The Scotland-based Rural Youth Project is calling young people to join a focus group to help develop a pioneering “world first” youth-centric Smart Village which will champion young people to collaboratively build vibrant, creative, and sustainable rural economies in the places they call home.
Smart Villages, a concept driven by the European Network for Rural Development, are rural digital ‘villages’ that combine physical and digital communities to improve their resilience, building on local strengths and opportunities.
Smart Village Scotland have partnered with the Rural Youth Project, to create the Rural Youth Project Smart Village which will be a super connected community that will function as a space for young people to connect, to build or expand their enterprise and leadership skills and to trade.
Co-Founders and Directors of the Rural Youth Project, Jane Craigie and Rebecca Dawes, said: “The Rural Youth Project Smart Village is an opportunity to provide a digital place that really benefits young people in many aspects of their rural lives.
“We are particularly excited about the marketplace where young people can sell products and services, as a buyer from Smart Village ‘shops’ you will know that for every pound you spend, that you will be supporting a Scottish young person and investing back into their local rural community.
“It will also be a space for young people to network and form mentoring relationships with their peers and, also older business and community leaders, while also having access to learning resources to support them in building a vibrant, creative and sustainable rural economy in Scotland.
“With other Smart Villages in development across Scotland, this will be the first dedicated rural youth Smart Village in the world thus is certain to attract both European and international partners as it establishes.”
Ashely Petrie from Smart Village Scotland said, “The Rural Youth Project Smart Village will be strategically designed to solve the big challenges faced by young people at local and national levels, it’s exciting to partner with the Rural Youth Project and LEADER to deliver this project.
“With an aim to launch the Rural Youth Project Smart Village in Winter 2020, young people are urged to come forward to join a focus group being held on 10 September to help shape the platform to ensure that is what young people want and need. Those wishing to register to attend can do so by contacting the Rural Youth Project.”
Chair of Rural Perth and Kinross LEADER Programme and Chief Executive of Growbiz Scotland, Jackie Brierton, said: “The Rural Youth Project received £191,170 support from theLEADER Programme 2014-2020: The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas.
“The funding comes from 5 regions in Scotland. We’re therefore delighted that a vibrant Smart Village community, built for and by young people, is being developed to support our five LEADER areas; Angus, Lanarkshire, Outer Hebrides, Rural Perth and Kinross and the Scottish Borders, which will leave a lasting legacy for those rural young people and communities.
“Smart Villages are being developed to support a number of communities in Scotland and Europe. A dedicated one for young people is essential to enable them to connect, have a voice, share ideas, engage with relevant entrepreneurs and community leaders to help them to address challenges where they want to live, study and work.
“Covid19 has brought young people and communities many additional challenges and this is a fantastic opportunity for young people to get involved and develop new skills to be part of shaping the future for their community. The next phase of a longer-term programme to reach out to all areas of Scotland and enable all young people to participate and become the next generation of rural leaders.”
Young people interested in attending the focus group on 10 September can register via the Eventbrite link here.
Eco-conscious Brits have been offered tips on the most practical ways to reduce household carbon emissions, to help the UK reach a net-zero emissions goal by 2050.
With recent stats revealing that the South-East of England is still the worst offending area for CO2 emissions, throughout the rest of the UK, attention has been shifted to how we are going to reach net-zero carbon emissions in time for 2050.
Both the IPCC and the UK’s Climate Change Committee also highlight the important need to increase efforts in cutting greenhouse gas outputs, to help us reach ‘net-zero’.
From changing light bulbs to unplugging devices, the experts at Utility Bidder have revealed seven easy ways for Brits to reduce their impact on the environment, without making drastic and radical changes.
It’s not just environmental campaigners such as Greta Thunberg who can make a difference, the British public can all help lower carbon emissions by adopting some simple lifestyle changes.
If enough of us make a few minor changes to our daily lives and routines it could dramatically offset Britain’s carbon footprint and ultimately add to making a huge difference for our environment.
As well as reducing the UK’s carbon emissions, the following tips can also help lower Britain’s household costs by using less energy, less water, and less heat.
James Longley, managing director at Utility Bidder said: “As the people of the world come out of lockdown thoughts turn to preserving nature and maintaining the air quality we have become accustomed to during the last few months.
“Conversation across the UK is rightly turning to ways in which we can all try to better our environment and ensure we leave a better world for generations to come.
