Drive through clinics for the flu vaccination in Edinburgh will be closed tomorrow (Saturday 3 October) in response to a severe weather alert issued by the Met Office.
A warning for heavy downpours has been put in place for the region, during which flooding and travel disruption is expected. The Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership has taken the decision to temporarily pause drive through vaccination clinics, which operate outdoors, as a result.
A spokesperson for the Partnership said: “Keeping the people of Edinburgh safe and healthy is our priority, and we feel it is the right step to close our drive through clinics when a spell of such severe weather is expected to hit the City.
“While our clinics do not require patients to leave the car, they do involve our nurses and front line workers administering the flu vaccine outdoors. We need to ensure their safety and wellbeing should heavy downpours and flooding occur, as indicated by the severe weather warning, and we want to avoid encouraging our patients to make unnecessary travel during extreme road conditions.
“This is, of course, a temporary step and we’ll re-open centres as soon as it is safe to do so. Our plan is for all centres to be operating again on Sunday.”
Walk through clinics scheduled for Saturday will operate as planned and information is available through the NHS Inform website.
Residents are also advised to monitor the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership’s social media channels for the latest updates.
Hundreds of participants from around the world have signed up for the Great Scottish October Challenge.
We would like to wish all our October Challengers best wishes as they set out on their chosen events over the next month. Here are just a few of our overseas October Challengers.
Ross from Australia, Clare from Canada, Louise from Denmark,Heinz from Switzerland, Petra from Germany, Tracy from New Zealand, Svein-Erik from Norway, Victor from Kenya, Valtine from Romania, Janice from USA, Emilie from France, Aline from Ireland.
To all those who have not joined it’s still not too late to take up the challenge:
In the midst of the pandemic, nurse Lindsay Macdonald reassures little Hannah as she carries her to the operating theatre at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow. This moment was captured by Lisa Miller, photographer with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Medical Illustration team.
It has been selected as one of 100 photos to be displayed in the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibit: Hold Still which captures a collective portrait of the UK during lockdown and the pandemic over the past six months. Lisa’s photo was chosen out of 31,000 submissions.
Lisa Miller, photographer NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Medical Illustration team, said: “I took this shot during the height of the pandemic and it shows that in the middle of what was and still is a scary time for everyone, the comfort of a nurse to a young patient.
“I’ve been working in our hospitals throughout the pandemic and have been able to capture moments no one else has been able to. We’ve had to wear full PPE which has made it hard to focus and frame the images through the viewfinder of the camera properly but I’ve been able to expand my skill range and take portraits alongside medical photographs.”
Lisa was only allowed to submit one photograph to the National Portrait Gallery and after much deliberation sought the opinion of her mum because she would look at the image from a mother’s perspective.
She added: “We’re always in sensitive situations, dealing with patients so it’s important to build up a rapport with them to make sure they feel safe and comfortable.”
Lisa has also been shortlisted for a Sky Arts TV photo competition, with another photo of Lindsay.
The National Portrait Gallery exhibit is available to view online: Hold Still.
Nurse Lindsay said: “The picture was taken during a time, right in the middle of lockdown and staff were all adjusting to new ways of working. At that time we were not using the anaesthetic rooms to put children under an anaesthetic and parents were not able to come with children into theatre. Because seeing staff wearing the full PPE could be quite scary for some children, especially young children who can’t see your face.
“That day I was going to meet the patient at reception and bring them to theatre. That way everyone who was already in all the PPE could stay in the theatre room and cause as much little distress for the child before she went to sleep.
“I still remember Hannah, she was such a lovely little girl. I was walking up the corridor to theatre with her in my arms, as she wanted to be there rather than on the trolley. Lisa was also there waiting to go into theatre when she took the photo.
“As a nurse I believe the patient feeling safe and happy is crucial to our role, as they are going into an unknown place with people that are complete strangers to them. I am a parent myself and I completely understand that when parents are handing over the most precious thing in the world to them, they have to believe and put their trust in us that we will absolutely take care of them and make sure that they are in safe hands.”
