More than 50 people now tested for coronavirus in Scotland

More than 50 people in Scotland have been tested for coronavirus, latest figures reveal.

The statistics published by the Scottish Government on Monday afternoon show 57 people in Scotland have been tested and all returned negative results.

The number of people tested in Scotland has risen by 16 since Sunday.

Labs at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh have been set up to test patients in Scotland for the virus.

Scotland's Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said while there have been no confirmed cases north of the border so far, there is a “high likelihood” that a patient will test positive for the disease in future.

In a statement on its website, the Scottish Government said: “The Scottish Government's approach is guided by the Chief Medical Officer and we continue to monitor the situation closely and to work with the World Health Organisation and international community.”

The latest update comes as a further four patients in the UK tested positive for the virus, taking the total number of UK confirmed cases to eight.

The latest four UK patients found to have coronavirus are all understood to be contacts of a businessman diagnosed in Brighton last week after contracting the virus at a conference in Singapore.

Across the UK, a total of 1,114 people have now been tested for the potentially fatal condition, which the UK Government declared on Monday as a “serious and imminent threat to public health” as new legal powers of forcible quarantine were unveiled.

The Department of Health said people with coronavirus can now be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave, and can be forcibly sent into isolation if they pose a threat.

Across the world there have been more than 40,000 cases of coronavirus and the death toll in China, where the virus emerged, has risen to 908.

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