SCOTLAND’S island communities could exit the lockdown earlier than elsewhere, followed by the Highlands and Grampian, a respected microbiologist has suggested.
Professor Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, believes that because the outer Hebrides and Orkney have the fewest confirmed coronavirus cases in Scotland, they could become trial areas for exiting the pandemic.
He also suggested the Highlands and Grampian could follow suit, if the islands’ trials proved successful.
“There could soon be a case for a geographical lifting of restrictions – such as in some of the Scottish islands and the Highlands and Grampian,” Pennington told The Herald.
“The Western Isles and Orkney are the obvious candidates to be the test beds for an exit strategy for the country. Travel is restricted because they are islands and have extremely low levels of confirmed cases. You can control access to them and re-open things like shops and churches etc and get back gradually to normal life again.
“As for people travelling to the islands, it is to be remembered that the vast majority of people have not been affected [by the virus].”
He added: “The key is to get testing up in those islands because if anybody showed signs of having the virus they could be quickly tested and aggressive contact tracing implemented. That is the eventual way out of this.
“The islands have good medical facilities, but you would need to have good and effective testing facilities in place with a quick result. It would not cost a lot of money. It would be an example for the rest of the country as long as there was an early warning system in place. It could then be possible for the Highlands and Grampian to follow.”
He went on: “Overall cases need to come down substantially – by about ten times – for the lockdown to be lifted throughout the country. That is why we need test beds where levels are already low.
“The virus has been spread under the radar into places like care homes, presumably by workers who were unaware they were infected. The testing needs ramping up.
“The best you can say overall is that it is not now out of control, but we do not yet have control over it.”
The move to trial an exit strategy on the islands was backed by Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil, who described it as “an excellent suggestion”.
He added: “We need to get testing up in the islands, but Hugh Pennington has a well-informed hunch that we just need to prove. However, it would need to be well managed.”
The Outer Hebrides has just six confirmed cases of Covid-19 and is the only health board without a death from the virus. Orkney has had five cases and recorded its first death on Friday, that of a 59-year-old grandmother.
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