Edinburgh City Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Sean Scott, has released a statement regarding the #Coronavirus restrictions:
“I would like to thank the vast majority of people who are sticking to the rules to suppress the spread of coronavirus.
“The sacrifices people have made have allowed some restrictions around travel and gatherings to be eased from Friday.
“We are going to see increased traffic on our roads and if you are visiting beauty spots then I would urge you to please do so safely and respectfully – leaving no trace of your visit. Please also park responsibly to allow emergency access.
“I would also remind people that under the new restrictions, gatherings are limited to six people from six households meeting outdoors only.
“Our approach throughout the pandemic has been to engage with the public, explain the legislation and encourage compliance, but we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers as a last resort.
“This approach will continue as restrictions continue to be eased over the coming months.”
A University of Glasgow project that is aiming to better understand the effects that COVID-19 infection has on blood vessels and blood pressure has received a grant of £250,000 from Heart Research UK.
Research has shown that people who are older, obese, male or those who have other medical problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or chronic lung conditions, have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is very common with more than one quarter of adults in the UK affected.
The virus causing COVID-19 enters the body’s cells through a receptor called ACE2 which is found in the lungs, heart, blood vessels, kidneys, liver, and bowel. ACE2 is very important for maintaining many of the body’s important processes including blood pressure, inflammation, and wound healing.
COVID-19 can also cause damage to the walls of the blood vessels which makes the risk of blood clots higher and this has been seen more often in people with high blood pressure. The reasons for this are not yet known which is why we need to understand more about the links between COVID-19 and high blood pressure.
This study, which will be led by Professor Sandosh Padmanabhan, Professor of Cardiovascular Genomics and Therapeutics, aims to answer whether:
High blood pressure makes COVID-19 infection worse and if so, why.
COVID-19 infection makes high blood pressure worse and if so, why.
Monitoring and management of high blood pressure needs to be a greater priority during the pandemic.
The study will look at routinely collected health records for people in the West of Scotland who attended hospital or had a positive test for COVID-19 between April 2020 and April 2021. This will be compared to the records of patients who attended hospital during 2019, for another reason. They will also look in detail at a group of people with high blood pressure.
Prof Padmanabhan’s team will also study a group of people that have recovered from COVID-19 infection. They will undergo blood pressure monitoring, and tests of heart and blood vessel health. These tests will be repeated after 12 and 18 months to see if there have been any changes. They will be compared to a group of people who have not had COVID-19.
Finally, the study will look at markers in the blood (biomarkers) with the aim of identifying any which are linked with high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, or death in COVID-19.
This study will give us a better understanding of the links between COVID-19 infection and high blood pressure, and help to improve the long-term outcomes for survivors of COVID-19. Also, the findings may lead to recommendations on the monitoring and management of blood pressure during the pandemic.
Prof Padmanabhan said: “The current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has exposed unexpected cardiovascular vulnerabilities at all stages of the disease.
“The mechanism by which the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes infection is believed to directly and indirectly affect the cardiovascular system potentially resulting in new-onset hypertension, heart failure and stroke and represents an insidious feature of long-COVID.
“The burden of hypertension as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown, but given the scale of the infection especially among the young this will be a major concern for the future. In this project, we plan to generate valuable evidence that will inform hypertension management strategies and reduce cardiovascular risk for survivors of COVID-19.”
Kate Bratt-Farrar, Chief Executive of Heart Research UK, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the work of ProfessorPadmanabhan and his team, who are conducting vital research into one of the biggest medical challenges the world has ever faced.
“We have known for some time that those with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions are more susceptible to developing severe complications from COVID-19. We hope that this research will help to explain why this is the case, reduce the risk for this vulnerable group and, ultimately, help to save more lives.
“Our grants are all about helping patients. They aim to bring the latest developments to those who need them as soon as possible.
“The dedication we see from UK researchers is both encouraging and inspiring, and we at Heart Research UK are proud to be part of it.”
While the pandemic has had an impact on all parents and families, the severity of that impact, and the potential long-term consequences, will vary significantly.
While there have been positives for some families in being able to spend more time together, emerging evidence suggests others are experiencing increasing mental ill health, poverty, domestic abuse and child neglect.
