A worker at a Scottish care home has died of suspected Covid-19 amid growing concern over the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) within the care sector.

The woman, who worked in West Dunbartonshire, died on Sunday - prompting politicians and union officials to repeat calls for more equipment to be provided to social care staff.

It comes after the deaths of 13 residents at a Glasgow care home in a suspected outbreak.

Two staff members at Burlington Court Care Home in Cranhill also tested positive for the virus and are being treated in hospital.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday that supporting care homes during the pandemic is a “priority” for the Scottish Government.

A government spokesman also claimed that there is “adequate” PPE for the social care sector, however Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said access to protective clothing and equipment for health and social care staff is a “problem across Scotland”.

She said: “In this time of crisis, we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to those heroic health and care workers who risk their lives daily to care for and treat those in need.

“This very sad news will come as a great blow to the family and to my local community. My thoughts are with them and I share in their grief.

“It is clear that access to protective clothing and equipment for health and social care staff is a problem across Scotland.

“Supplies are rationed because there is simply not enough and the strategy appears to be determined by that shortage of supply, rather than what health guidance dictates.

“This is simply not good enough and is putting lives at risk. The Scottish Government must act urgently to protect our brave frontline workers. It is our duty to do so.”

The party’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon added that she has written to the First Minister calling for a guarantee on protective equipment.

The GMB trade union said it had been a “sobering and tragic” week for the social care sector, with officials offering their condolences to affected staff, residents and families.

Hazel Nolan, the union’s Scotland organiser, said: “We will make no comment on individual cases but the events of the last few days in particular should re-focus the minds of our political leaders and health experts about the nature of what is actually happening on the ground. 

“The lack of consistency around guidance and the lack of resources to mitigate infection at work is causing frontline workers to lose whatever confidence they had in the response. 

“The advice being given is resource led, not science led.”

She added: “An untold story of this crisis so far has been the inconvenient truth that the lower paid you are on the frontline of the key worker response, the less protection and resource you get. 

“This needs to end now.”

West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership confirmed the death of its staff member “with deepest sadness”.

The partnerships’s chief officer Beth Culshaw said they are doing everything they can “to protect, support and safeguard our workers, including by providing training and PPE”.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “This is a terrible tragedy for the individual concerned and our thoughts are with the family, friends and wider community.

“These are unprecedented times and our social care sector is working under very challenging circumstances to care for people during the pandemic.

“We have adequate PPE supplies and are absolutely prioritising the protection of our frontline social care workers.”

He added that more than six million PPE products have been delivered to more than 1000 locations across Scotland.