coronavirus – Page 88 – The NEN

Lockdown review: First Minister clamps down on house parties

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Scottish Parliament yesterday (Thursday 20 August):

Presiding Officer, the Scottish Government is required by law to review lockdown restrictions every three weeks. The latest review falls due today, and I will shortly report on the decisions we have reached.

First, though, I will report on today’s statistics and other developments.

Since yesterday, an additional 77 cases of COVID have been confirmed – that represents 1% of those newly tested yesterday, and takes the total number now to 19,534.

This is the highest number of new cases in almost three months, which underlines the need for continued caution.

A total of 249 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed COVID, which is a increase of 1 since yesterday.

And 2 people are in intensive care which is the same as yesterday.

And in the past 24 hours, 0 deaths have been registered of patients who had been confirmed through a test as having the virus.

The total number of deaths in Scotland under that measurement therefore remains at 2,492.

However yesterday’s figures from National Records of Scotland – which reported three COVID deaths during the previous week – showed that the total number of deaths is higher than that, and of course it showed that people are still dying from this virus.

And we must never lose sight of the grief and heartbreak caused by every one of those deaths. And I want again to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this illness.

Let me turn now to the review of lockdown restrictions.

I am not able to indicate, today, a move from phase 3 of our route map out of lockdown to phase 4. We will remain, for now, in phase 3 and I must give notice today that this may well be the case beyond the next review point too.

For us to move to phase 4, we would have to be satisfied , and I’m quoting from our routemap, that ‘the virus is no longer considered a significant threat to public health’.

As today’s figures have demonstrated, and as has been confirmed to me in advice from the Chief Medical Officer, this is definitely not the case.

Today’s update therefore sets out which phase 3 restrictions will be changed in the coming weeks, while other necessary restrictions remain in place.

This has of course involved some difficult and delicate decisions.

The figures we have been reporting in recent weeks show that incidence and prevalence of the virus continue to be at low levels in Scotland as a whole.

However, the range for our R number has recently increased, and our most recent estimates suggest that it could currently be above 1. Of course, this is partly because, when prevalence is generally low, localised outbreaks have a bigger effect on the R number. That said though we must continue to monitor it closely.

We are also recording more positive cases than three weeks ago. When we last reviewed the lockdown measures, we had recorded 14 new cases a day, on average, over the previous week. We are now recording 52 new cases a day on average.

And in the past three weeks we have seen one significant outbreak of the virus in Aberdeen, and a number of smaller clusters in locations across the country.

We are also now dealing with a significant cluster in Coupar Angus, linked to a 2 Sisters food processing plant. And that is no doubt reflected in the fact that 27 of today’s 77 cases are in the Tayside health board area.

In total, 43 cases have been so far identified as part of that outbreak – that is 37 people who work in the plant, and 6 contacts of theirs. This number will almost certainly grow. We are stressing the importance of all workers at the plant self-isolating and getting tested. A mobile testing unit remains on site, and the factory has been closed down for a two week period. Given the nature and potential scale of this outbreak, we are considering carefully and urgently whether further restrictions are necessary. I will chair a further meeting of Scottish Government’s resilience committee later this afternoon.

In addition, there are several cases linked to schools which are worth noting. A total of 8 adults at Kingspark school in Dundee have tested positive, which has prompted the decision to temporarily close that school.

In addition, the number of cases in the cluster in north east Glasgow now stands at 16. There is also a separate but linked cluster of 9 cases in Coatbridge. A number of the cases in these clusters are school children, although there is no evidence that they contracted the virus in school. Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board are also carrying out contact tracing around several other schools in Glasgow.

Finally, on clusters, there were 12 new cases in Grampian yesterday. On the latest figures available, a total of 407 cases have been identified in the Grampian Health Board area since 26 July.

237 of these are associated with the cluster linked to Aberdeen pubs, and 1,185 contacts have now been identified from those 237 cases.

As I said yesterday, there is evidence now that the original cluster of cases linked to pubs is coming under control, but in recent days we have continued to see new cases which do not seem to be linked to that first cluster. Because of that, restrictions in Aberdeen have been extended, but they will be reviewed again on Sunday, with a view to setting out – if possible – a firm timetable for lifting the restrictions.

All of these outbreaks are being tackled by our test and protect teams, and current evidence on their performance suggests that the vast majority of contacts are being identified, and most of them are being identified quickly.

However, the clusters and new cases highlight a continued need for caution – especially since our priority continues to be to keep schools safely open.