There are also concerns around the impact on children’s development, perhaps especially for those born in the last year.
The Committee has decided to conduct a short inquiry on this topic, and will begin by hearing from organisations working with more vulnerable and disadvantaged families about what they have observed over the last year and their concerns for the future.
Witnesses
Tuesday 20 April 2021
At 9.45am, the Committee will hear evidence from:
Jabeer Butt, Chief Executive, Race Equality Foundation
Sally Hogg, Head of Policy and Campaigning, Parent-Infant Foundation
David Holmes, Chief Executive, Family Action
Jaine Stannard, Chief Executive, School-Home Support
Jane Williams, CEO Founder, The Magpie Project
Themes for discussion
How the pandemic has affected more vulnerable and disadvantaged families.
What the long-term impact of the pandemic might be for parents and children.
What action is needed from Government to respond to these concerns.
Taxi and private hire drivers across the Capital are to receive more funding as top-up payments of £1,000 each will be distributed by the City of Edinburgh Council.
From today (15 April 2021), this will be paid out to those who received the initial grants of £1,500 through the ‘Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund’ and will be done using the same details used for the first grant without any need for further application.
This additional funding for taxi and private hire drivers will be provided from the ‘Edinburgh Discretionary Business Support Fund’, amounting to just under £4.4 million for the sector in Edinburgh.
The Council was awarded just over £12.8 million in total by the Scottish Government to create the ‘Edinburgh Discretionary Business Support Fund’ which has been distributing grant money to eligible businesses since 3 February 2021 in two tranches – initially £2.8 million, and then an additional £10 million was added to the pot.
The ‘Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund’ was open between 25 January and 25 March 2021 and paid out just over £6.5 million to 4,391 taxi and private hire drivers.
Councillor Kate Campbell, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said:“It’s been a really difficult time for so many businesses and self-employed people. We know that taxi and private hire drivers have been severely impacted so we’re using the discretionary grant fund to top up the Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund.
“Taxis and private hire drivers are a crucial part of our city’s transport infrastructure, making our city accessible to many and supporting our economy.
“We’ve taken the decision to ring-fence this money to make sure that drivers, 90% of whom are self-employed, have a bit of extra support to help them get through this period until we start to see the easing of more restrictions from 26th April.
“This year has been incredibly difficult for all businesses in our city, and we know how hard people have had to work to keep going. We want to do everything we can help.”
Councillor Mandy Watt, Vice Convener said: “The taxi trade is a vital part of our public transport network, supporting many vulnerable people and those with accessibility needs. I therefore feel very passionately that this sector – the majority renting their vehicles – gets the support it needs to continue this essential service.
“Our whole economy has been affected and it will take time to build it back up again. That’s why, despite there being a date to work towards, we’ll continue to look at our business support landscape and monitor where the holes have been so we can plug them with funding support.”
Applications will be open until the fund is nearing its full allocation. At this point the fund will be closed and applications will be processed in the order they are received.
The report explores the key barriers and enablers to accessing the COVID-19 vaccine and how the vaccine delivery model can be improved to reduce inequalities and provide holistic support to those who need it the most.
The key messages from the report are that our health system has a clear moral and human rights duty to those vulnerable groups who fall through the gaps of public service provision to ensure that they are not failed by this crucially important public health intervention.
Some of the key demographics highlighted within the research are at very high risk if they do contract COVID-19, including people who are homeless, prisoners, people living in poverty, people who abuse drugs and alcohol, black and ethnic minority groups, gypsy travellers, refugees and asylum seekers.
The report calls against viewing the Covid-19 vaccine programme as a silo: the programme has to be part of a whole-system, preventative approach to public health and to health inequalities. This requires a joined up suite of interventions that not only help people access the vaccine but supports them to stay well afterwards and enables them to adhere to the Covid-19 regulations safely.
There are a number of recommendations calling for improvements in the communications relating to the COVID-19 vaccine, a need to prioritise collection and analysis of local data about uptake of Covid-19 vaccine by different communities and groups as well as the need to conduct active research into the ongoing vaccination programme.
The report also recommends developing a rolling programme of outreach vaccination clinics, services and events as well as provision of accessible, affordable transport to vaccine centres and clinics.
Finally, the report highlights the importance of involving third sector and community partners in the planning, communications and delivery of public health interventions that could help prevent, mitigate and reduce health inequalities.
The findings of the report will be shared with Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland, NHS Boards as well as a range of key stakeholders across the third sector.
All adults over 50, the clinically vulnerable and health and social care workers have now been offered a life-saving Covid-19 jab, as the UK Government prepares to move into the next phase of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
The target was reached ahead of schedule, with the government having pledged to offer a first dose to priority cohorts 1-9 by 15 April.
Nearly 40 million vaccines have now been given in total, with adults under 50 expected to begin to be invited in the coming days.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We have now passed another hugely significant milestone in our vaccine programme by offering jabs to everyone in the nine highest risk groups.
“That means more than 32 million people have been given the precious protection vaccines provide against Covid-19.
“I want to thank everyone involved in the vaccine rollout which has already saved many thousands of lives.
We will now move forward with completing essential second doses and making progress towards our target of offering all adults a vaccine by the end of July.”
The JCVI are expected to publish their final advice on how the government should vaccinate those aged under 50. This advice will pave the way for the next phase of the vaccination programme, which is expected to begin this week.
NHS organisations in the four nations, in collaboration with devolved administrations, will decide how to operationalise that JCVI advice.
It is thought that people in England in their late 40s will be the first to be invited to book their jabs.
Over 7 million second doses have now been given – with a record 475,230 given on Saturday – and we remain on track to offer a first vaccine to all adults by 31 July.
“Covid is in retreat in Scotland” – FM Nicola Sturgeon
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at St Andrew’s House today (Tuesday 13 April 2021):
“Lastly, I want to set out, as I indicated earlier, a change to our existing plans.
We have always said we will keep plans under review and accelerate the lifting of restrictions if possible.
Indeed, we are legally obliged not to keep any restrictions in place for longer than they are needed.
Now, it’s important to stress that the improved data, and I’m sure the CMO will underline this, does not allow us to throw caution to the wind – certainly not if we are sensible – but it does give us a bit of limited headroom.
So we have considered whether we can bring forward any changes that will particularly boost mental health and wellbeing. So we focused really on trying as far as possible to give families more opportunities to get together earlier than was planned.
In particular, we have looked at travel within Scotland to see friends and family, albeit outdoors.
At the moment, we cannot leave our own local authority areas except for an essential purpose.
That rule was due to remain in place until the 26 April.
But the data allows us to make a change to this earlier than that.
So, from Friday this week – 16 April – we will all be able to travel anywhere within Scotland for the purposes of outdoor socialising, recreation, or informal exercise.We are also able to relax the rules for meeting people outdoors, again from Friday.
At the moment, a maximum of four adults from two households are permitted to meet outdoors.
From Friday onwards, that will change to a maximum of six adults, from up to six households. So that’s quite a significant relaxation of that outdoor meeting limit.
So in summary from the end of this week, you will be able to meet up with family and friends who live in different parts of the country. Many of those reunions will be long-awaited, and much anticipated.
But please do remember that meetings at this stage, probably until the middle of May, meetings must still be outdoors – not inside our own homes.
And I would aske everyone to please be careful and remember that due to physical distancing, public transport capacity remains relatively limited.
And remember also that travel restrictions for wider purposes – such as leisure, shopping, visiting hospitality premises or staying in tourist accommodation – will remain until 26 April when these places will re-open and all travel restrictions within Scotland will be lifted.
I can also confirm today that we do expect to lift restrictions on travel to and from England and Wales on 26 April – something which I know will be welcomed by many, and perhaps in particular by businesses in our tourism sector.
Now it may still be necessary in future to have temporary travel restrictions to and from places with high rates of Covid.
We will be very serious about mitigating any risk of importing the virus, and particularly new variants of the virus, into Scotland, so we may see some limited travel restrictions in future either within Scotland or between Scotland and other parts of the UK.
But from 26 April, we intend that people in Scotland will be able to travel anywhere across Britain.
Northern Ireland is due to review its restrictions later this week – so we will review our approach to travel there before 26 April and we hope that that can be freed up to.
And travel restrictions to and from other parts of the common travel area – including the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands – will also be kept under review.
We also hope to be able to agree rules for international travel on a four nations basis.
