First Minister: Forget ‘Stay Alert’ … STAY AT HOME!

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Sunday 10 May).

Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us for today’s briefing. I want to start – as I always do – by updating you on some of the key statistics in relation to Covid-19 in Scotland.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 13,486 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 181 from yesterday.

A total of 1,484 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 – that is a decrease of 101 from yesterday.

A total of 82 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected cases of the virus. That is a decrease of seven since yesterday.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,100 patients who had tested positive and been hospitalised for the virus have been able to leave hospital. I wish all of them well.

Unfortunately I also have to report that in the last 24 hours, 10 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 1,857.

These figures should be treated with some caution. Although deaths can now be registered at weekends, registration of numbers over weekends are usually lower than they are during the week. This should be taken into account when considering today’s figures.

As always, I want to stress that these numbers are not simply statistics. They represent individuals whose loss is being felt and mourned by many. As always, I send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus. We are all thinking of you at this time.

I also want to thank, as I always do, our health and care workers. You are continuing to do extraordinary work in very challenging circumstances. There is not a day that passes that I don’t feel a deep debt of gratitude to you.

I have one issue that I want to talk about today and it relates to lockdown. Let me emphasise at the outset that the lockdown in Scotland remains in place.

As I have set out before, the rate of transmission of the virus in Scotland – the R number you are used to hearing about – is still too high for any significant change to be safe at this stage. Indeed, the R number may, as I said earlier in the week, be slightly higher here than in other parts of the UK at this point.

That means we must be very cautious and very careful about where we proceed to from here. Having made real progress in recent weeks and I think you can tell from the figures that I am setting out day after day that we have made real progress.

The objective now for all of us must be to consolidate and solidify that progress – we must not squander our progress by easing up too soon or by sending mixed messages that result in people thinking it’s ok to ease up now.

Let me be very blunt about the consequences if we were do that – people will die unnecessarily and, instead of being able to loosen restrictions hopefully in the near future, we will be faced instead with having to tighten them.

We must not take that risk.

For that reason, my basic message for Scotland remains the same as it has been – please stay at home, except for essential purposes.

I have made clear, however, that the Scottish Government will keep what constitutes an ‘essential purpose’ under review, and I told you last week that we were considering making one immediate change – a change to the guidance relating to exercise.

I can confirm that the Scottish Cabinet met earlier this afternoon and agreed a change to that guidance.

At present, you are only permitted to leave home to exercise once a day. From tomorrow, that once-a-day limit will be removed. So if you want to go for a walk more often – or to go for a run and also a walk later on in the day – then you can do so.

It is important to stress this new advice does not apply if you or someone in your household has symptoms of the virus, or if you received a letter explaining that you are in the shielded group. In those cases, the advice is still to stay at home completely and not go out at all.

And for everybody, all other lockdown restrictions remain in place.

When you are exercising, you must stay relatively close to your own home and at all times at least two metres away from people from other households. And although the rules permit exercise – such as walking, running or cycling – they do not yet extend to outdoor leisure activities such as sunbathing, picnics or barbecues.

The fact that you are allowed to exercise more than once is definitely not – and I want to stress this point – a licence to start meeting up in groups at the park or the beach. Doing that really does risk spreading the virus, and could potentially force us to reintroduce stricter guidelines or toughen up the regulations and penalties in future.

What we are confirming today is instead a small but important change, to one part of the lockdown requirements.

We believe that it will bring benefits to health and wellbeing – particularly for people who live in flats and don’t have access to private gardens, and for children, who I know will have found the once a day limit particularly difficult. The most important point is this – it will bring those benefits without, in our judgement, having a major impact on the spread of the virus.

However – and this is really important – the other basic principles and rules of lockdown remain for now the same. Unless you are doing exercise, or performing another essential task such as buying food or medicine, you should stay at home.

And you should not meet up with people from other households – because that is how we give the virus a chance to spread, giving it bridges it can travel over and lead to increased spread.

The change I have confirmed today is the only change the Scottish Government judges that it is safe to make right now, without risking a rapid resurgence of the virus.

We do not, at this point, want to see more businesses opening up – or more people going to work. Our guidance to business remains the same as it has been.

And we are not yet changing who can or should be at school.

You may hear the Prime Minister announce other immediate changes tonight for England – and that is absolutely his right to do so. I’ve just come from a Cobra meeting with the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland.

Now it’s important to say that I don’t expect the detail of these immediate changes that the Prime Minister will announce to be significant and I predict that any differences with the position here in Scotland will be relatively minor.

However, for the avoidance of doubt, let me be clear – except for the one change I have confirmed today, the rules here have not changed. We remain in lockdown for now and my ask of you remains to Stay at Home.

However, we will continue to monitor the evidence closely and make further changes as soon as we consider it safe to do so.

In the interests of openness and transparency and the grown up conversation I keep talking about that I want to have, I want to give you as much visibility of that as I’m going to share with you now that over this coming week – as we hopefully see more evidence of a downward trend in the virus – we will assess further whether it is possible to further extend the range of permissible outdoor activities that you can do on your own or at a safe distance.

We will also consider over the coming days whether garden centres can re-open; and we will think about whether some additional forms of outdoor work – particularly where people work on their own or at a distance – can safely resume. We will also be looking urgently – in close discussion with councils – at the possibility of reopening waste and recycling centres.

I will update you on these further issues next weekend.

Beyond that we will continue to consider when and how more businesses can safely start to re-open, what changes will be required to public transport, and when and how children can start returning to school.

On that latter point, though, I do not expect that schools in Scotland will start to return as early as 1 June.

