Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Coronavirus: Health chiefs’ plea as Fife’s first deaths confirmed

Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy.
Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy.

Health chiefs in Fife have pleaded with members of the public to heed advice to protect themselves and others following the region’s first coronavirus deaths.

The stark warning came as official Scottish Government statistics on Thursday revealed the number of positive cases identified in Fife had risen to 40 from 29 the previous day.

The Courier has learned at least two people from the Kingdom have now died as a result of contracting Covid-19.

Emergency services were called to a property in Glenrothes over the weekend after a man, believed to have been in his mid-60s, became unwell.

It is understood he was rushed to Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital and was put on a ventilator but passed away.

The man’s family declined to comment..

Meanwhile, test results have also suggested Covid-19 caused the death of a second Fife patient earlier this week.

The male pensioner, who is understood to be from the Cowdenbeath area, passed away on Monday and is said to have had underlying health issues.

No further details have yet emerged on that case.

Relatives of the two men who died have been told to self-isolate for the next 14 days to and efforts to trace people they may have been in contact with are ongoing.

Dr Chris McKenna, NHS Fife medical director, urged Fifers to keep social distancing, avoid contact with people with symptoms, avoid large and small gatherings, steer clear of non-essential use of public transport and limit face-to-face contact with friends and family.

He said: “We are really starting to see the effects of COVID-19 disease in Fife, both in our hospitals and in our community.

“If we are to protect the most vulnerable in our society and the precious resources NHS Fife has then there are some simple steps that we need all people to take in order to limit the spread of the virus.

“Your actions will have a noteable effect on the health of those around you.”

The health board has also been forced to deny that a ‘do not resuscitate’ policy is in place in relation to coronavirus patients, following claims from sources within wards.

Dr McKenna stressed no such policy exists.

“The care we provide to all patients is person centred, with any clinical decisions made based entirely on the individual and their particular circumstances,” he said.