Lisa has also been shortlisted for a Sky Arts TV photo competition, with another photo of Lindsay.
The National Portrait Gallery exhibit is available to view online: Hold Still.
National volunteering and social change charity, Volunteering Matters and City of Edinburgh Council have joined forces to launch Volunteers Supporting Families in Edinburgh – a project that recruits, trains and support volunteers to mentor families going through a range of challenges, are in crisis or who need extra help in their lives.
This will be the first time Volunteers Supporting Families has launched in Scotland, with the programme already established in three local authorities in England.
The programme, run by Volunteering Matters, will enable trained volunteers to help families address the challenges they face and assist them in creating a happy and safe environment in which they can thrive.
Volunteers provide a listening ear, practical support and encouragement, helping families with budgeting, healthy eating, setting routines and improving social networks.
Thanks to a 3 year award from the Edinburgh Communities and Families Grant Programme, the projects volunteers will meet their allocated family on a weekly basis, over a six-month period.
Their support will empower parents to develop the skills required in overcoming serious challenges or hardships. In many cases this will enable the family to rebuild their lives and move on from social worker intervention, reducing the need of social services.
Already a success in other areas including Greenwich and Southend-on-Sea, the programme is now available to Edinburgh residents and Volunteering Matters is calling on potential volunteers to get in touch for this exciting opportunity.
John Brown at Volunteering Matters, said: “Our volunteers, and the parents they support, continue to impress us with their energy, resilience, patience and commitment to overcome serious challenges, protect vulnerable children and rebuild family relationships.
“We are proud to be able to offer this key support to people across parts of Edinburgh and would like to invite prospective volunteers to contact us to find out more.”
Police Scotland can confirm that the M8 between Shotts and Whitburn will remain closed this afternoon following a fatal road traffic crash which happened in the early hours of this morning (Friday, 2 October).
Officers were called to reports of a road traffic collision on the eastbound carriageway at Shotts around 4.05am.
As a result of the incident, one person, the sole occupier of the vehicle has died.
The M8 was closed and remains shut both east and westbound between junction 4 and 5 whilst collision investigation is ongoing.
Chief Inspector Darren Faulds, said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of the person who sadly lost their life in this incident.
“We understand that closing this major route has caused significant disruption to motorists, and we thank them for their patience while we continue to respond to this serious incident.
“I would ask any driver using the M8 in the early hours of this morning who may have witnessed the incident, or who may have dash cam footage of the incident, contact police.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident 0355 of 2 October, 2020.
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Friday 2 October):
Good afternoon everybody, thanks for joining us. As usual I will give a report of the COVID-19 statistics for today.
The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 775. That’s 12.6% of people newly tested, and takes the total number of cases now to 30,687.
324 of the cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 164 in Lothian, and 102 in Lanarkshire. There will be a meeting today of the National Incident Management Team and they will be taking a look obviously at a range of issues but in particular at the current situation in Glasgow and Lanarkshire.
The remaining 185 cases were spread across 9 other health board areas.
I can also report that 175 people are in hospital – which is an increase of 21 from yesterday and 19 people are in intensive care, that’s 2 more than yesterday.
I also regret to report that 4 deaths have been registered of people who had first tested positive for Covid during the previous 28 days. The total number of deaths under that daily measurement is now 2,526.
And again, I want to send my sincere condolences to everybody who has lost a loved one and of course that particularly includes those who have lost a loved one in the last few days.
Obviously these numbers today, not just of cases, but perhaps more particularly hospital admissions, numbers in intensive care and the numbers of people dying, really should remind us that this resurgence of Covid is something we have to take very seriously.
Now, I’ve got several issues I want to briefly update on today.
Firstly, as I often do on a Friday, I want to draw your attention to an announcement made last night.
The Scottish Government has now added Poland and Turkey to the list of those countries subject to quarantine restrictions.
We have also added the three islands of the Caribbean Netherlands – Bonaire, Saba and Staysha.