As well as announcing immediate changes, I understand that the Prime Minister will also tonight set out a longer term plan for England. The Scottish Government has not yet seen the detail of this plan, so it is not possible for us to simply adopt it for Scotland – and indeed the evidence may well tell us that moving at exactly the same pace is not appropriate.

We will consider it carefully and we will take our own expert advice on it. And as soon as possible we will set out our own view on the phasing of a more substantial lifting of the lockdown.

We are already working with businesses to produce guidance specific to the needs of industry, workers and public health in Scotland. We will publish that guidance, sector by sector, in the coming days and weeks – our early priority is to give guidance and visibility to the construction, manufacturing and retail sectors.

Lastly, in areas which are the responsibility of the UK Government in Scotland, we will make sure that our views and concerns are known. For example – we expect confirmation tonight of a period of quarantine for people travelling into the UK. I have made it clear that I believe this is vital to our efforts to contain the virus in the period ahead, and I would encourage the UK Government to introduce it as soon as possible.

Lastly, let me say something about co-operation between the four nations of the UK.

I remain committed to the closest possible co-operation, collaboration and alignment. And, let me stress again, I have no interest in politics when it comes to tackling this virus.

It is perfectly consistent with an overall four nations approach to have a pragmatic acceptance that we may move at different speeds if the evidence tells us that is necessary – and I believe we do now have that acceptance.

But genuine consultation and alignment of messages – even, perhaps especially, when the evidence is putting us on slightly different timelines – remains really important.

We should not be reading of each other’s plans for the first time in newspapers. And decisions that are being taken for one nation only – for good evidence based reasons – should not be presented as if they apply UK wide.

Clarity of message is paramount if we expect all of you to know exactly what it is we are asking of you. As leaders, we have a duty to deliver that clarity to those who we are accountable to, not confuse it.

To that end, I have asked the UK Government not to deploy their ‘Stay Alert’ advertising campaign in Scotland. Because the message in Scotland at this stage is not stay at home if you can, the message is, except for the essential reasons you know about, stay at home full stop.

Fundamentally, we all have a responsibility – and it is a heavy one for all of us – to make decisions and set policies for based on our own data of what is safe and what is not.

I am clear that for Scotland, at this present moment, relaxing too many restrictions too quickly creates the risk that the virus will take off again. I am not prepared to take that risk.

That is why – except for the fact that from tomorrow you can go out to exercise more than once a day – the current lockdown restrictions remain in place.

I very much hope that it will be possible to lift more of them in the days and weeks ahead – and we are making plans for that – but at the moment, the risks are still too great.

For all of us, in fact, the way in which we can emerge from lockdown that bit more quickly, is to stick with the current restrictions now.

It is easier for us to start leaving lockdown, the lower the R number is, and the fewer infectious cases there are.

So please, stay at home except for when you are buying food or medicines, or exercising.

Go for walks or runs more than once a day if you want to – it’s good for your health and your physical and mental wellbeing. But stay more than two meters from other people when you are out, and do not meet up with people from other households.

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

I know that these restrictions continue to be really tough. And I know that hearing any talk about easing the lockdown, might make them seem even tougher. But please, I am asking you to stick with it.

We are making progress – never lose sight of that. But – even as we stay in touch by phone, by social media or by video calls – we still need to stay apart physically from each other. We still need to stay at home.

By doing that, we will continue to slow down the spread of the virus, we will continue to protect the NHS, and we will save lives. Thank you, once again, to all of you from the bottom of my heart for what you have been doing.

And please, for now, stay at home.

Boris Johnson: “We will come back from this devilish illness”

Boris Johnson set out his much-anticipated ‘road map’ in an address to the nation last night. While Johnson is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as he pointed out himself, much of his speech applies to England only:

It is now almost two months since the people of this country began to put up with restrictions on their freedom – your freedom – of a kind that we have never seen before in peace or war.

And you have shown the good sense to support those rules overwhelmingly.

You have put up with all the hardships of that programme of social distancing.

Because you understand that as things stand, and as the experience of every other country has shown, it’s the only way to defeat the coronavirus – the most vicious threat this country has faced in my lifetime.

And though the death toll has been tragic, and the suffering immense.

And though we grieve for all those we have lost.

It is a fact that by adopting those measures we prevented this country from being engulfed by what could have been a catastrophe in which the reasonable worst case scenario was half a million fatalities.

And it is thanks to your effort and sacrifice in stopping the spread of this disease that the death rate is coming down and hospital admissions are coming down.

And thanks to you we have protected our NHS and saved many thousands of lives.

And so I know – you know – that it would be madness now to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike.

We must stay alert.

We must continue to control the virus and save lives.

And yet we must also recognise that this campaign against the virus has come at colossal cost to our way of life.

We can see it all around us in the shuttered shops and abandoned businesses and darkened pubs and restaurants.

And there are millions of people who are both fearful of this terrible disease, and at the same time also fearful of what this long period of enforced inactivity will do to their livelihoods and their mental and physical wellbeing.

To their futures and the futures of their children.

So I want to provide tonight – for you – the shape of a plan to address both fears. Both to beat the virus and provide the first sketch of a road map for reopening society.

A sense of the way ahead, and when and how and on what basis we will take the decisions to proceed.

I will be setting out more details in Parliament tomorrow and taking questions from the public in the evening.

I have consulted across the political spectrum, across all four nations of the UK.

And though different parts of the country are experiencing the pandemic at different rates.

And though it is right to be flexible in our response.

I believe that as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, there is a strong resolve to defeat this together.

And today a general consensus on what we could do.

And I stress could. Because although we have a plan, it is a conditional plan.

And since our priority is to protect the public and save lives, we cannot move forward unless we satisfy the five tests.

We must protect our NHS.

We must see sustained falls in the death rate.

We must see sustained and considerable falls in the rate of infection.

We must sort out our challenges in getting enough PPE to the people who need it, and yes, it is a global problem but we must fix it.

And last, we must make sure that any measures we take do not force the reproduction rate of the disease – the R – back up over one, so that we have the kind of exponential growth we were facing a few weeks ago.

And to chart our progress and to avoid going back to square one, we are establishing a new Covid Alert System run by a new Joint Biosecurity Centre.

And that Covid Alert Level will be determined primarily by R and the number of coronavirus cases.

And in turn that Covid Alert Level will tell us how tough we have to be in our social distancing measures – the lower the level the fewer the measures.

The higher the level, the tougher and stricter we will have to be.

There will be five alert levels.

Level One means the disease is no longer present in the UK and Level Five is the most critical – the kind of situation we could have had if the NHS had been overwhelmed.

Over the period of the lockdown we have been in Level Four, and it is thanks to your sacrifice we are now in a position to begin to move in steps to Level Three.

And as we go everyone will have a role to play in keeping the R down.

By staying alert and following the rules.

And to keep pushing the number of infections down there are two more things we must do.

We must reverse rapidly the awful epidemics in care homes and in the NHS, and though the numbers are coming down sharply now, there is plainly much more to be done.

And if we are to control this virus, then we must have a world-beating system for testing potential victims, and for tracing their contacts.

So that – all told – we are testing literally hundreds of thousands of people every day. (? – Ed.)

We have made fast progress on testing – but there is so much more to do now, and we can.

When this began, we hadn’t seen this disease before, and we didn’t fully understand its effects.

With every day we are getting more and more data.

We are shining the light of science on this invisible killer, and we will pick it up where it strikes.

Because our new system will be able in time to detect local flare-ups – in your area – as well as giving us a national picture.

And yet when I look at where we are tonight, we have the R below one, between 0.5 and 0.9 – but potentially only just below one.

And though we have made progress in satisfying at least some of the conditions I have given.

We have by no means fulfilled all of them.

And so no, this is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week. Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures.

And the first step is a change of emphasis that we hope that people will act on this week.

We said that you should work from home if you can, and only go to work if you must.

We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work. (NB: England only – Ed.)

And we want it to be safe for you to get to work. So you should avoid public transport if at all possible – because we must and will maintain social distancing, and capacity will therefore be limited.

So work from home if you can, but you should go to work if you can’t work from home.

And to ensure you are safe at work we have been working to establish new guidance for employers to make workplaces COVID-secure.

And when you do go to work, if possible do so by car or even better by walking or bicycle. But just as with workplaces, public transport operators will also be following COVID-secure standards.

And from this Wednesday, we want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise.

You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own household. (NB this only applies in England – Ed.)

You must obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them.

And so every day, with ever increasing data, we will be monitoring the R and the number of new infections, and the progress we are making, and if we as a nation begin to fulfil the conditions I have set out, then in the next few weeks and months we may be able to go further.

In step two – at the earliest by June 1 – after half term – we believe we may be in a position to begin the phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools, in stages, beginning with reception, Year 1 and Year 6 (NB: England only – Ed.)

Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays. And we will shortly be setting out detailed guidance on how to make it work in schools and shops and on transport.

And step three – at the earliest by July – and subject to all these conditions and further scientific advice; if and only if the numbers support it, we will hope to re-open at least some of the hospitality industry and other public places, provided they are safe and enforce social distancing.

Throughout this period of the next two months we will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity. We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health.

And I must stress again that all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big Ifs. It depends on all of us – the entire country – to follow the advice, to observe social distancing, and to keep that R down.

And to prevent re-infection from abroad, I am serving notice that it will soon be the time – with transmission significantly lower – to impose quarantine on people coming into this country by air.

And it is because of your efforts to get the R down and the number of infections down here, that this measure will now be effective.

And of course we will be monitoring our progress locally, regionally, and nationally and if there are outbreaks, if there are problems, we will not hesitate to put on the brakes.

We have been through the initial peak – but it is coming down the mountain that is often more dangerous.

We have a route, and we have a plan, and everyone in government has the all-consuming pressure and challenge to save lives, restore livelihoods and gradually restore the freedoms that we need.

But in the end this is a plan that everyone must make work.

And when I look at what you have done already.

The patience and common sense you have shown.

The fortitude of the elderly whose isolation we all want to end as fast as we can.

The incredible bravery and hard work of our NHS staff, our care workers.

The devotion and self-sacrifice of all those in every walk of life who are helping us to beat this disease.

Police, bus drivers, train drivers, pharmacists, supermarket workers, road hauliers, bin collectors, cleaners, security guards, postal workers, our teachers and a thousand more.

The scientists who are working round the clock to find a vaccine.

When I think of the millions of everyday acts of kindness and thoughtfulness that are being performed across this country.

And that have helped to get us through this first phase.

I know that we can use this plan to get us through the next.

And if we can’t do it by those dates, and if the alert level won’t allow it, we will simply wait and go on until we have got it right.

We will come back from this devilish illness.

We will come back to health, and robust health.

And though the UK will be changed by this experience, I believe we can be stronger and better than ever before. More resilient, more innovative, more economically dynamic, but also more generous and more sharing.

But for now we must stay alert, control the virus and save lives.

Thank you very much.

Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, responding to the Prime Minister’s statement, said: “This statement raises more questions than it answers, and we see the prospect of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland pulling in different directions.

“The Prime Minister appears to be effectively telling millions of people to go back to work without a clear plan for safety or clear guidance as to how to get there without using public transport.

“What the country wanted tonight was clarity and consensus, but we haven’t got either of those.”

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director General, said: “Today marks the first glimmer of light for our faltering economy. A phased and careful return to work is the only way to protect jobs and pay for future public services. The Prime Minister has set out the first steps for how this can happen.

“Businesses are keen to open and get our economy back on its feet. But they also know putting health first is the only sustainable route to economic recovery. The message of continued vigilance is right.

“This announcement marks the start of a long process. While stopping work was necessarily fast and immediate, restarting will be slower and more complex. It must go hand-in-hand with plans for schools, transport, testing and access to PPE. Firms will want to see a roadmap, with dates they can plan for.

“Success will rest on flexibility within a framework: clear guidance which firms can adapt for their particular circumstances. Financial support will also need to evolve for sectors moving at different speeds – some remaining in hibernation, while others get ready to open safely.

“The coming weeks should see business, government and employee representatives working together as part of a national effort built on openness and trust. This is the only way to revive the UK economy and protect both lives and livelihoods.”

Responding to the statement by the prime minister, the leader of the Unite union has called for “clarity and caution” as the country continues to combat the coronavirus which has left the UK with one of the worst death tolls in Europe.

Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary, said: “The decisions taken by the UK government in the coming days will shape the health and wealth of this country, not just in the immediate term but for generations to come.

“It is absolutely vital then that the UK government proceeds with total clarity and maximum caution as it works to pull the country out of lockdown – and that it gets the sequencing of the return to work right.

“People cannot get to work safely unless there is safe transport for them to use. Yet there is now a real risk that in a few hours’ time, workers will be cramming onto public transport, putting at risk their lives and those of others. This has not been  thought through and the failure to do so places working people in danger.

“Similarly, issuing safety guidance to employers instead of definite, mandatory instructions is not acceptable. This runs a huge risk that some employers will follow the advice while others do not, and we urgently need to hear more from government about how it will install the inspection and enforcement systems necessary to support safe working.

“Unions like Unite have a wealth of health and safety expertise and we are already working with responsible employers to ensure that working people can be confident that they can be safe both at work and on the way to work.

“There is a standing army of tens of thousands of trades union safety representatives that could be deployed in a national effort to unlock the economy in a safe, responsible way. To fail to enlist this pool of people expert in keeping people safe at work is simply bewildering.

“We are very concerned that at the very point we need to build clarity and confidence, doing everything possible to avert a second spike, that this next phase is unfolding in a jumbled, confusing manner.

“Of course, we want to get the economy back on its feet as soon as possible but with such enormous sacrifices given by so many already, we have to honour those who have lost their lives along with those who are caring for us through this crisis by keeping people safe and by building a future of which this country can be proud.

STUC General Secretary Designate Roz Foyer said: “The Prime Minister’s management of this crisis has been so woeful that few will have any confidence in what he has laid out this evening.

“This is a three-month road map in the hands of a government that doesn’t even seem to know what it is doing from one day to the next.

“Boris Johnson has apparently announced the return to work of hundreds of thousands of non-essential workers in areas such as construction and manufacturing. In so doing he in endangering people’s lives. The Government hasn’t even published guidance on how workers will be kept safe.

“His statement that all workers who cannot work from home should go to work will cause incredible confusion and massive concern. We urgently need clarity on how workers who cannot work from home and cannot safely attend their workplace will be treated.

“And at no point did he make it clear that he was talking about England only, rather than the whole of the UK. The strain on the delivery of a four-nation approach now seems intolerable.

“Our five red lines for relaxing lockdown remain the same and apply just as much for the Scottish Government as they do Westminster.

“We need to be far further ahead in testing, have a proper contact tracing system in place, have ready supplies of PPE for any workplaces that is to re-open, and have enforcement measures in place. Each work sector must be treated according to its distinct characteristics and governed by guidelines agreed with unions. And there must be no implied threat of loss of income for workers not able to return to work. The job retention scheme must stay in place with no further reductions in levels of pay support.

“As we have made clear, we believe the Scottish Government’s more safety-first approach is broadly the right one, particularly as doubts about the R value in Scotland persist.

“We have also welcomed their willingness to negotiate the sector by sector guidance with unions. However as ongoing failures on PPE, testing and guidance for care homes show, there is not an ounce of room for complacency.

“Unions will test the strategy of the Scottish Government every step of the way and fight to ensure that the safety of workers and of the wider public remains that number one concern.”

The Prime Minister will reveal more detail when he addresses parliament today and a guidance document will be produced this afternoon.

Boris Johnson will also take questions from the public when he leads the daily press briefing at 5.30pm.

Health Tips: Activity at home for older adults

Heart Research UK – Healthy Tip – Activity at home for older adults

Written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK

Physical activity for older adults (aged 65+) while staying at home

At a time when the population is being asked to stay at home, finding ways to keep active can be challenging. Regular physical activity is strongly associated with a reduction in chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as improving mental health.

For adults aged 65 years and over, it is particularly important to do strengthening activities to maintain physical function and slow down the decline in muscle mass while keeping bones strong. Even small increases in physical activity can positively impact on health. Heart Research UK have some tips to help you meet the recommended amount of physical activity at home.

 How much physical activity is recommended?

The Government recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity each week for adults. This can be broken down into chunks of ten minutes or more. It is recommended that older adults also engage in activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility on two days each week. If you are not used to doing this amount of physical activity, you can start small and build up to the recommended amount over time.

Moderate Intensity Activities

(150 minutes weekly)

Your heart will beat faster, you will breathe harder, you will get warmer and you can maintain a conversation

E.g. Brisk Walking, dancing, gardening or cycling

Vigorous Intensity Activities

(75 minutes weekly)

Your heart will beat rapidly, you will breathe much harder, you will get warmer and it will be difficult to have a conversation

E.g. Running, riding a bike fast or on hills, hiking uphill or energetic dancing

 Activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility

(to be done on 2 days each week)

E.g. Lifting light weights, push-ups, sit-ups, step-ups, heavy gardening and stretching.

Find hobbies that get you moving

If you tend to engage in hobbies that don’t require you to move very much, look for new hobbies that will get you moving, such as gardening, walking, weight-lifting or dancing.

Avoid long periods of inactivity

Set a timer to go off at specific times throughout the day to prompt you to do ten (or more) minutes of physical activity. Any activity is better than none. You can include a variety of light, moderate and vigorous activities. E.g. a brisk walk, sit-ups, weight-lifting, gardening or housework. You can use tins of baked beans, or similar objects, for weight-lifting.

Don’t be a couch potato

Rather than spending your evenings sitting on the sofa without moving much, why not try a few gentle exercises, such as leg raises, while watching your favourite TV show.

Examples of some exercises you can do from your sofa can be found on the NHS website, and you can find lots more healthy tips, advice and recipes at heartresearch.org.uk

STUC publishes red lines for action before relaxing lockdown

The STUC has published it’s ‘red lines’ for action before any relaxation to the current lockdown should be considered. It has also released its letter to Alok Sharma raising serious concerns about UK approach to workplace guidance.

STUC’s red lines

  1. Capacity for greater testing and a return to contact tracing
  2. Capacity to supply PPE to non-essential workplaces
  3. Sectoral Guidance needs to be agreed between unions and employers
  4. Effective enforcement measures must be in place.
  5. A continuation of the job retention scheme and other support for those who cannot work.

In its letter to Mr. Sharma, the STUC criticises the UK Government for a failure to properly consult, for sending mixed messages ahead of Sunday’s announcement and for producing weak workplace guidance to date which will likely cause safety issues and problems within a workplace context and may even put lives at risk.

The STUC will only support a four-nation approach if the UK Government puts safety of workers and the general public first.

It is calling on the Scottish Government to maintain and strengthen its safety-first approach and to continue to work closely with the STUC to prepare detailed safety guidance for different industrial sectors.

The STUC also pledged support for any workers who collectively refuse to return to work because of legitimate safety fears.

STUC General Secretary Designate Rozanne Foyer said: “Ahead of the Prime Minister’s much trailed announcement on Sunday, there have been a series of mixed messages and confusing briefings emanating from Number 10.

“Any move towards lifting restrictions on workplaces re-opening must be evidenced based, open and transparent and be for the four nations of the UK if possible. However, the four-nation approach is only possible insofar as the UK Government prioritises safety over profit and takes into account the levels of infection across each part of the UK. We will not support a four-nation approach if it puts additional lives at risk.

“Equally, there must be no weakening of the Scottish Government’s resolve. That is why we have published our five key principles which outline the measures which must be in place before return to work commences in any non-essential workplace.

“We need to be far further ahead in testing, have a proper contact tracing system in place, have ready supplies of PPE for any workplaces that is to re-open, and have enforcement measures in place.

“Each work sector must be treated according to its distinct characteristics and governed by guidelines agreed with unions. And there must be no implied threat of loss of income for workers not able to return to work. The job retention scheme must stay in place with no further reductions in levels of pay support.

“And we have a very clear message to employers and to all levels of government. If workers have legitimate safety fears, unions will use all means at their disposal to keep them safe and the STUC will support any action aimed to protect workers in Scotland.”

Five Principles_relaxing

STUC Alok_Sharma letter

Recording history today for the future

We’re recording the visual signs of how life in Edinburgh has changed during these strange times on Edinburgh Collected, our online community archive (www.edinburghcollected.org).

We’re particularly keen to see the little acts of creativity and messages of thanks and positivity that are helping us all to keep smiling.

We’ve had some lovely picture memories shared to Edinburgh Collected so far.

Do you have any from your neighbourhood walk that you can add to Edinburgh Collected?

Anyone can create an account and add pictures and memories to Edinburgh Collected.

Once added, we’ll add your contributions to the ‘Edinburgh 2020 – coronavirus pandemic’ scrapbook: www.edinburghcollected.org/scrapbooks/271

Thanks for your help

Edinburgh City Libraries

Here are a few of mine – Ed.

‘Police officers and staff have also been spat at or coughed on’

Between 24 March and 18 April, there have been over 100 crimes committed in Scotland, where police officers and staff are recorded as victims.

Police Scotland has underlined that coronavirus-related attacks and threats aimed at police officers and staff will not be tolerated, after more than 100 such incidents were recorded.

Officers and staff are visible in communities 24 hours a day as the service encourages people to stick with physical distancing requirements to protect the NHS and save lives.

They are engaging with the public, explaining the physical distancing requirements, encouraging people to comply with the law, and using enforcement only where necessary.

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone has thanked Scotland’s communities for the high levels of co-operation shown during this challenging period.

However, there have been occasions where frontline policing teams and personnel from the custody suites have been subjected to abusive behaviour including threats of deliberate transmission.

In some instances, officers and staff have also been spat at or coughed on.

Between 24 March, 2020 and 18 April, 2020, there have been over 100 crimes committed in Scotland, where police officers and staff are recorded as victims.

Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: “Police officers and staff are playing a vital role as we all make the changes and sacrifices needed to protect the NHS and save lives.

“I’d like to thank the vast majority of our communities for their co-operation and support as we all contribute to the national effort to curtail the spread of coronavirus.

“Those doing the right thing will agree these sorts of attacks on our officers and staff are outrageous and disgraceful.

“Abuse and assault is not simply part of the job for police officers and staff and will not be tolerated.

“The Chief Constable has made it clear that this completely unacceptable. The Lord Advocate has also confirmed that offenders will be dealt with robustly by Scotland’s prosecution service.

“Threatening a member of Police Scotland personnel, or any other emergency service worker, while they are carrying out their duties to keep the public safe will result in immediate arrest.

“On the occasions where such incidents have occurred we have seen a very supportive approach from Sheriffs across the country and in some instances, offenders have been remanded in custody.”

 

Coronavirus: Funding boost for North Edinburgh’s Foodshare Group

North Edinburgh’s Covid-19 Foodshare Group is among the groups to share in the Scottish Government’s £10 million Supporting Communities Fund.

The funding from the Scottish Government’s Supporting Communities Fund will go directly to more than 250 community ‘anchor’ groups, supporting families on lower incomes and older people access lifeline services to cope with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The community groups operate as ‘anchors’, bringing together charities, volunteers, social enterprises and the public sector to co-ordinate the local response and channel support where it is needed. This includes making hot meals, organising grocery and prescription deliveries and providing wellbeing support.

North Edinburgh Arts is a lead organisation in North Edinburgh’s Covid-19 Foodshare Group, which saw a range of local community organisations join together in March to support vulnerable people across Drylaw, Muirhouse, Pilton, Granton and Royston Wardieburn. The group will receive £96,370.

Since the group was established thousands of hot meals, packed lunches, sandwiches and essential supply packs have been distributed across the area in an operation which is now being  introduced in other areas across the city.

The North Edinburgh group has been calling for resources to meet demand for some weeks and this morning’s announcement will enable the group to maintain and expand the vital service they provide.

North Edinburgh Arts chairperson Lesley Hinds said: “I am delighted with the award of funding from the Scottish Government’s Supporting Communities for Covid-19 work in North Edinburgh.

“Over the last several weeks community groups have come together, to deliver over 13,000 food packages weekly, culture packages and supporting vulnerable residents in North Edinburgh. As Chair of North Edinburgh Arts I am proud of the staff and volunteers who have played an important role in the work, as part of North Edinburgh Covid-19 Foodshare Group.”

While the North Edinburgh Arts-led application was the biggest of those allocated in the capital, there were successful applications by Edinburgh anchor organisations all across the city.

Cyrenians (£71,596), Edinburgh City Youth Cafe (£82,713), Edinburgh Community Food (£25,800), Edinburgh Community Health Forum (£56,693), Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust (£27,720) and Out of the Blue (£49,157) all receive funding to tackle the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We know that community groups working in the heart of our communities and neighbourhoods have a wealth of experience in responding to challenges.

“We have seen this through many examples of the incredible response to COVID-19 in the past weeks that have made such a huge difference to so many people. This inspiring work that is already underway in our neighbourhoods is proving essential to our nation’s resilience.

“This funding will be a valuable lifeline for the range of innovative support available for people in our communities, and we are working fast to get that support to where it is needed most.”

The Supporting Communities Fund was announced on 18 March 2020 as part of a £350 million package to help those most affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Up to £10 million is being made available as an initial sum available to support community anchor organisations, and a further allocation of £10 million has been approved to support the second phase of the fund.

List of the community groups that will receive funding.

‘If it’s urgent, it’s urgent’: more Scots taking medical advice

New research has highlighted that people in Scotland are more likely to go to their GP practice or to hospital with an immediate medical concern not related to coronavirus (COVID-19) than they were two weeks ago.

The research, commissioned to support the recently launched NHS is Open campaign, shows just over half of those surveyed (51 per cent) stated they wouldn’t avoid going to their GP practice or a hospital at the moment, compared to 41 per cent a fortnight before – a shift that has been welcomed by the GP fronting the campaign, Dr Carey Lunan, and the Scottish Government’s National Clinical Director, Jason Leitch.

While around a third (34 per cent) agreed they would still delay attending their GP or hospital at the moment, this figure has fallen from 45 per cent before the campaign began.

The Scottish Government is encouraging people to seek medical help for urgent health issues not related to COVID-19, and has launched a campaign in response to figures indicating patients were delaying contacting their GP or going to hospital during the pandemic, that there was a drop in urgent suspected cancer referrals, and a reduction in families bringing their children for immunisation appointments.

People who need immediate medical assistance are being urged to call their GP surgery, or 111 out of hours, and in emergencies to dial 999.

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Dr Carey Lunan, a working GP and Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland, who features in the TV adverts said: “The NHS is open and it’s encouraging to see that the campaign is getting the message across. 

“However, I want to reiterate that if it’s urgent, it’s urgent, and it is just as important as ever for people to seek help if they have an urgent health concern, or are worried about a potential cancer symptom.  You are not being a burden, it’s what the NHS is here for and we want to hear from you.

“Your health and safety are our top priorities, and both GP practices and hospitals are working differently during the pandemic to minimise infection risk. It’s important to reassure you that patients with coronavirus are treated in separate parts of hospitals.