“This prompted Utility Bidder to research the UK’s carbon emissions rates across the UK between 2005 and 2017, and the study found that carbon emissions were slashed by exactly one third.
“All around the UK local authorities and business leaders are taking steps to reduce their carbon emissions and our study confirms that real progress is being made.
“And to help lower the UK’s carbon footprint, we should all be taking responsibility and making changes to our day-to-day lives to lessen the impact. Simply unplugging your devices when they’re not in use and taking shorter showers will add up to make a notable difference in the long run.”
There are many ways to live a lower carbon lifestyle, and every one of them has a real impact on tackling climate change.
Here are some easy tips that Brits can do to save money and shrink their carbon footprint today!
Drive less
This is all about reducing mileage, and cutting driving by a third a year can reduce Brits’ carbon footprint by around 15 per cent.
Using public transport, cycling or walking instead of driving can have a significant impact on your CO2 emissions.
If Brits are looking for a new car, it might be worth considering a more efficient electric vehicle.
Dry clothes naturally
Tumble dryers are easy and quick to use, but consume large amounts of energy. By using clothes horses and hanging clothes up on a washing line, Brits will save just over 4kWh of energy and around 1.8kg CO2 per cycle.
Buy less fast fashion
It can take up to 20,000 litres of water to make just one new t-shirt and one new pair of jeans. That’s more water than the average person drinks in 12 years.
Used clothes, on the other hand, reduce the environmental impact by limiting CO2 emissions and reducing the waste of billions of litres of water that would have been needed to generate new clothes.
Buying clothes from a second-hand shop is much better for the environment.
Take shorter showers
Showers use 2.5 gallons of water per minute, and each gallon uses three ounces of carbon dioxide. So, if Brits shorten showers by 2 minutes a day, they can save 342 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
The more hot water used, the higher the energy and utility bills will be, so using less water can lower energy costs and help the bank balance.
Unplug devices
Sometimes known as vampire energy, electricity is still consumed by appliances and electronics even when they are switched off but still plugged in.
It is best to leave electronics unplugged at all times if possible, but it can be hassle running around turning off microwaves, TVs, etc… so one solution might be to use power strips to group the vampire energy into one switch.
Use energy-saving bulbs
Each low energy light bulb in comparison to a traditional bulb can save 2000 times its weight in carbon dioxide emissions over 5-8 years.
Whilst some can be expensive bulbs they last much longer and will ultimately end up saving money on energy bills, as well as helping reduce carbon emissions.
Wash clothes in colder water
Doing laundry on a cold-water setting can reduce a washing machine’s carbon emissions by a massive 75%!
Using cold water is fine for most clothes and other items that go in the washing machine. It can remove many stains from clothing, including grass on children’s jeans or makeup smudges on a sweater.
For more information on the UK’s carbon emissions and to see an interactive graphic of the regional differences across the UK please click here.
A powerful new campaign by The Scottish Government and Road Safety Scotland* to tackle the serious issue of driver fatigue, launched today with a clear message for all drivers – Driving Tired Kills.
Fatigue is a contributory factor in crashes which kill or seriously injure around 50 people every year in Scotland.1
In 2018, 14 people died on Scotland’s roads due to fatigue (nine per cent of all road deaths),2 however experts estimate that the real figure is much higher, with up to 30 per cent of all collisions involving driver fatigue.3
Sleep related collisions are around 50 per cent more likely to result in death or serious injury as they tend to be high speed impacts.4
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson said: “We are committed to achieving safer road travel in Scotland for everyone. Driver fatigue is a severe problem that causes too many serious and fatal road collisions each year.
“Drivers should plan their journeys well in advance, ensure they are well rested before setting out and take breaks every two hours. It’s simple yet powerful advice which can help save many lives on Scotland’s roads.”
Many of the counter measures drivers use (opening a window, turning up the radio) have been shown to be ineffective. A two second micro-sleep at 30 mph can result in complete transition from one lane to the next and you will be unable to notice or react to a child stepping out on the road5.
Sleep expert Christine Poulter, honorary strategic clinical advisor, Society of Occupational Medicine said: “Fatigue is a major safety issue on our roads. Sleep deprivation can result in micro-sleeps at the wheel causing fatalities for the driver, passengers and other unsuspecting road users or pedestrians.
“Most adults require between seven to nine hours sleep every night; five hours sleep is not enough to function safely. It’s important to keep regular sleep patterns when you can, especially if you are working shifts. Going to bed and getting up at roughly the same time, will programme your body to sleep better to help combat fatigue.”