Of course, these clusters are not completely unexpected. We have always known that reopening more services and premises – especially indoor bars, restaurants and cafés – might lead to an increase in cases.

And indeed two major risk factors have stood out in reports of recent clusters. As we expected, indoor hospitality – bars and restaurants – is one. The other is social events and gatherings in people’s homes.

We have already tightened some of the rules in relation to the indoor hospitality sector – for example by putting guidance on a statutory footing, and making it compulsory now to collect customers’ contact data.

I will announce further measures intended to aid compliance at the end of this statement.

Understanding the risks of these indoor settings, has also made us think carefully about further changes and the need to ensure rigorous compliance with guidelines.

On balance, taking account of the different harms that COVID and the restrictions imposed to tackle it are inflicting on the country, we have decided that the re-openings pencilled in for the 24 August can proceed.

I must stress though that such re-opening should only happen when the appropriate guidance covering that activity or setting has been implemented. We will also monitor the impact carefully and, as with everything else, we will not hesitate to reimpose restrictions should that prove necessary.

Full details will be available on the Scottish Government website but the 24 August changes include some outdoor live events – with physical distancing, enhanced hygiene and restricted numbers.

Organised outdoor contact sports will also resume for people of all ages. But for outdoor coaching sessions, there will be a cap of 30 on the total number of people who can be coached at any one time.

Driving lessons will resume.

And indoor face to face advice services – for example Citizens Advice – can also open to provide financial advice when necessary.

We have given particularly careful consideration to premises like bingo halls, because these share some obvious similarities with the indoor hospitality sector.

It is therefore of the utmost importance that guidance is strictly adhered to and we will be monitoring that carefully.

Let me now turn to the reopening of gyms, swimming pools, and indoor sports courts. Three weeks ago, I indicated that they could reopen from 14 September, but I also said then that we would consider if that date could safely be brought forward – especially given the wider physical and mental health benefits of access to these facilities.

Having done so, I am now able confirm that these facilities can reopen – subject to guidance being in place – from 31 August.

For indoor sports courts – which includes dance studios and gymnastics – it is worth stressing that for people aged 12 and over, the reopening on this date applies to non-contact activity only.

These are the only key changes to restrictions that we plan to make within this review period.

However, we hope that further changes will be possible from Monday 14 September, in line with what is currently set out in the routemap.

However, I must stress these possible changes are at this stage indicative only.

And given the volatility we face in transmission of the virus, there is a very real possibility that some or all of these plans could change.

However, with that significant caveat, we hope that from 14 September, sports stadia will be able to reopen, though only for limited numbers of spectators and with strict physical distancing in place.

Some professional sports events might be arranged for spectators before then – with Scottish Government agreement – to test the safety of any new arrangements.

We also hope that from 14 September, indoor contact sports activities can resume for people aged 12 and over.

And we hope that entertainment sites and cultural venues – such as theatres and live music venues – will be able to reopen from that date too, but with strict physical distancing in place. To facilitate that, these venues can re-open for preparation and rehearsal from 24 August.

Finally, we hope that from 14 September, wedding and civil partnership receptions and funeral wakes will be able to take place with more attendees than at present, although numbers will remain restricted. We intend to set out more detail on this, including on permitted numbers, shortly.

These are the activities and premises for which we are currently setting indicative dates – but I want to stress again that these are indicative dates at this stage.

We are unfortunately not yet setting a date for the reopening of non-essential call centres and offices. We will review this again at the next review point.

For now, working from home will remain the default position.

I know that many office workers miss seeing their colleagues, and many are keen to resume a more normal daily routine.

I also know that some businesses – however well they may be managing to work virtually – will want more of their employees to meet and work together.

And I am acutely aware of the impact of home working on services – like cafés and restaurants – which are based in areas with lots of office workers.

However a full return to office working – given the numbers involved – would significantly increase the risk of indoor transmission.

It would also make buses and trains significantly busier and increase transmission risks there too.

Our conclusion therefore is that a return to working in offices – unless that work is essential and cannot be completed at home – presents too great a risk at this time.

The impact it could have on community transmission would also make it more difficult to keep schools open.

And so this does unfortunately come down to difficult judgments about priorities.

We have made clear that our priority is to enable children to be safely back at school. And with the virus at its current levels, that means we cannot do everything else we would like to do – like bring back non-essential offices.

Now I know people will ask why their kids can go to school but they can’t go to the office, and that might seem like an inconsistency.

But that logic is back-to-front.

It is because you cannot go to the office – and because of the other restrictions we are keeping in place – that we are able to send children back to school.

If we opened everything up right now, the overall impact would simply be too great. The virus would run away from us – and we would, in all likelihood, be forced to reintroduce restrictions none of us want to see. We have only been able to relax some restrictions because others have remained in place.

There is one final issue I want to cover today. It relates to the risks I mentioned earlier – of transmission inside people’s homes, and the risks of transmission in pubs, cafés and restaurants.

We have considered very carefully what further enforcement actions we can take to minimise the risk of transmission in those settings.

For the indoor hospitality sector, I am grateful to the many pubs, restaurants and cafés who have opened responsibly – and who have gone to great lengths to stick to the rules and guidance on ventilation, hygiene, face coverings, contact details and physical distancing. Their efforts are hugely appreciated.

However we also know that not all hospitality businesses have implemented the guidance effectively. We therefore intend to strengthen the power of local authorities to act in these circumstances.

The Scottish Government has powers under emergency legislation to issue directions in respect of a class of premises – for example, directions to close all pubs in a particular postcode.

We intend to give local authorities the power to act in respect of individual, specific premises that are breaching guidelines and risking transmission of the virus.

This power would enable local authorities either to close such premises – or to impose conditions on them remaining open – where they deem that is necessary for the purpose of preventing, protecting against, or controlling the spread of infection.

We believe this is an important – indeed a vital – but also a proportionate step, which will help local authorities ensure businesses stick to the guidelines and that action can be taken where these guidelines are being breached.

The second area we have been looking at carefully is indoor social events, like house parties.

We know from reports of our own test and protect teams – and we also from evidence from other places in the UK and indeed around the world – that these indoor events pose a major – a very significant transmission risk. And because the virus is so infectious if it is present at an event like this there is a very high likelihood that most people at the event get the virus.

That is why we advise strict limits on indoor gatherings. Right now, our advice is that no more than 8 people from a maximum of 3 different households should be gathering indoors.

The vast majority of people I know will be sticking to this, and it is not easy to do so, so I am very grateful to them for that.

But we also know that a minority don’t. And we know that large house parties pose a very real and significant risk of causing clusters and outbreaks – such as some of those we have been dealing with in recent days.

So – for use in cases of flagrant breach and as a last resort – we intend to give the police powers of enforcement to break up and disperse large indoor gatherings.

We believe that both of these new powers are necessary if we are to continue to suppress the virus, minimise the risk of outbreaks and keep it under control, which is so necessary.

We will lay the regulations for both of these measures next week and we intend that they will come into force from next Friday 28 August.

Presiding Officer, the last three weeks have given us mixed news. We have seen a rise in new cases, and a number of clusters across the country. We have also, regrettably, had to reimpose some restrictions in the city of Aberdeen.

But we still have low numbers of new cases overall. We have very low numbers of hospital admissions.

And we have strong and growing evidence that our test and protect teams and that system overall – is working well.

Given the resurgence of COVID that we are seeing in some parts of Europe – and given that we always knew that reopening more parts of the economy would be risky – the picture in Scotland could of course be better, but it could also be significantly worse.

We are still making progress in our overall fight against this virus

But we cannot take this progress for granted, especially if we are to keep our schools open; keep businesses and services open; and retain our ability to socialise and meet up in small groups of friends and family.

The fact is that COVID is still a major risk, and we must still be very cautious. We can see the evidence of that in Aberdeen, we see it in each new cluster across the country and of course we see it in reports from elsewhere in the UK, Europe, and around the world.

And that is why today’s review has sought to take a careful and a balanced approach.

I hope that the reopening of some services will be welcomed – and notwithstanding the risk that each and every reopening presents, we know it is essential to reduce the economic harm that the virus is doing. But I hope that people will also understand why – as we try to open services and keep them open – we must take firm action, when rules and guidance are not being complied with.

I also hope that everyone watching will understand that although government must and will take the lead – we make difficult decisions, we draft guidance, we propose laws – but we cannot control COVID on our own.

We are all dependent on the choices made by each and every single person in the country.

So please think carefully about whether you are playing your part as fully as you could and should be.

Please do not meet indoors in groups of more than 8 people from any more than three households – and that applies in a pub, café or restaurant, just as it does in someone’s home.

Remember physical distancing, and don’t go into crowded places where physical distancing may not be possible.

And ask yourself whether your social life feels normal – because it shouldn’t at the moment feel entirely normal.

Wherever you are, assume the virus is present and act at all times to avoid creating bridges that allow it to cross from one household to another.

I have spoken before about the importance of solidarity in how we all deal with this pandemic. And I know it is hard – especially after 5 months – but sticking to these rules is an expression of our care for each other.

It is the way in which we protect – not just ourselves, but our loved ones and our communities.

So for that reason, I will end by reminding everyone again of FACTS – the five golden rules that will help us stay safe, even as life gets back to something that is closer to normality.

F is Face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces – public transport, shops and anywhere else that physical distancing is more difficult.
A – Avoid crowded areas, outdoors as well as indoors.
C – Clean your hands regularly and thoroughly, clean hard surfaces after touching them.
T – Two metre distancing remains the clear advice.

And S – Self isolate, and book a test immediately, if you have symptoms – a new cough; a fever, or a loss of, or a change in, your sense of taste or smell.

You can book a test at nhsinform.scot or by phoning 0800 028 2816.

Any time any one of us drops our guard, and forgets these rules, we give the virus a chance to spread. We risk turning an infection into a cluster, and a cluster into an outbreak.

But if all of us stick to the FACTS, we can continue to suppress it; we can keep schools and services open – and we can think about easing more restrictions in the future.

So my thanks go once again to everyone across the country who is helping to do exactly that.

‘Forgotten Angels’ – Why We Must Act Now to Prevent A Collapse of Social Care

With coronavirus continuing to have an impact across the country, one woman speaks out about the desperate need to support a social care system on the brink of collapse …

Diana McGovern, who lives in Davidsons Mains, suffers from MS and is confined to a wheelchair. She relies on her carers to complete the simple day to day tasks we all take for granted. Without ‘her angels’ as she calls them, it would be impossible for her to remain in her own home.

She is deeply concerned about the crisis facing the social care system in this country and believes any further pressure on it, such as a second wave of COVID19, would lead to its collapse.

“Protect the NHS is their claim but who is protecting the carers?” asks Diana. “An army of unsung heroes dedicated to looking after patients in their own homes with compassionate dignity and respect, preventing bed blocking in hospitals, allowing doctors and nurses to continue the vital work of saving lives.

“They work seamlessly as a team, but could the NHS function without carers? Nurses study diligently to become qualified and proudly wear their badge of office but carers also wear badges!

“Their challenge is to enhance and retain a quality of life for people who suffer from a complex and wide range of medical conditions. It’s a demanding, responsible, and emotionally draining career but one which offers tremendous job satisfaction. They are compensated with a wage less than that of a supermarket worker, while having to provide their own car and phone to carry out their duties.

“On top of an already difficult situation they were handed the challenge of COVID-19. They were expected to care for and nurture patients discharged from hospital, cope with distressed relatives and battle to save the lives of the sick and dying, with little support or guidance – all while trying to protect their own lives and the lives of their families.

“The media has highlighted how wonderful our carers are and revealed the very inadequate wages they receive. Has any policy maker or government addressed this disgraceful situation? NO.

“Have we not learned from past mistakes? We may be living with a pandemic now, but we may be facing an even greater crisis soon, with winter flu and further lockdowns possible. Doctors and nurses are making contingency plans, but what about recruiting carers? The strain on the skeleton level of care workers we have now is enormous. Any additional stress placed on the system would surely see it collapse.

“Does it take the voice of a person completely wheelchair bound, living independently with the support of carers, to highlight the urgent problem of recruiting and paying an appropriate decent living wage to all carers? Is the government ignoring this crisis?

“Nicola Sturgeon has stood up for Scotland and been applauded. Can she now take urgent action to recruit and increase the pay to compensate and reward our dedicated carers? We are dependent on the NHS, but in a crisis, we rely on our trusted carer.

“How do we keep and recruit careers when they don’t receive a decent pay? We need to pay now not tomorrow, or the government may have bigger crisis on their hands.

“Unless action is taken now, the system will crash. We must act before it’s too late.”

Huge boost to national testing study

Office for National Statistics to significantly expand infection survey to 400,000 people, making it the country’s largest study tracking COVID-19 in the general population
New data will support rapid testing and diagnosis of COVID-19 on a national and local level, helping to narrow down the areas of concern
UK Government to provide £2 million grant to ZOE COVID-19 Symptom Study app to support its ongoing data collection

The Office for National Statistics has partnered with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to extend the ONS COVID-19 Infection Survey tracking the virus in the general population across the UK – making this the UK’s largest COVID-19 surveillance survey.

It will expand from regularly testing 28,000 people per fortnight in England to 150,000 by October, the Health Secretary announced today. The survey aims to increase to 400,000 people across the entire project.

The expanded study will play a crucial role in providing extensive, weekly data on the spread of infection, supporting rapid testing and diagnosis of COVID-19 both nationally and in areas of concern. The ONS will prioritise ramping up in the north west of England and London in light of recent upticks in infection rates in these areas.

Letters have already been sent out to tens of thousands of homes inviting new participants to take part in the survey. Anyone who receives a letter asking them to participate in the study is encouraged to do so.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This country now has the capacity to test for coronavirus on an unprecedented scale and this ONS survey will be a crucial part of this work – improving our understanding of the rate of infection in the population and how many people have antibodies.

“This will allow us to further narrow down the areas potentially affected by local outbreaks and continue our fight to curb the spread ahead of winter.

“I urge anyone who is able to take part in this study to do so – you will be playing a vital role in the fight against the virus. The data and insight gathered will help inform our national, regional and local responses to the pandemic, allowing this nation to get back to the things we love doing.”

Reporting on a weekly basis, the ONS study will provide both a national picture of how the virus is spreading as well as granular estimates of the number of COVID-19 cases down to local level.

Crucially, this will allow government and local authorities to further narrow down the areas which may be undergoing outbreaks, potentially reducing the number of people affected by new restrictions and allowing for swift action to curb the spread of the virus.

Led by the ONS and The University of Oxford in partnership with the departments of health across the UK, the survey uses routine swabbing and antibody testing to provide insight into the rate of infection and antibody levels in the community.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond, UK National Statistician, said: “Vigilance is key to containing this pandemic and the extra data on the spread of infections and antibodies at local level will be invaluable to the planning of effective local responses.

“Following this expansion, the ONS-led COVID-19 Infection Survey will be the biggest of its kind in this country. If you’ve been approached to take part then please do so. You will be helping us all to contain this terrible virus and get on with our lives.”

Alongside this significant expansion, the government is providing a £2 million grant to the ZOE COVID-19 Symptom Study app to support its data collection. Participants use the app to regularly report on their health and symptoms and whether they have tested positive for the virus or not, making it the largest public science project of its kind anywhere in the world.

Data from the app is analysed in collaboration with King’s College London researchers and provides granular data on symptoms across the country, helping identify local outbreaks and support NHS decision-making. Researchers are able to predict who has the virus and track infections across the UK as well as identify who is most at risk and where high-risk areas are.

The government will not have access to the base data gathered by the app. The ZOE app is separate to the NHS Test and Trace app launched last week for a trial run, to support national and local contact tracing and help minimise the spread of COVID-19.

Together, these studies will help control the spread of the virus by providing vital new intelligence on the scale of local outbreaks, inform our understanding of the virus and how it affects different demographics.

Jonathan Wolf, CEO of ZOE, said: “We are a start-up, so we are delighted that this funding guarantees the future of the study throughout the winter. When we started the study with Professor Tim Spector at King’s in March, we never imagined it could become so important. We have been blown away by the commitment of the British public to help fight COVID, by sharing the state of their health daily.

“The app is an amazing demonstration of the power of large-scale science and the use of machine learning. We have funded the app ourselves so far, and with this funding we can continue the essential work of hotspot detection and research on the long-term risks of COVID.

“We are delighted that ZOE and this innovative study can play a part in keeping the UK safe.”

EIS Makes Direct Plea to First Minister: ‘Do More on School Safety’

The EIS has made a direct plea to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, urging her to do more to make schools safe from the risk of COVID-19.

In an unusual step, the EIS has written directly to the First Minister pointing out clear inconsistencies in COVID safety policy outwith and within schools, and urging the Scottish Government to do more to protect pupils, staff and school communities from the risk of COVID infection.

In the letter, EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan says, “Standing alongside you at Monday’s daily briefing, (National Clinical Director) Jason Leitch stated that there were concerns around people meeting outside schools in large groups.

“He went on to say, ‘This includes parents gathering at school gates; young people meeting friends without following the guidance on physical distances.’ He concluded, ‘To remind you, the maximum permitted is eight people from three households, including your own, indoors, and 15 people from five households outdoors.’

