Staff at John Clark Motor Group’s Pentland Land Rover dealership in Perth have been ordered to self-isolate and a deep clean of the premises carried out after three team members tested positive for COVID-19.

The Perth Courier newspaper reported that employees at the Dunkeld Road dealership and bodyshop remained in self-isolation following a temporary closure of the site last Thursday (August 20).

A health board spokesperson told the newspaper that one member of staff and two contract workers had tested positive for coronavirus.

“There was an immediate response to the cases which included extensive testing of individuals associated with the business and detailed contact tracing is under way. All close contacts have been advised to self-isolate for 14 days, the spokesperson added.

The Pentland Land Rover dealership was reopened on Friday (August 21) and a subsequent inspection by environmental health officers found “the processes in place to be satisfactory”.

A spokesperson for the John Clark Motor Group told The Courier that the AM100 group had been focused on protecting the health, wellbeing and safety of its customers, colleagues and wider public, in line with the Scottish Government guidelines.

Despite these efforts, it confirmed that a sub-contracted employee had displayed mild symptoms of the virus and has since tested positive for coronavirus.

A further sub-contracted employee and one other colleague also tested positive and all three immediately self-isolated, the spokesperson said, adding that a full site deep clean and sanitisation, process and the provision of appropriate support for extended staff testing was carried out “in accordance with the group’s COVID-19 contingency plans”.

In an interview with AM at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown back in April, John Clark, chairman of the Aberdeen-based John Clark Motor Group, described his group's planning process for a return from the COVID-19 lockdown as being akin to "pushing the re-set button".

"The COVID situation has caused us to stop and re-assess the way we complete every one of our dealership processes," he said at the time, adding that personal protective equipment (PPE) had already been sourced to protect staff and customers ahead of a potential re-opening, which would eventually come at the end of June.

"We're keen to re-open and trade and you cannot afford to cut any corners on health and safety," he added.