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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Indigo Stafford

Coronavirus Scotland: Faslane Nuclear Submarine outbreak to overtake the whole of Edinburgh

A Scots nuclear submarine base is currently experiencing a coronavirus outbreak so severe that they look set to have 'more cases than the whole of Edinburgh' over the Christmas period.

145 cases of Covid-19 have now been confirmed within the Argyll and Bute area of the country since the start of December and NHS confirmed to the The Sunday Times that almost all of them are coming from HM Naval Base Clyde.

Over 8,000 people are employed at the base which serves as the UK's nuclear submarine fleet and a coronavirus forecast predicts that the situation is to escalate so quickly that it will overtake the whole of the capital city.

According to data analysed by the paper, there is a 70 per cent probability of the area registering another 200 cases by next week and another 300 cases by Christmas week which would likely overtake Edinburgh

In comparison the City of Edinburgh had 462 cases across a population of more than 500,000 people last week.

A statement from NHS said: "NHS Highland is aware of an increase in our case numbers.

“This is due to an outbreak of Covid-19 among Faslane military personnel who are now in isolation.

"The outbreak is contained at that site. We understand that there are many interactions between this establishment and the local community.

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"However, we would wish to emphasise that while there have been a small number of cases over recent months in people who work on the site and live locally, there are no cases in the wider community directly linked to this current outbreak.”

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