Coronavirus in Scotland: New outbreak at council-run care home in Edinburgh

Marionville Court Care Home.

At least 20 people are understood to have tested positive at Marionville Care Home.

Unconfirmed reports also suggest that one person has so far died in the outbreak.

A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: "We are aware of an outbreak of Covid-19 at this care home. We are in close contact with the care home and Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership."

One person connected with the home said 23 people have so far tested positive.

They added that staff are under pressure due to shortages, with some being asked to work extra hours to keep on top of care duties.

A spokesperson for the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership said the authority is following national guidelines, and that any complaint made by staff about working conditions would be investigated.

They said: “Our priority is always the safety of residents and staff in care homes. We’re following national guidance – as laid out by Health Protection Scotland – and we have robust processes and procedures in place to limit the spread of the virus and to protect our residents and staff.

“Public Health in Scotland has been given a lead role in supporting the wider plan for care homes and we continue to work closely with them. We have made arrangements for Partnership care homes and staff to be equipped with the appropriate PPE, as outlined in the national guidance.

“Care homes which have a positive case of Covid-19 are being supported by the NHS Lothian Health Protection Team and the residents’ GPs. Care homes are also supported by local district nursing teams and during this pandemic we have provided additional district nursing capacity.

“We take all allegations about the wellbeing of our staff and residents very seriously and we’ll investigate all complaints made to us.”

It comes after a total of 15 people died at Redmill Care Home in West Lothian, after a Covid-19 outbreak was confirmed on October 6.

Redmill operator HC-One said on Tuesday that eight staff members had either tested positive or were self-isolating.

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