‘Crucially, everyone 12 and over must physically distance from everyone outside their own household. People are running the risk of spreading the virus to each other, their families and their loved ones.’ May I ask, then, why the Scottish Government thinks that it is acceptable that inside schools these rules don’t apply, where up to 33 pupils may be in a closed confined area, i.e. a classroom, with as many different households as there are people?”

The letter continues, “We need the Scottish Government to fund the hiring of the 3,500 teachers identified by the GTCS as willing to aid Education recovery, so that we can reduce class sizes and make possible physical distancing.

“We also need stronger advice on face coverings, where physical distancing is not possible. You cannot visit a museum without one but again schools are different?”

Mr Flanagan adds, “EIS members supported the decision to reopen schools as we understand the importance of Education to our young people – that does not mean the very real concerns of teachers about school safety should be set aside. I urge you and your Government to do more.”

FM concern over community COVID clusters

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Thursday 18th August:

Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us again today. As usual I will start with giving you the national COVID-19 statistics for Scotland.

I can confirm that an additional 49 positive cases were confirmed yesterday.

Which represents 1% of the people who were newly tested yesterday, and takes the total number of cases in Scotland to 19,407.

A full health board breakdown will be available later, but my provisional information I have is that 7 of the 49 new cases are in the Grampian health board area.

Twelve are in Greater Glasgow & Clyde, six in Lanarkshire and sixteen in Tayside.

We are dealing with known clusters in each of these health board areas and I’ll come back to those shortly.

I can also confirm that a total of 254 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed COVID. That is six more than yesterday.

And three people are in intensive care, which is the same as yesterday.

I’m also pleased to report that yet again in the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days. The number of deaths under that measurement therefore remains 2,491.

We should remember that the weekly National Records of Scotland figures – which include confirmed and presumed COVID deaths – showed last week that five people had died in the preceding seven days who were presumed to have had COVID or whose test was more than 28 days prior to death occurring.

This week’s more comprehensive figure will be published by NRS tomorrow.

That of course a stark reminder of the impact of this virus, it is still potentially very dangerous and of course my condolences again go to everyone who has suffered loss.

And as always, I want to thank everyone who is working hard still to help our country through this pandemic in whatever capacity you are doing so, you have our appreciation.

Now, I’m hoping that – circumstances permitting – we may shortly move to having these updates slightly less frequently, perhaps three days a week rather than five.

However, I think it is important this week, that I give regular updates on the variety of different clusters and outbreaks that are currently being tackled across the country.

I will start with Aberdeen, and given that and indeed the Grampian area more generally, have been responsible for a very significant proportion of all new cases we have seen in recent weeks.

I mentioned earlier that seven of today’s 49 new cases were in the Grampian area.

And I can report today that according to the latest figures we have a total of 386 cases have been now been identified in Grampian since the 26th of July.

220 of these are associated with the cluster linked to Aberdeen pubs, and 1125 contacts have now been identified from those 220 cases.

I can confirm today that 13 cases which had previously been identified but not allocated to the cluster have now following further investigation been added because they are considered to be associated with that cluster.

Now, the slightly more positive news is that in recent days we have seen a decline in new cases across the Grampian area.

Ten days ago, for example, we reported 39 new cases in one day. Today, we have reported seven.

The seven day average for cases has also fallen.

That suggests that the restrictions we put in place two weeks ago are having an impact – as are the efforts of our health protection teams.

However it is worth highlighting that over the past week new cases in Grampian are still higher than in other parts of the country.

We will have to take that fact into account, when we announce tomorrow whether or not there will be any change to the restrictions currently in place in Aberdeen.

The situation there does appear to be improving – but it is important to stress we can’t yet say that that outbreak is completely over.

I also mentioned yesterday about the cluster in Coupar Angus which is linked to a 2 Sisters food processing plant.

So far, I can report that this outbreak has nine confirmed cases associated with it – but I will be surprised, albeit pleasantly, if we don’t see that number rise in the days ahead.

Seven of the cases identified so far are employees of the factory, and two are people in the wider community. Contact tracing is ongoing for all of these cases.

The factory – which employs approximately 900 people in total – so it is a big workplace – closed down yesterday. A mobile testing unit is due on site today, so that the whole workforce can be tested.

This is a complex and potentially significant cluster.

In addition to the overriding public health concern relating to the outbreak, the closure of the plant potentially of course has an economic impact.

