NATIONAL Clinical Director Jason Leitch did not mince his words at today's daily coronavirus briefing when outlining his personal disappointment that an Edinburgh Rugby academy player has tested positive to the virus after attending a house party last Friday alongside three team-mates.
"The young man in question is one of four academy players who attended a house party last Friday, in doing so they breached the general restrictions on social gatherings and also the protocols that were agreed between Scottish Rugby and the Scottish Government," said Leitch.
"This is clearly unacceptable and I am personally disappointed that after all the hard work that has gone into the return of elite sport with the rugby authorities, that this has happened."
"Rugby like other performance sports has been given the go-ahead on the strict condition that clubs and players abide by the guidance that has been agreed. That is a message that we have re-emphasised very strong to the relevant parties yesterday and today.
“I spoke yesterday and this morning to the leaders at Scottish Rugby, and they are taking this incident very seriously indeed. I have asked them to check and re-check their protocols and procedures and report back to me a week today.
A statement issued by the club yesterday morning explained that the positive result came from routine testing. Potential contact by the affected player with other members of the Edinburgh squad has been fully reviewed by external medical professionals from the Lothian Health Protection Team, who deemed that no further action was required.
"The club’s stringent COVID-19 protocols and mitigations provided additional medical confidence for the team to travel to France for its European Challenge Cup quarter-final tomorrow," said the statement.
"We would treat a suspected breach of our own, and the Government’s public health guidelines, extremely seriously and will take appropriate actions and steps as required.
"All club personnel have been advised to remain vigilant and be aware of, and report, any subsequent symptoms.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel