Day: May 13, 2020

Changes to Lothian Buses timetables from Sunday

Lothian Buses will introduce an update to its critical services network from Sunday (17 May) to help keep key workers across Edinburgh and the Lothians moving during this time.

Since the introduction of the Critical Services Network on Sunday 29 March, teams across Lothian have continued to analyse customer travel patterns and customer feedback to ensure the business is meeting the needs of as many key workers and essential travellers as possible.

Nigel Serafini, Interim Managing Director at Lothian Buses, said: “Over the past six weeks, our services have provided vital links for those who require to travel for work or to obtain essentials such as food and medicine.

“Our teams have continued to monitor customer travel patterns and have listened to both customer and colleague feedback. Today we are announcing additional revisions to our Critical Services Network which will better meet the needs of key workers and those for whom travel remains essential.

“Every team across our business has continued to go above and beyond to provide these vital services and my thanks go to each and every one of them both on the frontline and behind the scenes. I would also like to thank our customers who have shown an enormous amount of support and understanding throughout what continues to be an incredibly challenging operational time.”

Customers can view updated timetables here and from Wednesday customers can plan journeys on Lothian’s website or through the Lothian app which offers journey planning tools and real-time service updates, all integrated with Google Maps. It can be downloaded from tfeapp.com.

Lothian Buses network changes include: (download here)

Service 3

Revised timetable with additional journeys from Mayfield in the early morning, Monday to Friday.

Service 4

Route extended to operate between Asda The Jewel to Oxgangs every hour. Buses will turn at Oxgangs Bank (just before the library).

Service 16

Frequency increased to every 15 minutes between Silverknowes and Morningside Monday to Saturday daytime with improved morning running times. Torphin, Colinton and Oxgangs will continue to be served every 30 minutes.

Buses terminating at Morningside will operate a loop via Morningside Drive, Craighouse Road, Craighouse Gardens, and Balcarres Street.

Service 19

Revised timetable with all journeys operating to and from Leith Street

Service 21

Revised timetable with additional journeys. Route extended from Westside Plaza to Clovenstone Roundabout.

Service 30

Frequency improved from every 30mins to every 20mins on Monday to Saturday daytime.

Service 37/47

Revised timetable with most Monday to Friday service 37 buses now serving Deanburn (except a few early morning and late evening journeys which will continue to serve Ladywood).

Introduction of hourly service 47 from Penicuik Ladywood to Granton Harbour, Monday to Friday to provide additional links to Straiton, to the NHS sites at Lauriston Place, the Western General Hospital and a service for residents of Granton Harbour/Waterfront Avenue.

Service 41

On Mondays to Saturdays the last evening return journey to Cramond is withdrawn.  The Sunday service is also withdrawn.

Service 44

Minor timetable changes on Monday to Saturday. Sunday frequency improved from every hour to every 45 minutes

Minor timetable changes: 1, 7, 11, 14, 22, 25, 26, 27, 31, 33, 34, 38, 48, 63.

No changes to services 5, 8, 20, 24, 29, 35, 49, 100.

 

East Coast Buses network changes include: (download here)

Service 106

Monday to Saturday daytime frequency increased to every 30mins Edinburgh to Haddington, with the hourly service to/from Dunbar maintained.

Service 113

Revised timetable introduced to coordinate with Service 106.  Last journey from Edinburgh & Pencaitland withdrawn.

Service 124

Revised timetable introduced, including an additional morning peak journey from Longniddry to Edinburgh on Mondays to Saturdays.

Service 139

On Saturdays, the last evening return journey is withdrawn.

Service 140

No change.

 

Lothian Country network changes include: (download here)

Service X18
Minor timetable changes on all days of the week, including a new Journey introduced from Whitburn to Edinburgh on Mondays to Saturdays at 07:52

Service X27
Revised timetable on all days of the week

Service X28
Revised timetable on all days of the week, including a new earlier morning journey from Livingston Bus Terminal to Bathgate and a later Sunday evening journey from Edinburgh to Bathgate.  On all days of the week, the last evening journey from Edinburgh which currently terminates at Deans North will extend to Bathgate.