That means from 4am tomorrow, people travelling to Scotland from these places must self-isolate for 14 days, upon their return.
Madeira and the Azores will be removed from the list of places which are subject to quarantine restrictions. However, if you have arrived from those places in the past two weeks – or if you arrive later today or tonight – you will still have to self-isolate for 14 days.
These changes are yet another reminder that levels of the virus – in any country or any area – can change quite rapidly. And when they change, our quarantine rules often change as well.
So please – and this is especially important as we approach the October holidays – think carefully right now about any unnecessary travel.
In fact, if possible, avoid unnecessary overseas travel. And remember that the fact that a country is exempt from quarantine requirements when you go there, does not necessarily mean that it will still be exempt when you come back.
The second update relates to the Protect Scotland app.
I’ve said before that the app is not a magic solution – it doesn’t replace the need for the hard work being done by our test and protect teams.
But it is a really important additional tool in tackling Covid, and it is already proving its worth.
More than 1.3 million people have downloaded the app. In the past three weeks, more than a third of the people who have tested positive have been app users. And during that time, more than 2,000 contacts have been advised to self-isolate through the app. And these are people who might not otherwise have been identified.
However there are three points that I want to stress which might make the app more useful.
The first applies to everybody who currently has it.
If you test positive for Covid, you will receive a code which you are then meant to enter into the app. Please make sure that you do that, because it is necessary for you to do that for the app then to automatically notify people you have been in close contact with.
Now that might sound very basic and obvious, but we know that at the moment not everyone who has the app, and who receives a positive test result, is actually doing that.
Now, enough people are doing it for the app to be making a difference – but it would obviously be better if everyone entered the code when they test positive. So please remember to do that.
The second point is that we issued an update to the app this week which some people may wish to take advantage of. It allows the app to be paused, without Bluetooth being disabled in your phone.
Now, let me stress first of all, that I don’t want people to pause the app when you are going about your day to day activities – because that would remove the point of having it.
But this is a feature that is especially useful for some groups of people, in particular perhaps, clinical staff in jobs that often involve being within 2 metres of other people, but where significant measures are in place to reduce the risk of infection – for example wearing medical grade protective equipment.
We are also looking at other improvements that can be made to the app. For example we are working really hard just now with NHS England and the NHS in Northern Ireland on linking up Protect Scotland with the apps in those countries, to support people who travel, to make these different apps interoperable.
We are also looking at whether the age limit for use of the app can change – right now you have to be over 16 and we’re looking to see whether it will be possible to reduce that in the future.
The final point I want to stress is that if you haven’t downloaded the app yet, and you are able to do so, please do it.
It takes less than 2 minutes. Your data is kept entirely secure and anonymous. And it is a simple but it is a really powerful and important way in which we can all play our part in the struggle against Covid.
Lastly, today, I want to stress again how important it is that all of us self-isolate when we are asked to do so.
Obviously I can’t do that today without first addressing the issue of Margaret Ferrier (above) – the SNP MP who travelled by train to London and attended the House of Commons after taking a test when she should have been self-isolating – and who then travelled back to Scotland by train after being told that her test was positive.
Margaret is a friend of mind, so everything I am about to say is obviously with the heaviest of hearts. And of course, I wish her a speedy recovery from Covid.
But none of that changes the fact that her actions were reckless, dangerous and completely indefensible, and I feel very angry on behalf of all you.
Every single day I stand here and I ask you to make horrendous sacrifices as part of our collective efforts against Covid.
It’s really important, whether you agree with me or not, whether you love me or loathe me, that you can have confidence in the advice that I give you.
That means me being clear that the rules apply to everyone – regardless of who you are and regardless of what your political allegiance is.
Trust me, it’s one of the easiest things in the world in politics to call for tough consequences when one of your opponents breaks the rules. That’s not hard for any of us.
The litmus test though is whether you’re prepared to do the same when it’s one of your own breaking the rules. And in these abnormal times, when everybody has been asked to difficult things, I think that is more important than ever.
