Perth power giant SSE is tackling a coronavirus outbreak at its operations depot on the edge of the city.
Nine members of staff have tested positive at the company’s base in Ruthvenfield Way.
The site, which is separate to the firm’s headquarters on Dunkeld Road, was closed down for a deep clean.
The depot is a base for key SSE staff who have been working through the pandemic, responding to emergency call-outs and other incidents throughout the country.
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It is understood one senior staff member tested positive on Monday last week, and the depot was temporarily shut a few days later when five others fell ill.
A spokesman for the company said: “We can confirm nine employees based at our operations depot in Perth tested positive for coronavirus last week.
“In line with SSE’s strict coronavirus protocols, the depot was immediately closed and deep cleaned. It reopened on Monday to essential staff and our operations remain unaffected.”
He added: “We have liaised with NHS Tayside Health Protection team and have provided them with details of the employees that have tested positive as part of contact tracing procedures.”
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The depot is in the city’s Inveralmond area, close to the Thermo Fisher Scientific base which was hit by its own outbreak in January.
The life sciences factory, which was also partly closed for a deep clean, has been manufacturing crucial components for Covid-19 testing kits.
The incident at the SSE depot is the first major outbreak in Perth and Kinross since last month, when eight staff tested positive at Perth Fire Station.
Just 24 hours earlier, multiple positive cases were reported at Balhousie’s North Inch Care Home, and there a further outbreak at Branston’s potato packaging plant in Abernethy.
A NHS Tayside spokeswoman said the local health protection team had been made aware of new Covid-19 cases at the SSE depot.
“We are working with Perth and Kinross Council Environmental Health team to support the company,” she said.
Since Tuesday, March 2, 63 people in Perth and Kinross have tested positive for coronavirus, a drop of more than 30% compare to the previous seven days.
Last month, Perth and Kinross Council completed an overhaul of its recycling centres after a shock report revealed a series of Covid-19 breaches.
The Health and Safety Executive found a catalogue of contraventions during an inspection of a waste centre in Crieff, where three people were struck with the virus.