“Likewise, immunisations against other infectious diseases remain a vital part of protecting the people of Scotland, so please do attend your appointments for these. They can easily be rescheduled if you or your family members are showing signs of coronavirus at the time of your appointment.”

 Jason Leitch said: “Thank you to all our health and social care staff for their continuing extraordinary efforts as we face this pandemic. Thanks to them, the NHS remains open because it is vital that you receive urgent medical attention if you need it.

“Your community pharmacy and your GP are open. Your first GP appointment may be by telephone or video but it is still a hugely important step in finding out if you, or your loved one, needs urgent medical help.

“Don’t ignore early cancer signs and symptoms, and certainly don’t delay getting checked – your GP practice is still here for you. If you or anyone in your household notices a rapid deterioration in health, seek help immediately – please don’t ignore the early warning signs of serious conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, severe asthma, or diabetic collapse.

“Immunisation appointments are a legitimate reason to leave your home and now more than ever vaccinations in children and pregnant women should be up to date. Our childhood immunisation programmes continue, and we urge parents to take their children to be vaccinated so they can be protected against very serious disease, including meningitis and measles.

“We are so thankful to those who are staying inside to save lives and our NHS, but the NHS is still open and there for you.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapp’s statement on coronavirus: 9 May 2020

Announcing a £2 billion package to support active travel to help the country emerge from coronavirus crisis – but this felt like a warm up act before Boris takes centre stage tonight …

Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s Downing Street press conference.

I’m pleased to be joined today by Professor Jonathan Van-Tam.

Latest data

Let me start by updating you on the latest information from the COBR data file.

I can report that through the government’s monitoring and testing programme, as of today …

  • 1, 728,443 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the UK, including 96, 878 tests yesterday
  • 215,260 people have tested positive, that’s an increase of 3,896 cases since yesterday
  • 11,809 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus in the UK, down from 12,284 yesterday

And tragically, of those hospitalised with the virus, 31,587 have now died. That’s an increase of 346 fatalities since yesterday.

These deaths are devastating for the families and friends of victims, who are in our thoughts and prayers are with all of them every day.

But they also strengthen our resolve to fight this pandemic with all the resources we can muster in the weeks ahead …

Planning for restart/opportunity for lasting change

Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will set out a roadmap for the next phase in our strategy to tackle coronavirus.

In support of this, I am setting out today an ambitious programme to help prepare our transport network for the critical role it will play as we emerge from this crisis.

Importantly, it is true to say that moving beyond COVID will be a gradual process… not a single-leap to freedom.

When we do emerge, the world will seem quite different, at least for a while.

The need to maintain social distancing means that our public transport system cannot go back to where it left off.

Here is a very stark fact …

Even with public transport reverting to full service – once you take into account the 2 metre social distancing rule – there would only be effective capacity for one in ten passengers on many parts of the network.

Just a tenth of the old capacity.

So, getting Britain moving again, while not overcrowding our transport network, is going to require many of us to think carefully about how and when we travel.

Everyone involved

We have accomplished so much over the past 7 weeks of lockdown.

The whole country has been responsible for reducing the COVID reproduction or ‘R’ rate…

Millions of households across the UK have changed their behaviour for the greater good.

Getting Britain moving again, whilst not overcrowding our transport network, represents another enormous logistical challenge.

Yet this is a problem which presents a health opportunity too…. an opportunity to make lasting changes that could not only make us fitter, but also better-off – both mentally and physically – in the long run.

Active travel

During the crisis, millions of people have discovered the benefits of active travel.

By cycling or walking, we’ve been able to enjoy this remarkably warm spring whilst sticking to the guidelines.

In some places, there’s been a 70% rise in the number of people on bikes whether it’s for exercise, or necessary journeys, such as stocking up on food.

So, while it’s still crucial that we stay at home, when the country does get back to work, we need those people to carry on cycling and walking, and to be joined by many more.

Otherwise, with public transport capacity severely restricted, more cars could be drawn to the road and our towns and cities could become gridlocked.

We also know that in this new world, pedestrians will need more space.

So today (9 May 2020) I am announcing a £2 billion package to put cycling and walking at the heart of our transport policy.

To set out how we will deliver this, I will bring forward a national cycling plan for publication in early June, in line with the statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy to help double cycling and increase walking by 2025.

The first stage, worth £250 million, is a series of swift, emergency interventions to make cycling and walking safer.

Pop-up bike lanes. Wider pavements. Cycle and bus-only streets. All examples of what people will start to see more of.

Accompanying the new money, we are today publishing fast-tracked statutory guidance, effective immediately, requiring councils in England to cater for significantly-increased numbers of cyclists and pedestrians, and making it easier for them to create safer streets.

For employees who want to start cycling to their place of work, but who don’t have a bike right now, the popular Cycle to Work Scheme already allows employees to save between 25% and 39% on the cost of a new bike or an electric bike.

There has been a huge increase in people using the scheme, and we will work with employers to increase uptake further.

And for those who may have an old bike in the shed, and want to get it back into a roadworthy condition, there will be a voucher scheme for bike repairs and maintenance.

Plans are also being developed to boost bike fixing facilities.

What’s more, over the next few months, we will set out further measures to make a ‘once in a generation’ change to the way people travel in Britain.

These will include tough new standards for cycling infrastructure;

  • a new national cycling champion to inspire us
  • much closer links with the NHS, with GPs prescribing cycling to help us get fitter
  • legal changes to protect vulnerable road users
  • at least one “zero-emission city,” with its centre restricted to bikes and electric vehicles
  • and the creation of a long-term cycling programme and budget, just like we have for our roads

There’s clear evidence, including from the Prime Minister’s time as mayor of London, that making streets safe for walking and cycling is good for retailers, business and the economy.