That’s why the SNP whip has been withdrawn from Margaret – and that is the most serious sanction a party can impose on an elected representative. I have also spoken to her directly and made crystal clear to her that I think she should now resign as an MP.
Now, people contact me and say, why don’t you just sack her? This is a point I have to make clear – I don’t have the power to force an MP to step down – no party leader has that power.
But I can make my views known, difficult though it is and I have done so and I hope she will come to the right decision, in the interests of the overall integrity of these vital public health messages.
And I want to emphasise again why it is so important to self-isolate.
We are launching a media campaign actually this evening – which has been planned for several days – to stress the importance of self-isolation.
Essentially, if you have any one of the symptoms of Covid, you should start to self-isolate immediately, and you should book a test. You can do that through the NHS Inform website.
The symptoms, as a reminder, are a new continuous cough, a high temperature, or a loss of – or change in – your sense of taste or smell.
When you get your test result, if you test negative, and don’t have Covid, you can stop self-isolating at that point.
However if you have Covid, you need to self-isolate for a further 10 days, starting from the day on which you took your test.
If you are identified as a contact of someone with Covid – either by a test and protect team, or by the app – then you must self-isolate for 14 days.
You need to self-isolate for longer than someone who has tested positive. That’s because if you get Covid, your infectious period will start a few days after the infectious period of the person you got it from.
And the key point I want to stress today – for obvious reasons – is that self-isolation is not something anybody can or should see as an option, as something that is voluntary.
If you develop symptoms, or if you are identified as a contact, you must self-isolate immediately. Don’t think you can go to the shops one last time – let alone travelling any longer distances.
And you must self-isolate completely – that means staying at home, and not going anywhere else.
The reason is simple. If you have been in touch with someone who has Covid during their infectious period, there is a chance that you will also have Covid, even if you don’t yet have symptoms. And self-isolation is one of the most important things we can all do to ensure that we are not, unwittingly sometimes, transmitting the virus to anyone else.
So this is essential. It is a tough thing for any of us to be asked to do but it is an essential thing that all of us must abide by.
And if we are asked to do it – no matter who we are, and no matter what our circumstances are – we should all do it.
It is inconvenient, it is tough particularly for those on low incomes who might lose money when asked to self-isolate, that is why we are introducing the £500 support payment.
And it is why we are working with local authorities to ensure there is practical help available to people for things like food deliveries, and details of all of that are available also on the NHS Inform website.
But the reason we provide help for people to do the right thing, is because right now doing the right thing for all of us is so important.
So please, please – self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms of Covid. And self-isolate for 14 days if you are identified as a contact. It is vital to our collective efforts against the virus.
Now, I have stressed that particular point today, I was always going to be stressing that point today but it has particular added resonance given the circumstances I have already alluded to. But before I finish, and hand over to Jason I also want to provide the usual reminder of the other key public health guidance that we are asking everybody to follow.
None of us should be visiting each other’s homes right now – except for very specific purposes such as childcare or caring for a vulnerable adult.
When we do meet with others – outdoors, or in indoor public places – the maximum group size allowed is 6, and those 6 people should not come from any more than two households.
We should avoid car-sharing if it is possible.
Work from home if we can.
Download the Protect Scotland app, as I’ve already talked about.
And finally, all of us should remember FACTS –
Face coverings
Avoid crowded places.
Clean hands and hard surfaces
keep a Two metres distance from other households.
and of course Self isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms.
I know I say this every day but I feel a particular responsibility to say it today. I know how hard it for everybody to follow these rules right now, and I know how angry people feel when they see others not following these rules, but we have been asked to stick with all of these rules for the collective wellbeing of the country and for each and every one of us – so please do that.
Do that for yourselves, your families, your loved ones and for your community as a whole.And my thanks, my deep and sincere thanks, to everybody who is making really tough sacrifices right now in the interests of that collective effort.
