A Stewartry school had to close just days into the new term after staff were forced to self-isolate.
Crossmichael Primary shut on Monday after eight members of staff were forced to stay at home due to coronavirus.
That meant staffing levels were below the number required for the school, which has around 80 pupils. It reopened on Thursday the same day Twynholm Primary had to close.
Dumfries and Galloway currently has one of the highest coronavirus case rates in Scotland, with the country’s chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith saying there is “no one single reason” behind the rise.
A string of Stewartry pubs and restaurants have been temporarily closed in recent days due to staff or customers testing positive.
And Kirkcudbright Summer Festivities officials have cancelled plans for a 50th anniversary street party this Sunday.
Festivities chairman John Blaikie said: “With the numbers at the moment we didn’t feel we could go ahead.
“I believe there was a queue outside the testing centre at the weekend which tells its own story.
“We had thought about holding it later in the year but we couldn’t really ask people to come out to sit in the cold.”
The Market Inn in Castle Douglas closed last Wednesday after a number of staff tested positive for coronavirus. It was due to reopen yesterday afternoon but their plans to launch The Bottom Bar cocktail area tomorrow have been put on the back burner.
The Clachan Inn in Dalry also closed briefly over the weekend due to the need to self-isolate. Dalbeattie businesses The Ship Inn, The Birchtree Hotel and The Cum Ye Inn have all had similar issues this month and closed for deep cleaning.
Gymtastic in Castle Douglas also underwent a deep clean last week after a positive case was confirmed.
And Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool has decided to cancel lessons until the new year in a bid to keep users and staff safe.
At the start of August, Dumfries and Galloway had a positivity rate of 136.2 per 100,000 people with a positive test rate of 5.8 per cent.
Since then those figures have rocketed up to 611.6 and 12.5 per cent respectively, giving it the fourth highest rate in Scotland. The national averages are 430.5 and 10.7 per cent.
Between August 16 and 22 there were 907 cases in the region. Dalbeattie was the worst hit area in the Stewartry with 62 – a rate equivalent to more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 people. Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright both had 29 cases.
There were a further 143 new cases across the region on Wednesday alone, with 16 people in hospital and less than five in intensive care.
MSP Colin Smyth said: “The increase in virus figures we have seen across the south of Scotland in recent weeks remains a real concern and, unfortunately, it is likely figures will continue to rise in the future.
“The one positive is the fact the vaccination programme has reduced the number of people who fall seriously ill.”
During a briefing on Tuesday, the chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith addressed the Dumfries and Galloway situation.
He said: “There is no one single reason or driver for the rise in cases. We’re seeing a kind of diffuse rate of increase across the communities there.”
However, she pointed out more testing is taking place and it was likely cases would rise after restrictions were eased recently. She said: “To some extent what we are seeing now is not entirely unexpected.” But she warned that if the surge in cases continues then she “cannot completely rule out having to reimpose some restrictions”.
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