I should stress however, and I know this is difficult, that international travel does remain a significant risk – particularly given the acceleration of spread that we are seeing in many other parts of the world and given the possibility and reality of new variants of the virus being imported into Scotland.
It may be the case that we have to endure restrictions on international travel for a bit longer, as the price we pay for much greater normality here in Scotland.
I know that’s not easy and often when we talk about international travel we talk about holidays, but I’m very well aware that for many people international travel is about seeing families, so we will not keep these restriction in place for any longer than necessary, but it is important right now to protect our progress here so we don’t make the mistakes we perhaps made as we came out of lookdown last time and open up international travel too quickly and then compromise and jeopardise the progress that we have made.
However, back to the positive, from Friday – we will be able to travel more freely within Scotland, and to meet up in larger groups outside.
A week later, on 26 April, the retail and hospitality sectors will reopen.
And then, as the summer progresses, we do expect to see a return to much greater normality.
All of that is positive news. It’s a testament to the success of the vaccination programme, and more importantly it’s down to the sacrifices all of us have made up until now.
I know how tough that has been and how tough it still is, but it is those sacrifices that now make possible the easing of restrictions that lie ahead of us.
But the final point I need to make really relates to that one. It is the truth and the continuing reality that the best way to keep on making progress out of lockdown, is to continue to keep cases low.
Covid is in retreat in Scotland, no doubt about that, but it hasn’t gone away and it won’t simply magically go away. It will come back if we allow it to come back.
So we must still exercise care and caution because we want our progress this time, even if it as not as fast as we want it to be, to be firmly in one direction.
That means continuing to stick to the rules that are in place.
In particular, for now, please don’t meet up with other households in your or their homes. We hope that can be eased from the middle of May.
Continue to work from home if you can for now.
And on any occasion when you do leave the house, and this becomes more important as we start to ease restrictions, remember all of the basis rules:
wear face coverings;
avoid places that are busy; so this weekend if you decide to travel a bit further to see a group of friends or family, if you go to somewhere that’s crowded, come away and go somewhere else.
remember to clean hands;
use two metre distancing
and self-isolate and get a test if you have symptoms.
As i said, these precautions become more important as we open up.
One final point I just want to clarify, which I should have said earlier on the move to six people from six households outdoors, is that of course doesn’t include children under 12. They don’t count towards that limit.
If we all continue to do the right thing, do the sensible thing, enjoy responsibly these easing of restrictions, then there is every reason for us now to be really optimistic that we are on the right track.
So let me end by thanking you again for everything you have done to make all of that possible.
Council Leaders have welcomed the Scottish Government’s latest COVID-19 update, and the easing of some restrictions earlier than expected.
Council Leader Adam McVey said: “I know people across the city will be extremely pleased with the First Minister’s latest COVID update, as am I. So many residents will now be able to visit loved ones in other parts of the country, who they may not have seen for many months, or to gather with more friends and families outdoors, which I know will have such a positive impact on everyone’s wellbeing.
“We’ve all worked so hard over the winter to stick to restrictions, and I know many businesses have had to make real sacrifices to help limit the spread of this virus, so once again I want to thank everyone for their efforts to protect one another during this most challenging of years.
“Of course, with infection rates dropping and an ongoing rapid roll-out of vaccinations, there is much to be hopeful about as we stay on-track in our recovery from the pandemic.
“But, while some of our freedoms are gradually being returned, there’s no room for complacency. There are still rules in place, for good reason, and we must continue to observe these with care if we are to return to the normality that we’ve missed so much, sooner rather than later.
Depute Leader Cammy Day said: Today’s news is to be welcomed and recognises the real need for us to be able to spend more time with family and friends, something I know we have all felt the lack of over recent months.
“Lifting of travel restrictions from England and Wales later this month is also a really positive step for all those missing relatives and friends around the country and will be a huge benefit to all the hospitality businesses and accommodation providers who are looking forward to welcoming visitors back.
“Now, we need to set our sights on recovering safely and sustainably. Though the latest update gives us reason to be optimistic, and will allow us to enjoy spring with one another, we still need to work together to get through this.
“By following the guidance in place around physical distancing, meeting outdoors and continuing good hygiene – as well as looking after our parks and outdoor spaces when we do gather – we can emerge from this healthy and happy.”
The Scottish Government is following a timetable for easing restrictions – indicative dates and further information can be found on their website.
It has been a year like no other. A year when all our services within the Council like everything else had to adapt quickly and decisively. And for many, it completely changed the way they lived and worked (writes Culture and Communities Convener CLLR DONALD WILSON).
You could pick any area of service but I want to highlight the work of our Museum & Galleries service and how the team went virtual, creating online versions of exhibitions, digital lectures, podcasts and coming up with educational programmes that parents and teachers could use at home.
Before Covid-19 our Museums and Galleries had begun to integrate digital platforms, but we’ve seen this evolution accelerated by the pandemic. It’s been a challenging process but our curators and staff have really risen to that challenge.
Of course, we weren’t completely digital for the year and were able to reopen the City Art Centre from mid- September to just before Christmas, and in that time 4 new exhibitions were installed and proved popular with visitors.
Our museums team have engaged really well with schools, with officers running live, weekly art sessions with primary schools to support at home learning. These art sessions are inspired by paintings from the City Art Centre as well as our Edinburgh museum collections such as the Museum of Childhood and encourage children to discuss artworks and objects and to get creative by taking part at home.
The service also delivered an impressive 74 events digitally that would have been run in one of our venues. A series of digital lectures covering topics from Addressing the Legacy of Slavery and Ghosts of Edinburgh Women Who Chose to Challenge for International Women’s Day were watched by over 6000 people.
They were also able to do digital versions of diverse events such as visually impaired tours, BSL signed tours as well as dance, music and choir streams bringing people together from home.
There are also now three City Art Centre digital exhibitions; The City Art Centre is 40 featuring highlights form the collection; Front of House Staff where members of the team selected their favourites form the collection and Edinburgh: Our City featuring paintings of the Capital.
Our online services have been embraced and this is very encouraging as we plan for our service post-pandemic.
When lockdown is lifted and we have access to the ‘real’ and no longer have to make do with the ‘virtual’, I think there is opportunity for a balance between the two. We certainly can’t wait to welcome visitors back but we’ve seen that our digital space can be special in it’s own right and can reach even wider audiences.
Last month it was announced that Museum & Galleries Edinburgh will receive a total of £55,125 from Museums Galleries Scotland’s COVID-19 Development Fund to help create the service’s first Digital Engagement Strategy – supporting and building on the work done during the pandemic to keep connected with local communities and virtual visitors from across the world.
During lockdown, our digital channels have been the primary way we’ve been able to engage with our audiences. Although forced into this situation by the pandemic, we have seen the many benefits and long-term opportunities for this work and are excited to explore what we can do going forward. This has been down to the hard work and dedication of our wonderful Museums and Galleries staff , of whom we are very proud.
This article first appeared in the Edinburgh Evening News
The Scottish FA has welcomedconfirmation from UEFA that Hampden Park will be able to host its four EURO 2020 matches with supporters in attendance.
The LOS Glasgow submission of a maximum 25% capacity for the national stadium (approximately 12,000 supporters under the EURO 2020 stadium configuration) has now been approved.
Plans for a Fan Zone in the city are also still under consideration with a decision anticipated at the end of the month.
The announcement is the culmination of a significant period of partnership work undertaken by the Scottish FA, Glasgow Life (on behalf of Glasgow City Council) and the Scottish Government, along with fellow LOS Glasgow members, Police Scotland and Visit Scotland.
Rod Petrie, Chair of LOS Glasgow and Scottish FA President: “We are thankful to UEFA for recognising the efforts of our LOS Glasgow partners in establishing a safe and manageable way in which supporters can attend the three group matches and Round of 16 tie at Hampden Park.
“I am also grateful to the Scottish Ministers and clinical experts for their assistance and ultimate approval in signing-off on the proposal that has today been endorsed by UEFA.
“An enormous amount of effort has gone into the submission but also in ensuring Glasgow and Hampden Park is ready to welcome supporters, not least with Scotland having secured qualification.
“We acknowledge UEFA’s timeline for ticket returns and will communicate updates to Scotland fans at those key dates.”
UEFA will be issuing an email to all ticket holders shortly to advise on the returns process for those fans who decide not to travel and next steps.