Currently at least one insurance scam takes place every minute in the UK, leaving victims devastated and costing honest consumers more than £3 billion each year.
Common insurance scams highlighted by the campaign:
Compensation scams
This is when a fraudster or unscrupulous firm contacts someone out of the blue to tell them they may be entitled to compensation.
If convinced, victims will hand over their personal details which can be used to steal their identity or bank funds, or they could be encouraged to take out a fraudulent insurance claim.
With record numbers out of work or losing money due to the disruption of Covid-19, these scammers may offer to recover financial losses incurred as a result of the pandemic.
These fraudsters are known for selling fake car insurance. However, with Covid-19 impacting so many people’s work and travel plans, ‘Ghost Brokers’ could also offer deals that claim to compensate further disruption.
‘Ghost Broker’ scams are rising. The IFB has seen its percentage of investigations into the issue double in recent years. Research also shows one in three 18-24 year-olds has seen a suspicious insurance advert on social media.
With many people still getting back into the habit of driving after months of reduced activity, the risk of falling victim to a ‘Crash for Cash’ is higher if driving skills are not up to scratch.
Ben Fletcher, Director of the IFB, said: “With Covid-19 causing so many people to lose out financially it sadly means there are more opportunities for insurance scammers to exploit the vulnerable. These fraudsters don’t care who suffer – from the elderly to key workers, we’ve seen them get targeted.
“It’s never been more important to raise public awareness of insurance fraud which is why we’re launching the ‘Stop the Scams’ campaign. If anyone sees something that doesn’t look right, they should report it to the IFB Cheatline.”
Mark Allen, Fraud and Financial Crime Manager at ABI, said: “Insurance fraud is no victimless crime. While the Coronavirus crisis has led to financial hardship for many, no one should think that committing an insurance fraud is a path to easy money.
“From getting a criminal record and possibly a jail sentence, to finding future insurance and other vital financial products like mortgages and loans, much harder to obtain and more expensive, the consequences of committing fraud will be severe and long-lasting.
“The industry makes no apology for its relentless pursuit of insurance cheats to protect genuine customers who end up footing the bill through their insurance premiums.”
Detective Superintendent Peter Ratcliffe, Head of the City of London Police’s Economic Crime Funded Units, said: “Fraudsters will use any opportunity to try and steal money from the public, including the exploitation of tragic events such as the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
“We work effectively with the IFB, ABI and insurers to tackle insurance fraud, and our unit has continued the fight against criminals, despite the challenges posed by coronavirus.
“Our industry partners provide us with valuable intelligence to help us identify suspected fraudsters and carry out this enforcement activity, but we also rely on information from the public. As such, it’s vital people report to IFB’s Cheatline when they have information about a suspected insurance fraud or fraudster.”
The IFB uses information from Cheatline reports to work with insurers, the police and industry watchdogs to help fight fraud, keep people safe and keep costs down.
* * Printer will assist the charity in carrying out around 120 deliveries a day **
Scotland’s leading copy-print-scan specialists have donated one of their £3,000 printers to an Edinburgh food bank project.Capital Document Solutions [CDS] have gifted a Ricoh multi-functional printer (MFP) to the Edinburgh Food Project [EFP] to help them meet their demanding schedule.
The company, which deploys around 13,000 print devices to over 4,000 clients across Scotland, were approached by the food bank project as their volunteers prepare for another Covid spike.
EFP is an independent charity, and a member of the Trussell Trust network of food banks, providing emergency food parcels to people living in food poverty.
EFP conducted more than 120 deliveries a day during the height of the pandemic and found using home printers to be inadequate for its extensive workload.
Director of the EFP, Bethany Biggar, said: “Much like any other business we depend on a clear line of communication, and an important tool for this is a printer. Unfortunately, our current printers do not have the capacity to deal with our workload, and we really required an all-singing, all-dancing printer.
“CDS have been extremely helpful and generous in donating one of their state-of-the-art MFPs. As well as providing on-going technical support, it has made a huge difference to our work, and we can’t thank CDS enough for their donation.”
