NHS Louisa Jordan ready for patients as Scots Covid-19 death toll passes 900

An emergency hospital based at the Scottish Events Campus (SEC) will be ready to receive patients from Monday.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman made the announcement as she revealed the number of coronavirus deaths in Scotland has reached 903, up 10 from Saturday.

Speaking during a briefing at the Scottish Government’s headquarters, she confirmed construction was completed on the NHS Louisa Jordan on Sunday.

The Health Secretary said the number of coronavirus cases will be monitored in Scotland before the new hospital is brought into use.

She added: “The decision on whether patients need to be admitted to the Louisa Jordan will be reviewed on a regular basis as the data on case numbers continues to come forward.

“As I’ve said before, I hope that this facility will not be needed, but it is valuable to have this extra capacity and I’m grateful to everyone who has delivered this hospital at such speed.”

The hospital will have an initial capacity for 300 beds, which can be expanded to more than 1,000 if needed. Construction and equipping the bed bays is expected to cost around £43 million.

A total of 903 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland have now died.

The figure is a rise of 10 on Saturday’s figure, according to the Scottish Government’s daily monitoring system.

Across the country, 39,612 people have been tested for Covid-19, with 8,187 coming back positive.

As of Saturday night, 1,797 patients were in hospital with either confirmed or suspected coronavirus, an increase of four.

Of those, 174 were being treated in intensive care units, down eight from the previous tally.

We have committed to publishing later this week our initial thinking on how Scotland plots our way forward

The Health Secretary also said the Scottish Government has not been consulted on a reported three-step process to relieve lockdown measures nor would it endorse it.

She said: “We have committed to publishing later this week our initial thinking on how Scotland plots our way forward.

“This will focus on the issues that have to be weighed up and the changes that will be required for society to adapt as safely as possible to the presence of the virus.

“We confirmed only three days ago that the existing lockdown would continue for a further three weeks and we will use that time to assess the evidence and the options before we make any further decisions.”

She said it was important for the public to understand the factors ministers would consider when discussing changes to the lockdown.

Ms Freeman added: “I think it is important that we do that in the coming week so it is clear, as we go through the next three weeks of lockdown, that people know how we are working our way through plotting our route through this so that we continue to keep the virus under control.”

She was also asked about reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to attend five Cobra meetings discussing the response to coronavirus.

The Health Secretary responded: “We have taken all the steps that we think are necessary.

“As to whether or not the Prime Minister’s attendance at Cobra meetings in the early days made a difference or not, I think many of these issues will be looked at in the fullness of time.”

The Health Secretary asked people to continue to follow the current lockdown rules.