Glasgow's SEC to be turned into field hospital amid Covid-19 crisis

The Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC) in Glasgow will be converted into a temporary field hospital to help boost bed capacity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at a briefing on Monday at the Scottish Government headquarters in Edinburgh, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the hospital could be operational within a fortnight and will initially have 300 beds.

The facility could eventually be expanded to accommodate more than 1,000 patients in total.

Similar temporary hospitals are being set up in London, Birmingham and Manchester in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Ms Sturgeon stressed the NHS "might not need to use the exhibition centre", with 3,000 of the 13,000 hospital beds across Scotland's public hospitals set aside exclusively for Covid-19 patients.

She said there was a need to "prepare the NHS for the incredibly difficult weeks that lie ahead", however.

The first minister also confirmed that six more people infected with the virus have died in Scotland, bringing the nation's overall death toll to 47.

More than 1,563 people across Scotland have now tested positive for Covid-19 as of 9am on Monday, up 179 from 1,384 on Sunday.

Chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said the actual number of Scots with the infection is now estimated at more than 100,000, however.

Meanwhile, there will be a temporary suspension of breast, bowel and cervical cancer screening programmes in a bid to free up NHS capacity during the ongoing crisis, Ms Sturgeon said.

The First Minister also revealed 10,000 people had responded to the Scotland Cares volunteering campaign, which was launched earlier on Monday, within the first four hours.

This includes about 5,000 former medical and care workers, plus medical students who have put themselves forward to work for either the health or care services.

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