Scottish paramedic dies after contracting Covid-19

A paramedic who was infected with coronavirus has died, the Scottish Ambulance Service has announced.

In a post on Twitter, the ambulance service said: It is with great sadness to report one of our colleagues has passed away after contracting Covid-19.''

Pauline Howie, the chief executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, added: On behalf of everyone at SAS, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the family.''

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman also offered her condolences to the paramedic's family, when asked about the death at the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing on Sunday.

Responding to a question about PPE for frontline emergency service staff, Ms Freeman added: We put in direct distribution routes to ensure that we could distribute PPE directly to our health boards, but also to the ambulance service itself as well as to social care and to primary care, including pharmacies.

All of that is looked at by me every single day to ensure that the volume is there and we are maintaining that pace and that iterative, very focused work. ''