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A Nike conference held in Edinburgh in February has become the focus of the SNP’s “failure” to roll out contact tracing. The event, now being referred to as Scotland’s coronavirus ‘ground zero’, saw a number of outbreaks arising from it but many patients have confirmed they were not contact traced by the Government. Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman defended her party’s actions at the daily briefing.

She said: “There was no failure in the approach, but if we’re not told all the contacts someone has had, we cannot trace.

“We can only base it on what the trigger case tells us – here’s where I’ve been and who I’ve been in contact with.

“All the proper clinically-led standard protocols were followed.

“The incident management team was convened, we reported the first case, which was not linked to that conference on Sunday March 1.”

Ms Freeman continued: “We were informed of two more cases on March 3 and reported them on the Wednesday morning with normal reporting of cases.

“All the normal contact tracing approach was used then and we use it now and we will use it as we continue.

“Contact tracing sits on the information given by the individual who is the trigger case.

“They are asked where they’ve been and who they’ve been in contact with.”

The Health Secretary added: “That’s someone within 15 minutes or more and within a distance of two metres.

“With what people tell us, the clinical professionals in health protection then go and trace those contacts and advise them to isolate.

“They advise them they’ve been in contact with someone with the symptoms, and what to do if they develop symptoms, and then if they did, trace their contacts.”

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Scotland’s National Clinical Director, Jason Leith, also defended the approach taken.

He added: “The contact tracing process relies on information from the individual from the first case, and you move from there. They were interviewed by experienced contact tracers.”

“This wasn’t a mass gathering, quite a small group of people from different countries, and an international incident management team was set up very quickly and contact tracing done in a number of countries.

“This was when we were in the delay phase when there were very few cases in the country, or across the UK.

“It was absolutely the right thing to do at that point in the pandemic.”

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