Coronavirus: Aberdeen cluster 'trigger case' yet to be identified
Aberdeen coronavirus outbreak: Number of cases rises to 79
(about 1 hour later)
The health secretary has said the "trigger case" which caused Aberdeen's Covid cluster has yet to be identified.
The number of coronavirus cases linked to an outbreak in Aberdeen has increased to 79 - with more expected in the coming days.
The city has returned to enforced lockdown after a sharp rise in the number of linked coronavirus cases.
Lockdown restrictions were imposed in the city on Wednesday after a virus cluster of 54 cases was identified.
A total of 54 people who have tested positive gave the details of 191 people they have been in contact with.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said an additional 25 cases had been confirmed since then.
But Jeane Freeman said the nature of the outbreak - linked to pubs and restaurants - made it difficult to pinpoint the first case in the cluster.
A further 30 cases are being investigated to see if they are linked, while 233 contacts have been traced.
She told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme the Aberdeen cluster was different to previous clusters in North Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway.
Ms Sturgeon said the figures "underline why it was so important that we took strong and decisive action yesterday to try to keep this outbreak under control."
Ms Freeman said: "In an outbreak like this, it is very difficult to identify the trigger case.
She added: "I, unfortunately, would expect to be standing here tomorrow reporting growth beyond the numbers today".
"It is unlikely that one person has been to all 28 venues that have been named.
The cluster in Aberdeen has been linked to pubs and restaurants in the city - which were all told to close for at least seven days as part of the local lockdown measures.
"What is more likely is that more than one person has been to more than one venue, and that is part of the complexity of this."
Potential contacts
She said the extra difficulty was due to the fact that the Aberdeen cluster was "largely centred around the night-time economy".
"It is complicated to know exactly where everyone has been," she said.
Ms Freeman said 191 contacts in the Aberdeen cluster had been traced and spoken to.
But she said she expected the number of contacts to rise in the coming days as more people were contacted.
Nicola Sturgeon announced the tightening of restrictions in Aberdeen on Wednesday after cases in the city rose sharply.
Bars, cafes and restaurants will remain shut for at least seven days.
Extra police have been sent to the city to help increase patrols but the first minister said she hoped compliance would be voluntary.
More than 228,000 people living in the city were told they should not enter each other's homes or travel more than five miles as restrictions were re-imposed.
Officials later announced that indoor visits to hospital and care homes from a named family member or friend would also be stopped, with only essential visits allowed. Outdoor visits to care homes by one designated person are still permitted.
The restrictions will be reviewed next Wednesday and may be extended further if required.
Police Scotland posted video of extra police officers from its Flexible Response Unit making their way to the city to support local police.
Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr said: "We are putting somewhere between 10-15 extra patrols in the city from 17:00 on Thursday and over the next few days and the weekend, to reassure the vast majority of the public who will continue to comply with instructions and guidance because they know how important it is.
"But it is also to deal with a small minority who decide that they don't want to do something and put others' health at risk.
"We will clearly and undeniably enforce the law when it comes to those people."
NHS Grampian said it was suspending visiting at all its hospitals, except for patients nearing the end of their life.
Restricted visits are also allowed for one parent with a child at Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital or for one birthing partner at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and maternity units.
Details of the cluster, which was initially linked to people who had visited the Hawthorn Bar on 26 July, first emerged on Sunday.
NHS Grampian has published a list of venues that have been visited by people linked to the cluster, including 28 bars and cafes.
They are:
People who have visited any of these premises recently are being urged to be "extra vigilant" about symptoms.
But some of these venues told BBC Scotland they had not been contacted by Test and Protect. Brewdog bar tweeted that it had not heard from the NHS service.
Stuart McPhee from Siberia bar in Belmont Street told the BBC: "We closed after a customer got in touch to say they had tested positive. We saw a list released by NHS Grampian and some venues don't even know they have been named.
"We need clear, concise protocols and messages that allow confidence to be built in the long term."
