Scotland's 'most secure' police HQ hit by coronavirus outbreak

Emily Cleary
Updated ·4 min read
A general view shows the front of Govan Police Station on Helen Street in Glasgow on October 12, 2019. - A French man arrested in Scotland is not the murder suspect wanted for killing his wife and four children eight years ago, a source close to the investigation said October 12. French judicial sources had said October 11 that police at Glasgow airport had arrested Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes, who was subject to an international arrest warrant for the 2011 killings which transfixed France. But on October 12, sources close to the probe said a DNA test on the man being held in Scotland was "negative". (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Govan Police Station in Glasgow - known as the 'most secure' in Scotland - is at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

A major police station - known as the ‘most secure in Scotland’ - has been hit by a coronavirus outbreak.

Staff at the Glasgow police headquarters in Helen Street, Govan have tested positive for COVID-19 and others have been identified as being at risk of infection.

Contract tracing is being carried out by the local health board but no figures for how many police affected have been released.

The station, also known as Govan police station, is the high security base of the Major Crime and Terrorism Investigation Unit for Scotland.

A police vehicles passes a Coronavirus related poster on a phone box outside Glasgow Royal Infirmary after severe lockdown restrictions were announced for December and January with all of the country moving into the highest level of lockdown from Boxing Day. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)
Police Scotland told Yahoo News UK "We have sufficient capacity and as a national service... can flex resources should there be a requirement to do so."(Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)

A spokesman for Police Scotland told Yahoo News UK: "Police Scotland is following Scottish Government and health guidance and where cases of coronavirus are identified, we work with the local health board and adhere to Test and Protect procedures.

"We have sufficient capacity and as a national service Police Scotland can flex resources should there be a requirement to do so."

Scotland is currently under national lockdown in an attempt to curb coronavirus infection numbers.

A statement from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde sent to Yahoo News UK said: "Test and Protect is carrying out contact tracing of COVID-19 cases linked to a Police Scotland building at Helen Street, Glasgow.

“To respect and maintain patient confidentiality, no further details will be released, however we can confirm that those identified so far as cases or contacts have been advised to self-isolate.

“We would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to adhere rigorously to the general advice and requirements that are set out on NHS Inform and Scottish Government websites, including immediately self-isolating and seeking a test upon developing any symptoms.”

Watch: Scotland’s vaccine plans taken down

"We would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to adhere rigorously to the general advice and requirements that are set out on NHS Inform and Scottish Government websites, including immediately self-isolating and seeking a test upon developing any symptoms."

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said that the UK’s vaccination programme is currently prioritising those most vulnerable of dying from coronavirus, but that police officers and other critical workers will be in the “highest category of phase two”.

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Britain's Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, Nadhim Zahawi, who has responsibility for the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, reacts as he waks along a street in Westminster in London on December 2, 2020 as England emerges from a month-long lockdown to combat the spread of Covid-19. - Britain on Wednesday became the first western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for general use, announcing a rollout of Pfizer-BioNTech's jab from next week in a major advance for humanity's fightback against the coronavirus. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said police officers will be prioritised under phase two of the coronavirus vaccine rollout (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

On Monday he told Sky News: “Some police officers, of course, and teachers will actually get the vaccine (in phase one) because they are in those categories.

"We will very quickly move onto those other critical workers in the economy and, of course, those who are doing an incredible job, like our policemen and women in protecting us and enforcing the rules at the moment, will also be in that highest category of phase two.”

The government has said that 15 million people will have been invited to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by mid-February, and when the UK has enough vaccines, jabs could be given 24 hours a day.

Zahawi told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If we need to go to 24-hour work we will absolutely go 24 hours a day to make sure we vaccinate as quickly as we can.”

On Thursday, Scotland’s deployment plan for coronavirus vaccination was taken offline after the UK Government raised concerns that it disclosed too much detail about supplies.

Nicola Sturgeon said her Government’s plan, which was published on Wednesday evening, was taken down due to issues with “commercial confidentiality”.

The Scottish Government’s 16-page document set out the supply of vaccine from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna that it expects to receive each week – with targets to vaccinate 400,000 people per week from the end of February.

The detail on supply figures is understood to have angered ministers in London, who said publication of the UK’s numbers would lead to suppliers coming under pressure from other countries.

Watch: What is long COVID?