Drivers often experience early signs of feeling tired such as yawning, eyes dropping and head-nodding, and should stop for a rest as soon as it’s safe to do so.
Blair Boyd, workplace fatigue expert and chartered health and safety practitioner said: “Having felt the effects of fatigue while working shifts, I would never get behind the wheel when tired. The consequences are just too great.
“The effects of fatigue are comparable to driving under the influence of alcohol, which we would not accept in society. With better education and understanding, employers can work to reduce the risk of driver fatigue by planning and managing workloads and shift patterns.”
The new multi-media marketing campaign will run on multiple channels including TV, digital, outdoor, radio, PR and social media.
The thought-provoking advertising features a striking close-up of a tired driver’s eye, with the road ahead reflected in it. After a long blink, the road reappears in the eye, however the car drifts towards the centre of the road as the eye droops further and finally remains closed, resulting in a head on collision with another car and devastating consequences.
For more information visit roadsafety.scot/fatigue or check out the Road Safety Scotland Facebook and Twitter (@roadsafetyscot) pages.
FUN-loving pensioners who were missing out after the world’s biggest arts festival was cancelled have been treated to a bespoke day of events instead.
Cramond Residence, Edinburgh’s most exclusive care home, hosted a Festival-Fringe-style celebration for its residents since the annual arts event was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The day-long ‘Cramond Fringe’ saw residents and staff enjoy a celebration of arts and entertainment, while abiding by social distancing rules. It included performances by magicians, jugglers, poets and singers.
Lisa Sohn, Lifestyle Co-ordinator at Cramond Residence, said: “This offered something different for our residents and it was wonderful way to bring everyone together safely.
“While nothing can make up for Edinburgh losing the Festival-Fringe this year because of the pandemic, we still had a brilliant day of entertainment and performances here. The residents absolutely loved it.”
Cramond Residence is a purpose-built care home created at a cost of £8m and opened in October 2018. It combines luxury, five-star accommodation with outstanding clinical standards – with places available from £1850 per week.
The Cramond Fringe event was held in the residence’s dedicated cinema room – a sizeable, multi-purpose space which enabled strict social distancing. The residence also includes a library, hair salon, private, fine-dining space and a physiotherapy room.
Lisa added: “The fringe celebrations started with a ribbon cutting ceremony in the morning, followed by refreshments over a presentation on the history of the Festival and a Fringe trivia quiz for those more competitive residents.
“After lunch we started our afternoon of entertainment which included juggling, magic shows, skits, jokes, and a sing-song. We tried to create the feeling of a variety of acts by switching the chairs around and creating different ‘stages’.
“Speaking with the residents after the event, they told us they’d loved it a really good time and would love for it to happen again – maybe we will need to make the Cramond Fringe an annual celebration due to popular demand.”
Cramond Residence can care for up to 74 older people and has a specialist dementia unit to care for those with an advanced stage of dementia. Each resident enjoys a luxury room with en-suite bathroom facilities. It maintains a care staff to resident ratio of at least 1:4 at all times.
Spread across three floors, it also adopts a small-group living philosophy. That means groups of eight rooms form distinct “houses”, where residents are encouraged to eat and socialise together. This is believed to have played a major role in infection control during the Coronavirus pandemic to date.
Capital Theatres, Scotland’s largest theatre charity, has received £168,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fundto support its three venues – Festival Theatre, King’s Theatre and The Studio, through this period of closure.
This vital funding, which will help maintain the iconic buildings in a safe condition, has been made possible thanks to National Lottery players.
This funding from the Heritage Emergency Fund will go towards covering essential costs such as electricity, gas, IT, insurance and maintenance of the theatres whilst they are closed. It will also go towards a small element of staff salaries for those who are responsible for ensuring the venues are secure and maintained whilst closed, and who will plan how we can adapt our venues to safely reopen our venues when we are allowed to do so.
At least 90% of Capital Theatres’ income is generated from ticket sales and trading income, meaning that the sudden closure meant an immediate loss of the two main sources of income.
To date Capital Theatres has refunded 52,900 tickets with a value of over £2.5m. The postponement of the panto until 2021 will result in a further £2.3m loss of income.
It is currently campaigning to receive emergency support to the same level as other publicly supported theatres which would allow Capital Theatres to play its part in the renewal solution for Edinburgh and Scotland.
Beyond its 3 key venues the organisation provides local community health and wellbeing benefits through an extensive programme currently adapted to run virtually, delivers a key element of Edinburgh’s year-round cultural offer for local citizens and retains 230 jobs in the city’s cultural sector.
Kate Smith, Director of Development at Capital Theatres said: “Capital Theatres, Scotland’s largest theatre charity, is responsible for the Festival Theatre, King’s Theatre and the Studio. When we closed our venues in March due to Covid-19 we saw a 90% reduction in our income from loss of ticket sales.
“This vital funding from the Heritage Emergency Fund will help maintain our buildings in a safe condition. On behalf of everyone at Capital Theatres we would like to thank National Lottery Players.”
The funding, made possible by National Lottery players, was awarded through The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund. £50million was made available to provide emergency funding for those most in need across the heritage sector.
The UK-wide fund aimed to address both immediate emergency actions and help organisations to start thinking about recovery.
Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, supporting economic regeneration and benefiting our personal wellbeing. All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.
“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisations such as Capital Theatres during this uncertain time.”
Like Capital Theatres, other charities and organisations across the UK that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus outbreak are being given access to a comprehensive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from The National Lottery.
This money is supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and span the arts, community, charity, heritage, education, environment and sports sectors.
Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for good causes, including heritage of local and national importance. By playing The National Lottery, people up and down the country are making an amazing contribution to the nationwide-response to combatting the impact of COVID-19 on local communities across the UK.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund is now closed for applications.
To find out more about how The National Heritage Emergency Fund is supporting the sector at this time please visit:
Unite reps in Edinburgh have ensured a 3.3% uplift for adult social care contracts & a Living Wage.
Unite Scotland has welcomed the move by the Edinburgh Joint Integration Board (EIJB) to allocate £6m funding for adult social care workers and personal assistants who work in the third and independent sectors.
Backdated to 1 April, social care support workers in Edinburgh will be awarded a real Living Wage of £9.30p/h, including sleepovers & hours worked by personal assistants.
The funding uplift was agreed on Monday at an EIJB meeting following extensive lobbying by Unite voluntary sector representatives in Edinburgh to ensure that adequate funding was allocated to deliver the 3.3% national uplift for adult social care contracts for the Living Wage commitment, announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Jeanne Freeman MSP on 12 April.
Mary Alexander, Scottish Deputy Secretary: “This is a victory for Social Care in Edinburgh. It rightly recognises the critical role workers have, looking after vulnerable adults in Edinburgh.
“”The decision to allocate £6m will now ensure all adult social care workers commissioned by the local authority to provide adult social care whether in care homes, care at home or community-based services will not be working for less than the Living Wage of £9.30 for all hours worked including sleepovers.
“It also rightly recognises the critical role social care workers have played in looking after vulnerable adults in Edinburgh. Unite will continue to campaign for a national care service and Fair Work across the whole sector.”
North Edinburgh Arts is delighted to be able to share ‘Writing the Times’, new work by Alice Musumba Purves, David Francis, David Pickering, Dawn Pearce, Ferdinand McKay, Mary Graham, Rhona Cameron, Sandra Newby, Sasha Noel, Tracey Anderson.
Stephanie Knight, who led theWriting the Times project, explained: “‘Writing the Times has been a six week project, with weekly Zoom meetings and continuous emails.
“During the Zoom meetings, we discussed other people’s writing that inspired us, we read our drafts, we considered frameworks, layout, quotes, prologues and epilogues, we discussed how our readers might respond to our writing.
“The project was open to participants and artists who have worked with North Edinburgh Arts Theatre project, and to Yoga Students at North Edinburgh Arts. People self-selected, and this publication demonstrates the commitment and dedication everyone has given to Writing the Times.
“This is published at the time when we would have been witnessing Edinburgh swing into full Festival flourish. Now we plan, reflect and then plan again for another time.”
A limited edition of print copies of Writing the Times will be available in the autumn, and the writers hope to record their stories in the NEA studio to share their work as spoken word – keep an eye on North Edinburgh Arts Facebook page for updates.
A mistake in a spreadsheet calculation set in motion a series of events that led to the delayed opening of the new £150m Sick Kids hospital, a new report has revealed.
