Politicians demand ‘urgent meeting’ with Scottish government over testing

Shetland’s parliamentary representatives are demanding an “urgent meeting” with the Scottish government over mass testing at entry points to the isles.

The call for a meeting by Alistair Carmichael and Beatrice Wishart follows their claims that the Scottish government has made no specific commitments to the measure.

That is despite National Clinical Director Jason Leitch stating that testing in importation was crucial to managing the pandemic.

Ms Wishart said: “While our guard must never drop, the prevalence in Shetland is currently low. It is now imperative that we protect Shetland from further outbreaks and testing on people arriving can provide another protective layer in that.

Mr Carmichael added: “With mass testing ramping up elsewhere it would be common sense to apply it to points of entry to the isles – if the Scottish government believes that this is not a priority then they should tell islanders so directly.”