Back To Work: England pushes ahead with lockdown relaxations

Business Secretary Alok Sharma gave the UK Government’s 12 May daily press briefing on the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Good afternoon. I am joined today by Professor Stephen Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England and Sarah Albon who is the Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Executive.

First, I want to update you on the latest data on the coronavirus response.

2,007,146 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the UK, including 85,293 tests carried out yesterday.

226,463 people have tested positive, that’s an increase of 3,403 cases since yesterday.

11,605 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus, up from 11,465 the previous day

And sadly, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 32,692 have now died. That’s an increase of 627 fatalities since yesterday.

This is of course devastating news for families across the UK, and we all need to stay alert and control the virus.

I just want to remind people of the details of the next phase of our fight against coronavirus that we set out this week.

If we turn to the first slide, in order to monitor our progress, we are establishing a new COVID Alert Level System, with five levels, each relating to the level of threat posed by the virus.

The alert level will be based primarily on the R value and the number of coronavirus cases.

And in turn that alert level will determine the level of social distancing measures in place.

The lower the level the fewer the measures; the higher the level the stricter the measures.

The social distancing measures remain critical in our efforts to control the virus.

Throughout the period of lockdown, which started on March 23 we have been at Level 4.

Meaning, a COVID-19 epidemic is in general circulation, and transmission is high or rising exponentially.

But thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of the British people in this lockdown, you have helped to bring the R level down and we are now in a position to begin moving to Level 3, in careful steps.

As you see on the next slide, we have set out the first of three steps we will take to carefully modify the measures, gradually ease the lockdown, and begin to allow people to return to their way of life – but crucially, while avoiding what would be a disastrous second peak that overwhelms the NHS (NB – This applies to England only – Ed.).

After each step we will closely monitor the impact of that step on the R and the number of infections, and all the available data, and we will only take the next step when we are satisfied that it is safe to do so.

Step 1. From this week:

Those who cannot work from home should now speak to their employer about going back to work.

You can now spend time outdoors and exercise as often as you like.

You can meet one person outside of your household outside provided you stay 2 metres apart.

Step 2. From June 1, at the earliest, as long as the data allows, we aim to allow:

Primary schools to reopen for some pupils, in smaller class sizes.

Non-essential retail to start to reopen, when and where it is safe to do so,

Cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors, without crowds.

And then Step 3. No earlier than July 4, and again, only if the data says it is safe, we aim to allow:

More businesses and premises to open, including potentially those offering personal care such as leisure facilities, public places, and places of worship.

Many of these businesses will need to operate in new ways to ensure they are safe, and we will work with these sectors on how to do this.

As you will see from slide 3, having taken the first step in carefully adjusting some of the measures, and our advice to people on what to do, we have also updated our messaging.

We are now asking people to Stay Alert, Control the Virus and Save Lives.  Yes – staying alert, for the vast majority of people, still means staying at home as much as possible.

But there are a range of other actions we’re advising people to take.

People should stay alert, by:

Working from home if you can.

Limiting contact with other people.

Keeping distance if you go out – 2 metres apart where possible.

Washing your hands regularly.

Wearing a face covering when you are in enclosed space where it’s difficult to be socially distant – for example in some shops and on public transport.

And if you or anyone in your household has symptoms, you all need to self-isolate.

As slide 4 shows, if everyone stays alert and follows the rules, we can control coronavirus by keeping the R down and reducing the number of infections.

This is how we can continue to save lives, and livelihoods, as we begin as a nation to recover from coronavirus.

And to underpin this in the workplace, we have published new ‘COVID-19 secure’ guidance on working safely, available to UK employers (NB: currently only applicable in ENGLAND -Ed.), across 8 work settings, which are allowed to be open and where their employees cannot work from home.

This also includes guidance for shops which we believe may be in a position to begin a phased reopening at the earliest from the 1 June.

