Incident management team dealing with Moray outbreak stood down

An incident management team that was dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak in Moray has now been stood down.

It comes after a sustained drop in the level of the virus in the region over the last two weeks.

Testing arrangements in the region are also returning to normal, after being ramped up during the outbreak.

Earlier this month, the region had the highest Covid-19 level in the country with more than 100 cases per 100,000 people, and test positivity above 3% - but those numbers have now dropped to about 17 and 0.9% respectively.

Chris Littlejohn, deputy director of public health, said: "The risk in Moray is now broadly the same as other level two areas. We need to remember this is still an infectious virus, with more transmissible variants being passed around in some parts of the country.

"There is little certainty about how they affect serious illness, hospitalisation, long Covid and death. We are heading into an uncertain summer but doing that as a country and Moray is now on a par with most of the country.

"We saw with this outbreak in Moray how quickly things can escalate and how quickly it can affect the level system. However, the good news here is that the turnaround we have seen in Moray has been extraordinary and that is wholly down to residents being willing to work with us, come forward for extra testing, vaccinations and follow guidelines.  

"By warning the public early that we were facing a spike in Moray, putting extra testing in place and expediting the vaccination program, we saw the public engage with our professionals to bring levels down to what is deemed acceptable for level two - and that’s the first time a spike like that has been combatted without putting extra restrictions in place.  

"The drop in case rates is an incredibly positive story. We’ve not seen a decline like this without a full lockdown before, we’ve only seen this kind of turnaround with a full lockdown. How the public responded and acted was the reason that happened.  

"People coming forward to be tested for the first time increased sixfold, 80% of 40-49 years olds have now had their first dose of the vaccine, for those aged 30-39 it’s 68.7% and for 18-29 year olds it’s 70.2% - those figures are incredible and show the way the public has worked with us. 

"In Moray over the last six week 50% of cases identified were asymptomatic. These are individuals who could unwittingly have been spreading the virus had they not come forward for testing and that helped us break the chains of transmission.  

"I’d like to thank the public, without their efforts Moray would most likely still be in level three; the testing and vaccinations teams for their tireless work; Moray Council; and other organisations including VisitMoray Speyside, who worked with us. Health boards cannot combat these types of outbreaks alone, it takes a community."

But Mr Littlejohn has warned the situation could turn around quickly if people do not follow guidelines - particularly around travel.

He said: "Ultimately people need to take responsibility for their own actions. For instance, if another area of Scotland has particularly high rates of the virus or it is known a variant of concern is widely in circulation, is it worth the risk of travelling there and importing it back to Moray and the north-east?

"This outbreak was driven by the so-called Kent variant – if we were to see the so-called Indian variant of concern imported to Grampian and it ended up spreading in the community, similar to what we saw with the Kent variant recently in Moray, we may face a very different challenge.  

"Locally, analytics shows people are still returning to workplaces and those numbers are continuing to rise – remember current and continuing guidance on this is work from home where possible, even at level zero that is the advice.

"Operating from an office when you can do the same job at home is an unnecessary risk. It is these sort of individual decisions that cumulatively have a big impact.  

"As a health board we will continue to vaccinate at pace, thoroughly contact trace and of course testing reverts back to standard testing - get a PCR test if you show any of the symptoms.

"To each individual in the north-east, I’d ask you please follow the guidelines, and above that, use your own judgement, especially when travelling - protect each other and protect Grampian."