guided by the Chief Medical Officer and we continue to monitor the situation closely and to work with the World Health Organisation and international community.”
The latest update comes as a further four patients in the UK tested positive for the virus, taking the total number of UK confirmed cases to eight.
The latest four UK patients found to have coronavirus are all understood to be contacts of a businessman diagnosed in Brighton last week after contracting the virus at a conference in Singapore.
READ MORE: Warning issued as bird flu case confirmed in Scotland
Across the UK, a total of 1,114 people have now been tested for the potentially fatal condition, which the UK Government declared on Monday as a “serious and imminent threat to public health” as new legal powers of forcible quarantine were unveiled.
The Department of Health said people with coronavirus can now be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave, and can be forcibly sent into isolation if they pose a threat.
Across the world there have been more than 40,000 cases of coronavirus and the death toll in China, where the virus emerged, has risen to 908.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here