The NHS in England is cancelling all routine surgery for the next three months to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak, with NHS Scotland following suit.
The news comes as cases in Edinburgh and the Lothians rise to 30, with 195 in Scotland in total. One more person has died in the Glasgow area.
Yesterday, Edinburgh Live reported that many GP surgeries in Edinburgh had gone into lockdown, with many seeing patients over the phone instead of in person.
NHS bosses south of the border say they plan to send as many patients as possible home to free up staff and beds to deal with the spread of COVID-19, according to a reporter at The Times.
Addressing MSPs today (17 March), Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said she was placing the Scottish health service on an “emergency footing” for at least the next three months to help tackle COVID-19
Freeman also expressed her condolences for the families of two people who have died in Scotland after contracting the virus.
The second patient death, in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, was confirmed on Tuesday as confirmed Covid-19 cases in Scotland rose to 195.
Freeman said the emergency measures being put in place would be “nothing short of the most rapid reconfiguration of our health service in its 71-year history”.
She added: “Our goal is simple: to protect and save lives and we need everyone’s help to achieve this.”
Yesterday Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed NHS England would be cancelling elective surgery, although he did not set out a timeline.
He said: ''We will fight this virus with everything we've got.
''We are in a war against an invisible killer and we've got to do everything we can to stop it.''
Mr Hancock said the pandemic is ''the most serious public health emergency that our nation has faced for a generation''.
Mr Hancock added that emergency legislation will be introduced to Parliament on Thursday which will give the Government new powers to keep strained public services running.
You can follow all of the latest breaking news about coronavirus in Edinburgh on our liveblog here.
