The regional healthboard has issued an apology to venues across who were not contacted ahead of publishing names of premises linked to the Aberdeen cluster.
The list featured more than 30 establishments, including pubs and restaurants in the city, a hotel in Aberdeenshire and a number of golf courses.
NHS Grampian wrote in a statement: “We worked hard to communicate directly with those venues in advance of publishing the list and apologise unreservedly to those we did not reach.
“We know this has led to a great deal of anxiety for these businesses, their staff and their customers.
“We are ensuring this communication is taking place and appropriate support is being provided by ourselves and our local authority partners as appropriate.”
The number of cases linked to the outbreak has increased to 79, with an additional 30 cases under investigation.
In each case, a person is interviewed to establish where they may have gone, who they have met. This information led to the formation of the list featuring 28 venues released yesterday.
The NHS has stressed this was shared in “the interests of openness and transparency. It was not shared to assign blame, to suggest a venue was a source of infection or to suggest everyone who attended these venues is at an additional risk”.
Dr Emmanuel Okpo, consultant in Public Health Medicine, said: “This is a rapidly evolving situation but our message to the public remains the same. P
“lease stick to the government guidance – especially the additional restrictions currently in place in Aberdeen City.
“If you develop the symptoms of COVID-19, you should self-isolate and arrange a test via the NHS Inform website (or the staff testing service if you work in health and social care).
“I know people will be feeling particularly anxious at present. Please be assured that if you are a close contact of a detected case, our teams will be in touch with you.
“They are working extremely hard to make these calls as quickly as they can.
“My message to everyone, whether they live in Aberdeen or elsewhere, whether they attended any of the previously published venues or not, is to stick to the current guidance.
“Use a face-covering where required, wash your hands thoroughly and regularly with water and soap, practise physical distancing, and avoid crowded places.
“In particular, people in Aberdeen must abide by the current enhanced restrictions.
“I have said this previously and I will say it again – please do not arrange a test if you do not currently have symptoms.
“A ‘not-detected’ result in someone without symptoms does not mean you will not go on to develop the virus. It does not mean you would not be required to self-isolate if you were identified as a close contact of a detected case.”