Firms, unions, industry bodies and the devolved administrations have all fed into this guidance to give businesses and their employees the confidence they need to work safely.

And I believe we have reached a consensus in doing that.

We have also worked with Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive, to develop best practice on the safest ways of working across the economy.

The guidelines outline practical steps for employers to take, including carrying out a COVID-19 risk assessment, in consultation with employees or trades unions.

A downloadable notice is included in the documents, which employers should display in their workplace to show their employees, customers and other visitors, that they have followed this guidance.

We have also provided practical steps for employers to consider such as putting up barriers or screens in shared spaces, creating “fixed teams” or “partnering” to minimise the number of people in contact with one another, and frequent cleaning of work areas and equipment between uses to reduce transmission.

To support employers and employees through this, the government has made available up to an extra £14 million for the Health and Safety Executive, equivalent to an increase of 10% of their budget.

This is for extra call centre employees, inspectors and equipment, if needed.

We know how important the Job Retention Scheme has been in helping businesses through this difficult time.

And today the Chancellor has announced a four-month extension of the scheme to help provide certainty to businesses.

To date, 7.5 million jobs have been furloughed, protecting livelihoods across the nation.

Until the end of July, there will be no changes to the scheme.

Then from August to October the scheme will continue, for all sectors and regions of the UK, but with greater flexibility to support the transition back to work.

Employers currently using the scheme will be able to bring employees back part time.

And, as the economy reopens, we will ask firms to start sharing, with government, the cost of paying people’s salaries.

To be clear, the same level of support of 80% of people’s current salary, up to £2,500 will continue to be met, but through a shared effort between employers and government.

We will be setting out more details on the changes before the end of the month.

Throughout this pandemic, I have been struck by the way people have looked out for one another.

These measures are produced in that spirit.

So to employers I say: use this support and guidance to know you are doing the right thing and work with your unions and workers to keep each other safe.

And to workers I say: we are looking out for you; we want you to feel confident that you are financially supported and returning to a safe workplace.

Because in this time like no other, we all need to work together safely, as we rebuild our economy.

Thank you.

First Minister: stick with the guidelines to protect our NHS

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St. Andrew’s House, Edinburgh on Tuesday 12 May:

Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us for today’s briefing. I want to start, as usual, with an update on some of the key statistics in relation to COVID-19 in Scotland.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, I can tell you that there have been 13,763 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 136 from yesterday.

A total of 81 people last night were in intensive care with either confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and that is an increase of 1 since yesterday.

In terms of the numbers in hospital, I want to give a little bit more context to this figure today. As of last night, a total of 1618 patients were in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 – that is an increase of 165 from yesterday.

However, and this point I want to stress, that increase is entirely in suspected cases. The number of confirmed cases is 1,131 and that is a decrease of 14.

So, we are exploring this rise in suspected cases further. But as you know, all people over 70 admitted to hospital are now being tested even if they don’t have COVID symptoms. It may therefore be that until a test result is known, some health boards are automatically counting these patients as suspected even if they don’t have symptoms of the virus.

So I wanted to say that today to just alert you to the fact that this is something we will be investigating further – but at this stage I’d caution against having any undue concern about the hospital figure that I have reported to you today.

I am also able to confirm that since 5 March, a total of 3,167 patients who had tested positive and been hospitalised for the virus have been able to leave hospital. I’m sure of all us wish them well.

Unfortunately I also have to report that in the past 24 hours, 50 deaths have been registered of patients who had been confirmed through a test as having the virus – that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 1,912.

Tomorrow we will have the latest National Records of Scotland publication which will report deaths, not just those confirmed through a test but also those that are presumed to be related to the virus.

As always, I want to stress that behind each of these statistics is a unique and irreplaceable human being whose loss right now is a source of grief to many. I want to send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus and to say I’m sure that everybody across the country is thinking of you.

I also want to thank again our health and care workers. All of us are enormously grateful to you for the work that you are doing.