The go-ahead for a new hospital at Little France, a replacement for the ageing Sick Childrens Hospital in Sciennes, was first agreed by NHS Lothian in 2005 but the project has seen a catalogue of delays and spiralling costs.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman, Lothian MSP Miles Briggs, said: ““It is absolutely staggering that this mistake has had such huge repercussions and was not picked up until after the new hospital had been built.
“This review is highlighting how ill equipped health boards are for undertaking projects the magnitude of a new hospital.
“SNP Ministers are ultimately responsible for what has been described as a ‘collective failure’ in the specifications of ventilators at the hospital.
“This fiasco has cost the tax payer enormous amounts of money, money which should have gone towards properly resourcing hospitals and improving treatment times.”
Pride Throwback Weekend from Friday 28th August to Sunday 30th August
Pride events may have been cancelled across the country this year but Clyde 1 and Forth 1 are ensuring that the celebrations can still go on with a Pride Throwback Weekend across Scotland.
The event – sponsored by global law firm, CMS Scotland – will be held from Friday 28th August to Sunday 30th August 2020 on Clyde 1 and Forth 1 and right across the Hits Radio Network in Scotland.
The event will also include Sunday Pride which will see Micky Gavin and Grant Thomson hosting a show on Sunday 30th Aug across the whole of the Hits Radio network in Scotland* from 12 noon to 4pm.
The show will feature iconic Pride artists including the likes of Lady Gaga, Years & Years, Kylie and Dua Lipa
Scottish listeners will also be asked to share their own Pride stories via WhatsApp on 07557 887113.
The popular presenters will also launch ‘Pride: Scotland’s March for Equality’, a series of three podcasts where they talk about their experiences growing up gay in Scotland, talk to some amazing people from the LGBT+ community, and learn about the history, and future, of Pride in Scotland.
A new LGBTQ+ dedicated station, Hits Radio Pride, is also launching on Friday 28th August 2020. The pop-up station will play a vibrant playlist of some of the biggest hits and throwbacks.
In partnership with The Co-operative Bank and working with LGBT+ helpline Switchboard, the new station will be a fresh and unique destination where the LGBTQ+ community, advocates and allies can feel connected, safe and empowered to be themselves
The station will initially be available in Scotland online, on mobile apps and on smart speakers.
Victoria Easton-Riley, Content Director, Hits Radio Network in Scotland, said: “We have been a proud supporter of Pride for many years and remain committed to promoting diversity and inclusion.
“COVID-19 has obviously impacted on many of the planned events and we thought it was more important than ever that our listeners could celebrate Pride.
“We are planning Scotland’s biggest Pride party with our Throwback Weekend as well as the launch of Micky and Grant’s brilliant new podcast series.”
The Pride Throwback Weekend will be broadcast across Clyde 1, Forth 1 and the Hits Radio Network in Scotland from Friday 28th August to Sunday 30th August 2020.
You can listen on FM, DAB, online, via the station Apps or on your Smart Speaker.
*The Hits Radio Network in Scotland includes Clyde 1, Forth 1, MFR, Northsound 1, TAY FM, Radio Borders & West FM.
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing at St Andrew’s House yesterday (Tuesday 25 August):
Hello everybody and welcome to today’s update. I will start with the usual update on the COVID statistics. I can tell you that an additional 44 positive cases were confirmed yesterday which is 0.8% of people newly tested, and means that the total number of cases now 19,921.
The full health board breakdown will be available later, but my provisional information is that 7 of the 44 new cases are in Tayside, where of course, we are dealing with the cluster involving the Two Sisters food processing plant.
I can also confirm that a total of 243 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed COVID which five fewer than yesterday.
And one person is currently in intensive care and that’s the same as yesterday.
Again in the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients who had tested positive in the previous 28 days for the virus. Which means that the number of deaths under that measurement is still 2,492.
This week’s more comprehensive figure, which includes deaths where COVID was either confirmed through a test or presumed will be published by National Records of Scotland tomorrow.
These figures obviously continue to be a stark reminder of the impact this COVID has had and again I want to express condolences to everybody who has been bereaved as a result of it.
And again today my thanks go to everyone who is working hard in a whole number of different ways across the country to help us through this difficult period.
There are three issues I want to cover today.Firstly, I’ll give just a bit more detail on the main clusters that we are dealing with right now.
In Aberdeen, there are 261 cases associated with the cluster linked to pubs in the city. That’s an increase of two since yesterday. But it’s worth noting that one of those cases had already been reported – but has only now been linked to the original cluster.
