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were Early in the Covid-19-Outbreak , the Shetland Islands , one of the worst affected areas of The British head of the population. Now, no new cases have been There for Six Weeks . Some experts say it offers the peace and quiet of the Country to a route-map Lockdown - But for the First Family on the Islands , to be Tested , it was easy.

It was a Clear , bright Tuesday in early March , when the plane began its descent. The Shetland archipelago stretched Out in front of the small twin-propeller-plane. Iain Malcolmson and looked through his passenger-seat window at the urban sprawl of the Islands aware of how Far North he traveled straight.

Iain , 53, an architect, was on His Way home. He and his wife, Suzanne, spent a Long Weekend in The Italian city of Naples with Four Friends . She had hesitated before they were on February 28 news programs were full of alarming images from the Covid - 19 cluster in Lombardy, 500 miles to The North , where housed.

But , the official travel advice at this point was Clear - it was safe to visit The South of the Country - so they would run as planned. All the same, Iain recalled spending The Trip meticulously wipe down restaurant tables and wash hands.

Now, after an overnight stay in Edinburgh, Iain was soon to Lerwick Back To The House in the small village of boxes, About 12 miles North of the Islands capital. The locals call this part of The Trip , the "white knuckle express"; in a strong wind, the plane has to Take Off and land at Sumburgh airport sideways, Like a crab. Normally, Iain , preferred the 14-hour overnight ferry from Aberdeen. But this time, everything seemed quiet.

During The First week in March 2020, the new Corona-Virus pandemic, which had raged, Out of Wuhan rail is still far. Here in the small airplane of Scotland, The Mainland of 110 miles to The South , Norway 190 miles to The East . It was still possible to understand that the Shetland-could the Islands be spared.

"You need to understand what Shetland is Like ," says Iain . "We are pretty isolated, and I think Most People thought it would be something that would happen to Other People . It would not have come to the Shetland Islands . "

Then , Two Days after he landed, on the evening of Thursday, the 5. In March , Iain noted that he had a headache.

to The South , to Out Stack , the northernmost point of The British Islands , the Shetland Islands has 567 square miles of land and 1,679 miles of coastline. The 100-odd Islands , 16 are inhabited, and about half of the approximately 23,000 population, as Iain and His Family live in the vicinity of Lerwick. In the summer the days are up to 19 hours; in The Winter , if You are lucky, You can see the Northern Lights .

The Islands were pledged to Scotland by Norway in 1468, and the Norn Language - a form of the old Norse spoken in the Islands died in the mid-19th century. The Scandinavian influence is still strong, from the Norse-derived placenames - Burravoe, Grutness, Mavis Grind - in the brightly-coloured wooden houses dotted over the landscape, and the annual Up Helly Aa fire Festivals -clad, the circuit with the torching of a Viking Galley .

But in spite of this Shetlanders that the rest of Scotland, forget it. An introduction by the Islands , " a member of the Scottish Parliament banned public facilities from the production of cards, the representations of Shetland, for reasons of cartographic convenience, in a box in the Moray Firth or to The East of Orkney, instead of its true geographical location.

Iain grew up as a Shetlander. He left architecture to study in Edinburgh, where he met Suzanne, But two decades later, after founding A Family , they decided to create a practice that dates Back To the Shetland Islands . You had your dream for a long time.

"It is the freedom You have," he says. "You have family, friends, and the Like . It is a very friendly, positive kind of place. "He is a well-known figure in Shetland - he sits on The Local community Council, is an avid Up Helly Aa participant, and played guitar in local bands. The property that he and Suzanne designed for your family, to the dimensions of a The North was The House of long featured on The Bbc programme.

Shetland may be remote controlled, But There is no build-up.

thanks to The Discovery of North Sea oil in the late 20Th Century , whose per capita GDP is among the highest of All Scottish local authority areas. In the 1970s, the municipal company that wanted to Voe operate The Terminal at Sullum went with the energy. Compensation payments were invested in a non-profit Foundation, which ensures that the Islands have exceptionally good public services. "The facilities here are second to none," says Iain . "Every small town has its own leisure centre or the pool. "

As of Friday, the 6 woke up in The Morning . In March , Iain not feel comfortable with. For The Last Two Days he had gone to work, But he was clearly not up to it. One of The Friends that he had not travelled to Naples, and Glasgow resident, it was a great feeling and was advised to get the NHS to be Tested , so Iain and Suzanne arranged to be Tested .

nurses, The House came to the couple. They are deprived, on the porch, and before they went inside, changed in full PPE visors, protective Suits , before the taking of smears from the Malcomsons' nose and the back of their throats.

"It was Like something on the telly," says Iain . The whole scenario was a little nerve-racking, But the staff were reassuring. "They said: 'You 'll be fine, the chances are that You have been where You are almost zero. So don't worry about it. "He says that he and Suzanne stayed indoors at the weekend anyway.

There was a delay while The Samples were Iain was told they had to fly down to Aberdeen And Then in Glasgow. On Sunday Evening , the results came: Shetland had its first confirmed cases of Covid-19.

"All of them were completely flabbergasted," says Iain . "And everything began from There . "

at least one person on the Shetland Islands , was not surprised by The Arrival of The Virus . His name is Michael Dickson .

Not long ago, as NHS Shetland's chief executive, he had called already to The Mainland for a lecture on the probable impact of the pandemic. "I can honestly say, when I came Out of the government briefing, it was, without a doubt, the worst day of my entire career," he says. "Back To the Shetland Islands and You have to share with The People of the Shetland Islands , was incredibly difficult. "

He knew, too, that Shetland would make geographical isolation, the treatment of The Virus particularly challenging. "Beautiful as it is," he says, Lerwick's Gilbert Bain Hospital "was never built for this. "There is no intensive care unit, Everywhere on the Islands . In this stage, every patient has a critical need to get sick, fly to Aberdeen or elsewhere on The Mainland in a huge RAF Atlas military transport aircraft.

But Shetland would have advantages, too. Standing in front of his door, "I dropped my eyes and see no one," he says. "There are houses, But I'm not going to see someone walking down The Street . If I go for a five mile run, I maybe in three or four people. It's just a completely different place is social distance. "

an Outbreak of measles on the Aberdeen ferry meant NHS Shetland has had a very recent experience in the implementation of contact tracing. "That was enormously helpful," he says. "The fact is, to know the geography of the Shetland Islands , the different communities, makes a huge Difference . "

This Was the crucial factor, Dickson said, after The First positive test came results. "If this call teams went to the Public Health , to say that we need to do this now, There was no debate. People came in their Sunday and said: "okay, let's start, let's get on with this. '"

The blind nurses in The Sun , and the PPE-Suits , came to You to test the Malcolmsons took The Names of everyone they came in contact, and I Tested it also.

According to Dr Susan Laidlaw, NHS Shetland Public Health consultant, staff from other NHS departments have been prepared to phone contacts. "We had a week of very long working hours and Intensive work, the contacts, the identification of new cases and get them Tested and isolated," she says. "Although it is difficult at The Time to contain the help the the Outbreak . "

"Everyone at our work was," says Iain . "And each of our work, The Family ended up Getting It . "Some of them had diarrhea, while others lost All sense of smell and taste. Others fared worse, Iain , says The Father of one of his employees had both to Aberdeen. He would later have a full recovery.

Source of news: bbc.com