A ward within Fraserburgh Community Hospital has been temporarily shut by health officials following an outbreak of Covid-19.
NHS Grampian and Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership confirmed they had taken the decision to close the north-east health facility “as a precaution” after a small number of cases were detected among staff and patients.
It is understood it is a small handful of cases.
All new admissions and visitors to the ward have now ceased as staff deal with the outbreak.
It comes as the health board recorded a 166 new cases in the last 24 hours.
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian and Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership said: “There is a small number detected cases of COVID-19 associated with a ward at Fraserburgh Community Hospital.
“As a precaution we have closed the ward to admissions and visitors.”
“Very worrying and concerning indeed”
Fraserburgh councillor Brian Topping said the news was both “disappointing” and “concerning” as his thoughts remain with those at the forefront of the outbreak.
“It’s obviously worrying when we have Covid cases but I would image that NHS Grampian have taken the best course of action to try and isolate the situation so it won’t spread any further,” he said.
“Its disappointing to hear because there has been a slight rise in cases in the Fraserburgh area in recent weeks so it’s certainly very worrying and concerning indeed.
“I just hope the people involved make a full recovery. They will certainly get the right and proper care that’s for sure.
Mr Topping also urged residents to not become complacent and continue exercising caution to help protect move vulnerable members of the community.
He added: “It just goes to prove that Covid is still with us and I think a lot of people tend to think ‘oh well we are back to below Level 0’ but we have all still got to be careful and cautious because people can still get Covid and all the worries that go with it; especially people who are perhaps elderly and have underlying health issues.”
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