Green travel / E-scooters / E-vehicles

And in making these changes, our national recovery can also become a green recovery.

One of the few positive benefits about the crisis is drastically better air quality and the health benefits that that brings.

More than 20,000 extra deaths a year in the UK are attributed to nitrogen dioxide emissions, which are highest in areas with most road traffic.

We want to try to preserve this as much as possible.

So today I’m also fast-tracking trials of e-scooters, bringing this programme, already underway, forward from next year, to next month….

And extending those trials from four local authorities to every region in the country that wants them….

… in a bid to get e-scooter rental schemes up-and-running in our cities as fast as possible….

Helping reduce car use on shorter journeys, and taking some pressure off buses, at this vital time.

These trials will help us assess their safety and benefits, together with their impact on public spaces.

The car industry has of course been very badly hit during this crisis, but April’s new sales figures showed – for the first time – that the two biggest selling models were both electric vehicles.

So, to help keep this quiet, clean car revolution going, I can also announce today, £10 million of additional support for car-charging points on our streets.

The car will remain the mainstay for many families and, as well as backing electric infrastructure, we’re going to accelerate the filling of pot-holes that plague so many road users.

Data

And just as new technology is changing the vehicles we use, so new digital technologies will help us make more informed transport choices in our battle against Covid.

At a time when transport demand could quickly overwhelm capacity if users have no access to real-time travel information…

… It is crucial that we take advantage of the UK’s digital tech expertise.

With the right mobile apps, people can find out which parts of the transport network are overcrowded. And avoid them!

They can choose alternative travel options, to help maintain safe social distancing…

… or they can get information to help stagger their journeys – and lift the burden on public transport at peak times.

This week I chaired a roundtable with key players like Google, Microsoft, and British firm, Citymapper, to develop both data and apps to help the public view crowding across the transport network, in real-time.

Overall package

This £2 billion announcement represents the most significant package of cycling, walking and green travel by any British government.

Clearly, it will never be possible to cycle, walk or e-scooter everywhere. Cars will remain an absolutely vital form of transport for many….

And so in the coming days…

as we look to the future…

… there will be further announcements about the huge investment we’re making in road and rail networks – taking advantage of their low usership during this COVID crisis.

Closing remarks

Finally, as we begin the process of preparing public transport to get Britain moving again, no-one should underestimate the sheer scale of the challenge ahead.

Even with every train, bus and tram fully restored to service – this will not be enough.

Social distancing measures mean that everyone who travels will need to contribute to meeting this capacity challenge.

Changing our behaviour is the single biggest thing that’s beaten back this virus.

The welcome fall we’ve seen in deaths is not only the achievement of our doctors and nurses and careworkers – but of everyone in the country for following the stay at home guidance.

To re-iterate, nothing I have said today changes these basic rules.

But as we contemplate the future, we will have to carry on making changes, particularly after we leave our homes.

Preventing overcrowding – which could lead to a second spike and more deaths – will be the responsibility of each and every one of us.

So please, only travel when you need to.

Be considerate to others, and help us prioritise essential workers.

And let’s all play our part in Britain moving safely again when that time comes.

We don’t have too long to wait until the Prime Minister’s much-anticipated ‘road map’ to coronavirus recovery is revealed.

He addresses the nation at 7pm this evening with a new – much-criticised – ‘Stay Alert’ message.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon may just give us an idea of what his announcement contains when she gives her own media briefing this afternoon – an opportunity to get her retaliation in first!

In the meantime, though, the message HAS NOT CHANGED – STAY HOME!

Overwhelming majority of Scots support lockdown restrictions

Staying at home to save lives is recognised as a vitally important action in tackling coronavirus (COVID-19).

Over 90 per cent of people who responded to surveys carried out for the Scottish Government during April agreed that by remaining at home, they would be saving lives and protecting the NHS.

There was also general compliance with the guidance about physical distancing, with up to 80 per cent of those surveyed saying that they are keeping to the two metre distancing advice.

The polling also reveals that 85 per cent of respondents believe that the best thing to do during the COVID-19 crisis is follow government advice.

The findings are contained in a report published by the Scottish Government summarising two surveys on public attitudes carried out weekly during the COVID-19 crisis.

The surveys, by Ipsos MORI and YouGov, are part of a range of analysis undertaken by the Scottish Government to understand the impact of the virus and measures to suppress it.

The weekly online surveys provide information about key issues including the national mood, wellbeing, awareness, public behaviours and trust in government.

Key trends from the report, covering a six week period from 16 March to 24 April, are:

  • Levels of anxiety and worry associated with COVID-19 remain relatively high
  • Awareness of and support for compliance measures is high
  • The NHS was consistently rated highly in terms of doing a good job to contain the virus
  • Levels of trust in information from the Scottish Government were high

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “It is vital that we collect and analyse as much information as possible to inform our decisions on tackling the COVID-19 outbreak and these surveys provide valuable evidence about public knowledge, attitudes and behaviours.

“The surveys show compliance with physical distancing measures is high and we thank the public for their continued observance of these vital rules at this critical time.

“We recognise that public tolerance of the distancing measures is hard to sustain, and that these measures in turn have wider impacts on society and the economy, but we ask the public to continue to comply with them until we are certain we will not be risking a resurgence in infection rates.

“The surveys also highlight the very high regard the public has for the NHS and that levels of trust in information from the Scottish Government remain high.”

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