Scotland marks one year since first Covid case

Scotland has marked one year since the first confirmed case of coronavirus was recorded.

Health secretary Jeane Freeman said the country’s lives had been “turned upside down” since the first case was recorded on 1st March 2020.

Ms Freeman reflected on the one year anniversary during the daily government Covid update.

“The last 12 months have brought grief and heart-break,” she said.

“The forced separation from families and friends has been, and is, hard to endure.”

She told health workers that the “entire country is grateful for everything you have done” during the pandemic.

Ms Freeman also spoke about the discovery of the Brazilian Covid variant in the country.

The health secretary she there was “no reason to believe” that the variant was in circulation, after three airline passengers were found to have tested positive for the P1 strain.

The government had done “everything we can” to ensure contacts had been traced, she said.