These figures generally point to the good progress that has been made, in containing this outbreak. And I’m very grateful to everyone in Aberdeen for their patience – and their compliance with the restrictions that have been in place.
In relation to the outbreak linked to the 2 Sisters plant in Coupar Angus, as of yesterday, there were 152 positive cases linked to it – 134 of those were workers of the factory, and 18 were contacts of those workers.
The process of contact tracing there continues. And so I would expect that we’ll see these numbers rise a bit more in the days to come.
Just to give you some context, over the past six days, the mobile testing unit, at the 2 Sisters plant itself, has tested more than 900 people – and other testing sites in Dundee, Forfar and Perth have, between them, tested more than 2,500 people.
And the bit I want to stress, although I would repeat that we’re not complacent about this, but at this stage there is still no evidence of wider community transmission from this outbreak and that of course is positive, given the scale of the outbreak that we have been dealing with.
I want to thank everyone who is involved in managing it. It’s a huge amount of work that is being done and let me thank also, employees at the factory – and their households – who of course are now self-isolating.
And let me stress how important it is that people in those households do self-isolate for the entire period advised and that is until Monday 31 August.
I can understand that there will be a temptation to nip out, maybe to go to a shop or to go to see other people, but please do not do that. Even if you have had a negative test in the last few days, it is still possible that you could still develop and spread the virus so please follow all of the guidance and stay at home.
It is because people are complying with that, that so far we are managing to avoid this outbreak seeping into the community. So please bear with it and stick with it so that we can continue with that success.
Finally, there are a number of cases not least in Lanarkshire, involving individuals who attend schools.
The health protection teams locally are dealing with all of these cases, where necessary they have and will continue to write to parents and carers of children in relevant classes, advising them that their children should self-isolate.
I want to stress in relation to all of these outbreaks that we’re dealing with just now, and indeed, the situation with schools, we are not unduly concerned by any of these situations right at this moment.
That said, we are not complacent either. As you will appreciate, we will continue to monitor, all cases, clusters and outbreaks very very closely indeed.
The second issue I want to talk about today concerns some issues that people have been over the last day or so in booking tests, through the UK-wide booking system.
Over the weekend, there was a major spike in demand for testing, not just in Scotland, but we think across the UK, and that led to some constraints on the booking portal, throughout the day yesterday. And that in turn resulted in a surge of calls to our COVID-19 helpline.
I know this will have been frustrating for people trying to book a test. I want to thank you all for bearing with us, as we’ve worked to address these issues and I want to just run through some of the work that is being done to do just that.
Now some of what I would describe as technical issues, for example, people in Scotland being offered tests in centres outside Scotland are being resolved – that shouldn’t be happening.
Where any technical issues do arise, as unfortunately with a system of this scale and complexity might sometimes do, we will endeavour to have those sorted as quickly as possible.
On the issue of capacity though, which is the more significant issue, we’ve always known that there will be fluctuations in demand for testing. That’s why we have contingency plans in place and these contingency plans are already, as we speak, being activated.
For example, over the course of this week, we will be deploying three additional mobile testing units, across the central belt of Scotland. The first of these will be operational in Glasgow today, this afternoon, and the other two will be operational later this week. In total, they will increase capacity by around 1,200-1,500 tests every day.
We are also, over the course of this week, further increasing the number of tests that can be carried out at the regional testing centres, across the country and we are also utilizing additional NHS testing capacity. For example, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will be activating drive-through facilities to help manage demand in their local area.
In the more medium term, but already this is work that has been in progress, we are also establishing eleven local walk-through testing centres. The first of these will be housed in the Victory Memorial Hall in St Andrews. And together, they will help to increase sampling capacity by more than 3,000 tests a day.
So we will continue to implement these plans to further increase capacity as we head into winter, as we have always been preparing to do.
But we will also continue work to sure appropriate contingencies are in place for periods when we have higher than expected demand for testing – which is likely to happen as we go into winter but, at any point, if there perhaps is another virus circulating, a cold that is leading, perhaps in particular, to children having symptoms similar to COVID then we know we will see these spikes in demand and that’s why we need to have these contingencies in place to deal with them.
But let me take this opportunity, just to remind everyone, that you should only book a test, either for yourself or for a family member, if you or they do have one of the COVID symptoms; a new persistent cough, a fever, or a loss of or change in your sense of taste or smell.