Today – 12 May – is the International Day of the Nurse. Myself and the Chief Medical Officer are joined today by the Chief Nursing Officer, Fiona McQueen.

And I want to say an extra special thank you to all of Scotland’s nurses – the past few weeks have demonstrated yet again just how much all of us owe to your compassion, your dedication and your expertise. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you.

I have three issues I want to briefly update on today.

The first relates to the social care sector, which of course is being placed under immense pressure by this virus. The Scottish Government is working hard to support the sector in every way we can – we have, for example, expanded testing in care homes, we are also and have been for some time, ensuring that any care home with an urgent need for personal protective equipment that can’t be sourced through normal routes, can receive it from our national stockpile of PPE.

Today, I can confirm that we are making an additional £50 million available, to help meet extra costs in the care sector that have been incurred as a result of COVID-19.

The funding will be allocated across every local authority area in the country – and it will cover both care home services, and care at home services. It will help to ensure that care services around the country can cope, with the immense pressures they are facing at this time.

The second issue I want to update on is to tell you we are setting aside £31 million to extend eligibility to the Small Business Grants Scheme.

The extension applies to premises which qualified for Charitable or Sports Rates Relief – but which would otherwise, if they hadn’t qualified for those reliefs, have been eligible for the small business bonus.

Charities occupying these properties can now receive small business grants. Those grants, as you may recall, are worth £10,000 for the first property, and £7,500 for any subsequent property owned by the same organisation.

We know that many charities which run small premises – such as day centres, offices or workshops – have been really hard hit by a loss of revenue during the pandemic.

Many of these charities – which include providers of health and care services – are still providing vital support to those who need it. Extending the small business grants scheme is one way in which we can help them at a time when the help that they provide is more important than ever.

The final point I want to make today is that, as I have emphasised over the past couple of days, the lockdown restrictions remain in place for Scotland.

And so it’s maybe worth stressing what this currently means in relation to employers and employees.

I know that the UK Government published guidance for businesses yesterday. I want to stress that this guidance is not yet operational in Scotland at this stage, since we are not currently encouraging more people to go back to work.

I would ask instead that all employers follow the Scottish Government guidance. I am very grateful for the fact that the vast majority of employers have been so responsible throughout this crisis – so I am sure that most will do this, and will not urge workers to come back to work prematurely.

And for employees, I would remind you that if you think your working conditions are unsafe, you have rights under employment legislation. If you have a trade union in your workplace, and you have concerns about your working conditions, you should also be able to talk to them.

The Scottish Government is working with employers and trade unions to develop guidance on safe workplaces which has the confidence of businesses and workers.  

We have therefore established working groups across 14 sectors to consider how quickly, and in what manner, we can start to return to work.

Early priorities, as I have stated before, are the retail, manufacturing and construction sectors.  However the working groups also cover sectors such as tourism, energy, finance and food and drink.

We believe that this partnership approach is the right and responsible way to proceed. It will allow businesses to reopen when they can safely do so, and we all want that to be as soon as possible, and it will hopefully provide employers, workers and the wider public with the vital reassurance that reopening will not be putting your health at unnecessary risk.

Finally, I want to restate what the lockdown restrictions mean for all of us. Our fundamental advice in Scotland remains unchanged. Please stay at home – except for essential work that can’t be done at home, for buying food or accessing medicines, or exercising.

You can now go for walks, runs or bike rides more than once a day if you want to. But when you are out, please stay more than two meters from other people and don’t meet up with people from other households.

Wear a face covering if you are in a shop or on public transport. And isolate completely if you or someone in your household has symptoms.

As I say every day, I know these restrictions are very hard and they get tougher to comply with every single day that passes. But we are doing it for a reason because by complying with these restrictions now, we will all come out of lockdown sooner and we will do so in a way that minimises the number of lives that are lost to this horrible virus.

So please stick with these restrictions for now. Because that is the way that we will continue to slow the spread of the virus, it’s how we will continue to protect the NHS and as I said a moment ago, it is how we will save lives. So my thanks again to all of you for your cooperation so far.