Scottish ministers told English officials but not public about Edinburgh coronavirus cases

The Scottish Government told English health officials about Scotland’s Covid “Ground Zero” while refusing to make it public, we can reveal.

The outbreak happened at a Nike conference in Edinburgh in late February before ministers confirmed what was thought to be Scotland’s first Covid-19 case a week later.

However, Public Health Scotland informed Public Health England of the outbreak linked to the sportswear giant’s conference on March 2.

But while Public Health England was told about two positive cases from the Nike conference, one in Ayrshire and one in Grampian, details about infections from the international conference were not made public.

A source said: “Public Health Scotland informed Public Health England of one case on March 2 and two cases on March 4.”

The First Minister has insisted details were not made public at the time because of patient confidentiality but the explanation has been questioned by critics.

The outbreak from the conference, revealed by the BBC two weeks ago, has been linked to at least 25 coronavirus cases. Eight of the individuals were Scottish, six who attended the conference and two secondary contacts.

Ian Murray, Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary, said: “The Scottish Government has failed to be transparent with people. By covering-up the outbreak in Edinburgh city centre, people across the UK were kept in the dark about how quickly coronavirus was spreading and prevented from making personal decisions about attending public events.

“We now learn the Scottish Government informed Public Health England and had the power to decide if the British public should know, but chose to keep the outbreak secret.

“It’s time for the government to remove the veil of secrecy and start being open and honest with people.”

Ms Sturgeon has denied a cover-up, saying there were genuine concerns about patient confidentiality. But she has admitted it was “legitimate” to question how the cases were handled.

The Scottish Government said: “All appropriate steps were taken to ensure public health was protected, with more than 60 contacts traced in Scotland, and around 50 others traced in England, so there was an extensive contact-tracing operation.

“Given that there were cases in England, Public Health England was also part of the incident management team, which was provided with full details surrounding the circumstances of the infections.

The UK Government said: “The chief medical officers of the four nations agreed, before there were any confirmed cases, that each administration would announce their own cases, and would take their own decisions about what information was released.

“Any information released about patients in Scotland, therefore, is a decision for the Scottish health authorities.”