NHS Tayside has issued a plea to people in Dundee to get tested for coronavirus, after the city recorded the highest rate of confirmed cases in Scotland.
The health board said the “simple but heartfelt” plea was being made to help the city break transmission chains.
It comes after Dundee became the local authority with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.
Dundee’s case rate of 247.1 is more than double the Scotland average of 105.9 cases per 100,000 people.
NHS Tayside’s director of public health warned people with no symptoms of coronavirus could be unwittingly spreading it to loved ones.
Dr Emma Fletcher, NHS Tayside director of public health, called on people in Dundee to make a coronavirus test part of their weekly routine.
She said: “Dundee is now the local authority most affected by the Covid-19 virus in Scotland and we must all act quickly to break this chain of infection.
“This is a simple plea on behalf of us all here at NHS Tayside and our partner agencies: get tested.
“We know that some people who have the virus will have only mild symptoms or none at all, and that means people are spreading Covid-19 without knowing it every day.
“They are passing it on to loved ones, friends and out to the wider community.
“And as a result of the increased number of Covid-19 infections, we are sadly seeing increasing numbers of people needing medical care and hospital admission.
“Please get tested. Even if you have already been tested before, please go and get tested again.”
‘For those who don’t think testing makes a difference – it does’
Dr Fletcher suggested people are tested twice a week.
“People might think they don’t need to get tested as they have been fully vaccinated, but even having two doses of the vaccine does not provide 100% protection against the virus,” she added.
“And for those who don’t think testing makes a difference – it does.
“Kirriemuir was a hotspot last week. We moved the testing units into the town and the community showed up in their hundreds to get tested. It worked.
“The chain of infection was broken, as people who turned out to be positive have isolated.
“There are so many places to go and get tested or pick up a testing kit, so please, get yourself tested.”
New Dundee test centres
From next week there will be additional testing sessions in Menzieshill and Douglas, as well as continued drop-ins at Dundee International Sport Complex and in the city centre.
Hundreds of lateral flow self-test kits are also being distributed to parents and carers at schools in areas where case rates are higher, and in City Square, this weekend.
Covid: No deaths recorded in Tayside and Fife since the middle of May