Legionella – Pufflings – Taste of Edinburgh – Dovecot Studios – Portable hotel
The latest reports on the Edinburgh Legionnaires’ outbreak show that one further person has been confirmed with the illness.The person has been unwell for some time, and is being treated in hospital.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 52 and the number of suspected cases is 48. The total number of overall cases is 100.
At noon yesterday, of those cases being treated in hospital, there were two patients in intensive care and six on general wards. A total of 20 cases are being treated in the community, 59 have been discharged from hospital and three people have sadly died. Ten cases are being treated outwith the NHS Lothian area. The ages of the confirmed cases ranges between 32 and 85, with more males than females affected.
Investigations into the source and cause of the outbreak continue. Lothian and Borders Police and the Health and Safety Executive are jointly investigating the circumstances of the deaths under the direction of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Health and Safety Division.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:
“The latest case of Legionnaires’ has been ill for some time, and has now been identified as a confirmed case. Over recent days as expected, we have not seen as many cases of Legionnaires’ as we did at the peak of the outbreak, and this continues to offer reassurance that the outbreak remains under control. NHS Lothian are maintaining high quality care for patients who remain unwell and investigations continue to identify and deal with the source of the outbreak.”
Dr Richard Othieno, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, NHS Lothian, said:
“While this is the first new case in more than a week, it is not unexpected. As the outbreak draws to a close we can expect to see a small number of cases coming forward who have experienced mild symptoms initially and have sought medical attention later in their illness.”
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The Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick, is appealing to the public to keep their eyes peeled for young puffins,which are known as pufflings, following two occurrences of them making their way inland over the last few days.
A puffling, named Buddy by the team at the Centre, was found wandering the corridors of the Macdonald Marine Hotel & Spa! Sam McCaskill, who works at the hotel, alerted the team at the Seabird Centre who were on hand immediately to assist with the hotel’s new guest.
Buddy initially resisted feeding but soon had his fill of tasty fresh whitebait from the Seabird Café. Once it was established he was fit and healthy, the following evening Seabird Centre guide Maggie Sheddan took Buddy to the pier and he jumped into the sea and swam off towards the island of Craigleith, home to the Centre’s SOS Puffin project.
A second puffling, known as Feisty, was brought into the Centre by a North Berwick resident after being found at Mitchell’s Garage on Dunbar Road. Feisty was also fed whitebait by Maggie Sheddan and released once it was established he was ok.
Tom Brock OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Seabird Centre, said: “Every year the pufflings get attracted into the town by the lights, when they leave their burrows. This puts them at risk as they often wander under cars or they can be attacked by pets and other animals.
“We are appealing for everyone in North Berwick, and coastal towns in East Lothian, to please keep their eyes peeled to help save any more pufflings who have lost their way. Please contact the Centre and we will coordinate a rescue.
“We know from watching our live interactive cameras on the nearby islands that there are still plenty of pufflings in their burrows as we see the adults returning with fish in their beaks to feed their young. However, we suspect that many puffin burrows may have been flooded in the recent wet weather. With people’s help, we would like to save as many lost pufflings as possible.”
From 09:00 to 17:30 anyone who finds a puffling should call 01620 890202 and outwith these hours please call Maggie on 07709 505 133.
Pufflings look very different from their adult counterparts – they are shades of grey rather than the distinctive black and white, and their beaks are also grey, rather than the bright colours of the adults.
The puffins and pufflings will remain on the Firth of Forth islands until the start of August, before spending the autumn and winter out at sea. Visitors to the award-winning Discovery Centre can zoom in on the puffin action on the islands of Craigleith, Fidra and Isle of May National Nature Reserve with interactive live cameras which do not disturb the wildlife in any way.
The Centre also runs a range of boat trips which enable visitors to travel round the Firth of Forth islands to take photographs of the seabirds and other marine wildlife.
For further information on the Scottish Seabird Centre visit www.seabird.org
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Taste of Edinburgh was cancelled due to adverse weather last weekend. The nice people at Eteaket were so disappointed that they are offering a discount on online purchases of their tea to help make up for it. You can access the money off voucher here.
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Dovecot Studios are putting on a major new exhibition starting from today. This is what they say about it:-“This is the first major Dovecot tapestry exhibition to be presented in Scotland for over thirty years. Curated by art historian Dr Elizabeth Cumming and presented across all three of Dovecot’s public gallery spaces. The exhibition features over 60 tapestries, rugs and rarely seen works on loan from major museums and private collections in America and Britain.
In the one hundred years since it was established Dovecot weavers have built a reputation of collaborated with leading international modern and contemporary artists, a tradition which continues today. Weaving The Century: Tapestry from Dovecot Studios 1912-2012 will bring together work from many of these artists including: David Hockney, Paul Gauguin, Elizabeth Blackadder, Sir Peter Blake, Edward Wadsworth, Cecil Beaton, Graham Sutherland, Eduardo Paolozzi, Louise Nevelson and Claire Barclay.
The works in the exhibition show the broad range of artistic and technical weaving styles that has firmly established Dovecot’s reputation as a centre for excellence and innovation offering the definitive account of one of the world’s most innovative centres of textile-art production.
Following the Edinburgh run of Weaving The Century: Tapestry from Dovecot Studios 1912-2012, the exhibition will embark on a UK tour.”
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STV report on the portable hotel which will be used to increase the number of beds available in the city during the Festival. The portacabin hotel will be erected in the Canongate.
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