CDS had previously donated a printer to the EFP in September 2018 and Mark Harvie, Corporate Sales Director at CDS, said they were keen to support the group once more.
Mark said: “When we received the call from the EFP, we acted without hesitation. They are doing amazing work, helping so many people at this difficult time.
“We decided to donate the device purely because of what the EFP stands for. We are a firm believer in helping those in need, and we were delighted that we could help them to successfully continue their important work.”
Capital Document Solutions operates from six offices across Scotland – in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee and Lerwick.
Edinburgh based Community interest Company Edible Estates is launching a new community growing project in Leith and is inviting everyone to join in to grow food and community in Leith.
Edible Estates is building on it’s ‘Leith & Lochend Home Grown’ initiative over the past 6 months to launch a new community growing and green space project in Leith.
In partnership with the Leith Walk Police Box, Out of the Blue, Foundation Scotland, Port of Leith Housing Association and Action Earth the ‘Lets Grow a Garden Here’ initiative aims to encourage community growing projects led by local people this autumn and winter.
The project has also been supported by Ocean Outdoor (advertising) to promote the project on the big screen on Leith Walk and expect that to encourage local people to want to get involved. The advertisement is live until 11th October.
Patrick Dunne, who is co-ordinating the Lets Grow a Garden Here project, wants to see as many people as possible sign up, join in and develop a new grassroots, local, urban food growing initiative including everything from edible streets and doorstep planters to skill sharing and community meals over the next year.
Patrick explained: “We are really excited to have a chance to develop an emergency Covid response into a new and exciting opportunity for community growing in Leith.
“We hope to be a part of the local food networks and community activity in the winter. Leith has so many great ideas and resourceful and creative people and is full of interesting projects. We are really proud to be a part of it ”
If you are keen to grow your community, learn new skills, improve your local environment and have fun, contact patrick@edibleestates.co.uk to get involved.
The TUC yesterday called on the UK government to implement the Equality Act in full on its tenth anniversary. The Equality Act became law on 1 October 2010.
The union organisation is also challenging ministers to show how they have delivered on the legal duties in the act in their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It protects working people from discrimination based on age, sex, disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, or gender reassignment. It was also designed to improve the lives of working class people through tackling inequality, but that part of the act, the socio-economic duty, was never brought into force.
The TUC is concerned that ten years since it was introduced, the full powers of the act have still not been implemented. And there is little evidence that the government is fulfilling its legal duty to consider the impact on inequalities in the decisions it makes.
The TUC says that Covid-19 has deepened inequality and discrimination at work, and is calling on the government to:
Bring the socio-economic duty into force: This was included in the original act but never implemented. It would require government and the public sector to deliver better outcomes for lower income people and make narrowing inequality a priority.
Reintroduce protections subsequently taken out: Previous governments have stripped away protections that were originally in the Equality Act – such Section 40, which would make employers liable for harassment of their employees by customers or clients. The union body says that in the current situation where hostility and assaults on retail and hospitality staff are increasing during the pandemic, this should be reinstated urgently.
Publish equality impact assessments for all government policies, as the law requires: in particular, the government should publish every equality impact assessment that they carried out to inform their response to Covid-19 – and should be held to account for those that are missing.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everyone has the right to respect and equal treatment at work – and in wider society.
“The Equality Act should have been a gamechanger. But ten years on, it still isn’t fully in force. Now is the time for the government to implement it in full.
“The pandemic has shown that the UK is still riven with discrimination.
“Black workers are more likely to be in frontline jobs with inadequate PPE – and more likely to die. Pregnant and disabled workers are too often first in line for redundancy. And the disappearance of much childcare provision has left women struggling to hold on to their jobs.
“Without the protection of Section 40 of the Equality Act, staff have less protection from abuse and harassment. Yet during the pandemic, we have seen a rise in hostility and assaults on shop workers and hospitality staff.
“Britain can be a more equal, more prosperous country. Equality must not be an afterthought for ministers.”
