A new plan to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has been revealed by the Scottish government today.
The 'four nations' Action Plan' includes a detailed description of how the UK plans to combat the novel coronavirus (which originated in Wuhan, China) and limit its impact on UK society.
The detailed plan (which you can read in full here) reveals that authorities are preparing for police to focus on public order and only deal with the most serious crimes - rather than low-level crime - if, as expected, the virus spreads.
Non-urgent hospital procedures could also be cancelled in the search for new beds, and retired health workers could be brought back to help. The army is also on stand-by to "back-fill" if needed.
In Scotland, the plan makes it clear that Health Boards have powers to place restrictions on the activities of individuals who are known to have the disease, or have been exposed to the disease.
Boards may also apply for court orders for quarantine and medical examination.
The legislation involves making an 'application to have (a) person detained in hospital', and applies when a health board knows that a person who is present in that area i) has an infectious disease or ii) is contaminated and the board thinks that there is a significant risk to public health as a result.
Scotland’s first case was confirmed on Sunday.
School closures and other measures
Direct flights arriving into the UK from countries within the UK's CMOs' case definition are required to provide a declaration (General Aircraft Declaration) to airport authorities stating that all their passengers are well, 60 minutes prior to landing.
If the outbreak continues, other measures that would be considered are school closures, encouraging greater home working and reducing the number of large scale gatherings to slow the spread of the disease throughout the population.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland are well-prepared to deal with a coronavirus outbreak.
"As well as the four nations’ Action Plan published today, we have also published tailored guidance for Scotland’s unique landscape.
"The Action Plan and the detail of our additional resilience arrangements for Scotland set out very clearly what we know so far about coronavirus, the different phases of managing an infection of this nature, what each phase means and the actions that have been or could potentially be taken at each stage.
“Much of this planning is based on reasonable worst case scenarios which will be refined as our understanding of the virus develops, but it is vital that we are well equipped to deal with all possibilities as this outbreak grows globally.
"We will continue to work closely with the UK Government, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive as part of a coordinated response to this virus."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a in a press conference in London, warned it is “highly likely” the number of cases in the UK will rise.
Johnson said: “Let me be absolutely clear that for the overwhelming majority of people who contract the virus this will be a mild disease from which they will speedily and fully recover as we have already seen.
"But I fully understand public concern, your concern, about the global spread of the virus and it is highly likely that we will see a growing number of UK cases and that's why keeping the country safe is the Government's overriding priority, and our plan means we are committed to doing everything possible, based on the advice of our world-leading scientific experts, to prepare for all eventualities."