The exceptions to that general position of only booking a test if you have symptoms are firstly if you are advised to do by Test and Protect, sometimes Test and Protect will advise people, who have been contacts of confirmed cases but who don’t have symptoms, to go for a test.
And secondly, if you work in a profession with agreed access to testing, for example, staff working in schools, but otherwise, only book a test if you have one of the symptoms that we often and regularly remind you of.
Now the third issue I want to cover today is the use of face coverings in schools.
As I said yesterday, our scientific advisory group has been looking closely at this issue – particularly in light of the new World Health Organisation guidance, which was published at the weekend.
As a result of that work, the advisory group has recommended changes to our current guidance in Scotland. Their recommendations are based on the latest scientific evidence – as well as the real-life experiences of schools, since they reopened a number of days ago. And the Scottish Government – in consultation with the Education Recovery Group – has now agreed the changes proposed.
It’s possibly worth just reminding people of what the current guidance says before I set out what the changes to that are. In general, the current guidance advises that face coverings in the classroom are not necessary. However, it says that staff should wear them, if they can’t physically distance, and are having face-to-face interaction with pupils for more than around 15 minutes.
The guidance also currently emphasises that staff and pupils should be supported to wear face coverings, if they wish to do so. That advice remains unchanged.
However, the new guidance will now include two additional situations where face coverings should be worn.
Firstly, as I indicated yesterday, adults and pupils in secondary schools should wear face coverings when they are moving around school in areas where distancing is challenging – for example, through corridors or in communal spaces.
And secondly, adults and children aged 5 and over should wear face coverings on dedicated school transport. That of course simply now mirrors the situation on public transport more generally.
Now in both of these situations, there is a greater potential for different groups to mix. There is more chance of voices being raised – resulting in the creation of aerosols. And of course, there is less scope for distancing and effective ventilation. So we believe that face coverings could provide an additional layer of protection, in mitigating these factors.
The guidance will also now emphasise how face coverings can be used to address specific issues – for example, where there is a concern about a particular school, or where there is an outbreak or greater transmission in a particular area.
All of these changes will apply from next Monday – 31 August. Before then, schools will be expected to provide pupils with clear instructions on the use of face coverings.
We expect that most children and young people will have access to face coverings already as part of their daily lives. However, we will work with local authorities, to ensure that schools also have supplies – so that no child is disadvantaged.
There are of course people for whom wearing a face covering is not appropriate – which is why there are already exemptions in place for individuals with breathing difficulties or certain disabilities when it comes to wearing a covering in places like supermarkets.
So there will also be young people for whom it is not appropriate to wear a face covering in school and schools will of course discuss that with pupils and parents. But let me be clear that nobody should be stigmatised in a school because they cannot, for one of those reasons, wear a face covering.
We hope that these changes provide some additional assurance to pupils, staff, and parents. We know it’s not easy, none of what we ‘re all having to live with right now, generally or in schools, is easy but it is all about trying to minimise the risk of transmission. And we will of course continue to keep the guidance under review.
I want to emphasise though, and this applies not just in schools but applies more generally, face coverings are just one additional layer of protection. They are not a substitute for the other things we’re asking people to do. All of the other safety measures –good hand hygiene, regular cleaning, and where possible in schools, physical distancing – remain vitally important.
Of course, that applies not just to people in schools, but to all of us. So to close today, I want to quickly remind everyone – again – of the key public health guidance.
We know indoor transmission is a risk, we’ve always known that, and we see the evidence of that coming through our data right now, so can I take the opportunity to remind everybody that when you are indoors, no more than eight people from a maximum of three households should be meeting up. That applies whenever you are in somebody’s house, or in a pub, a bar or a restaurant.
You should – at all times – physically distance from members of other households. And remember to wash your hands and hard surfaces.
All of this, if we all follow these rules, minimises our chances of getting the virus and it also minimises the risk of us passing the virus on to others.
And as I said yesterday, and it’s worth everybody bearing this in mind, as Test and Protect operates around the country, if you follow all of these rules, particularly around physical distancing, you are less likely to be a contact, a close contact, of someone with COVID. So you are less likely to get that call from Test and Protect advising you to self-isolate for 14 days.
Let me absolutely bring my remarks to a close now by just reminding everybody of the FACTS rules – the five golden rules that everybody must follow to try to keep this virus under control:
Face coverings in enclosed spaces
Avoid crowded places
Clean your hands and hard surfaces regularly
Two metre distancing remains the overall rule
and self-isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms.
