Scottish Labour has urged the government to close the Scottish parliament building at Holyrood to the public to stop coronavirus spreading.
Scottish Labour business manager MSP Elaine Smith said there were "increasing pressures" on cleaning staff and contractors at the parliament.
She added that restricting visitors to the building would reduce the risk to MSPs of becoming infected, the Guardian reports.
The MSP for Central Scotland said: “As we were advised at last week’s bureau, there are now increasing pressures on the cleaning contract and the staff that the private contractor employees.
“If we close to the public and also close the public gallery, café, shop, toilets etc, then efforts could be employed to concentrate on cleaning elsewhere in the building.
“I presume the aim is to try and keep the members meeting for as long as possible and, as such, restricting the visitors to the building would also help to substantially cut the risk to elected members.
“Closing the building to the public would also mean the possibility of a reduced police presence and less pressure on our security staff.”
Meanwhile, Edinburgh University has said it will move teaching online and suspend first and second year exams this semester because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Edinburgh Napier has also announced that it will suspend face-to-face teaching in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
Edinburgh Live will be bringing you all the latest coronavirus updates on our dedicated live blog here.
