A Shetland couple hit by coronavirus have spoken of their ordeal and insisted they followed all the rules – despite “vicious rumours” to the contrary.
Iain and Suzanne Malcolmson, from Nesting, tested positive on Sunday after a trip to southern Italy on Tuesday last week and developed symptoms two days later.
The couple has been in self-isolation since last Friday and are tested regularly by NHS Shetland.
Mr Malcolmson said they both felt well looked after by medical staff, and had just mild cold symptoms.
In a bid to set the record straight and dispel “nasty rumour and wild speculation that spreads all too quickly”, the couple said they had followed all the guidelines.
In a Facebook post, they stated: “It was not until the Thursday night (March 5) that I felt unwell with slight cold symptoms. I contacted NHS24, my GP and Public Health Scotland on the Friday morning. The initial advice was that southern Italy was not a high risk area and therefore we did not need testing.
“However, this information changed on lunchtime Friday when Italy was upgraded. We were advised to self-isolate, and we would be tested. We did this immediately and have not left the house since and have not been partying, or socialising of any kind.
“We specifically checked at this time what the situation was with other family members and were told if they had no symptoms they were fine to carry on with their normal lives and need not self-isolate, but it would be best if they could go and stay with another family member away from us.”
They added: “Both NHS Shetland and Public Health Scotland were gobsmacked when the positive results came in on the Sunday evening.
“At that point we provided as much detail and information as we possibly could to help the health professionals carry out their work. We would do anything to change this situation, and we are desperately worried about friends, family and anyone else who may have been affected.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but that does not change where we are now. We do however know that we did everything we could as per guidance.”