We also need to consider possible animal welfare issues – the animals which would have been sent to the factory in the next few days cannot currently be sent there.

For all of those reasons, we are monitoring all aspects of this situation very carefully and closely, and will provide further information in due course as and when it becomes available.

There are also some cases and clusters that have been identified in the last couple of days involving school pupils

For example, there are individual cases involving school students who go to primary schools in Blairgowrie, Perth and Paisley.

The health protection teams are dealing with these cases and have written to the parents and careers of the infected children’s classmates, to advise them where necessary that their own children should be isolating.

I also mentioned yesterday community clusters in Lanarkshire and North East Glasgow, which include secondary school students – and which appear to be linked to each other.

Now, it is important to stress that these are considered at this stage to be community clusters with an impact on schools, rather than school based clusters. That is an important distinction, it is not thought that the virus has transmitted within the schools

In Lanarkshire, the number of confirmed cases is eight, which includes five people from three different schools. The risk of infection at all three schools is considered low.

The cluster in Baillieston, North East Glasgow currently has 14 identified cases, some of which are students at one school.

Contact tracing is taking place for this cluster.

In addition – and this is of course relevant for both of those outbreaks I have just mentioned – there are mobile testing units at the Time Capsule car park in Coatbridge and at Ravenscraig, in addition to the testing centre at Glasgow airport.

Let me repeat a point I made earlier because I think it is really important for people to understand this. These are community based clusters. And there does appears to be a link with indoor social events.

And the evidence we have at this stage seems to suggest, not surprisingly given how infectious we know COVID is, that if the virus is present at say, a house party, everyone attending the party is at considerable risk of infection – and then of course, the risk is that they spread the infection more widely.

All of that underlines the vital importance right now of abiding by the restrictions on household gatherings.

If I can remind you of what those are, no more than eight people, from a maximum of three different households should be gathering indoors. And two metre distance should be maintained between people from different households.

These rules are not easy – I really do understand that. But not sticking to them is presenting perhaps one of our biggest risks of outbreaks occurring at this time.

So I can’t stress enough how important it is that we all do abide by and comply with these rules.

For all of the outbreaks I have mentioned, Test and Protect teams are working hard to identify individuals who need to self-isolate and get tested.

But as always, anybody who has symptoms – in these areas or indeed anywhere across Scotland – should book a test immediately.

The symptoms are a new cough, a high temperature, or a loss of or change in your sense of taste and smell. Tests can be booked through the NHS inform website.

And I would appeal to you again, don’t hesitate, don’t delay, don’t wait, even a few hours to see if you feel better. If you experience any of these symptoms, time is of the essence, book a test as quickly as you possibly can.

Before I conclude and move on to questions and the Chief Medical Officer is with me today who will assist me in answering the questions. I just want to come to the issue of schools and say a final few words. Firstly to stress again that all of the cases we have seen so far which have involved school students, suggest that transmission has taken place outside of the school not in the schools.

That emphasises again the importance of keeping transmission rates as low as possible in the community, continuing to do everything we can to drive these transmission rates down as close to elimination levels as we can. That’s good for our overall health and wellbeing and the overall fight against this virus but it is also the action that will allow us to keep schools safely open. And let’s not forget the importance of that objective.

It is overwhelmingly in the best interests of young people, particularly after 4 or 5 months where they have been out of school, to be in full time education. The harm to them of losing out on that are considerable.

But we will, I think inevitably see more cases which involve school students in the weeks and months ahead.

In those cases – as has happened in the ones I’ve mentioned today – contact tracers will identify if any other students or staff at the school need to isolate, and will let them and their parents know.

More generally, the Test and Protect system so far has worked well for each outbreak we have faced to date.

And for every cluster, incident management teams in the local area are considering the latest evidence, and assessing what further follow up actions need to take place. I once again want to thank everyone involved in those efforts.

So when I give updates like today’s – providing details of cases and clusters in different parts of the country, and particular when some cases involving schools – I don’t do that to alarm you. Partly, I do it to try to reassure that the appropriate steps are being taken and appropriate interventions are in place. But although I don’t want to alarm anybody, I do want people to take notice, in fact I need people to take notice.

These clusters show us that this virus continues to pose a serious risk. It is present in our communities, and that’s why I keep saying where ever you are, assume it is right next to you and capable, if you don’t do the right things, of being transmitted to you, and perhaps from you to somebody else.

We know, and the evidence coming from recent clusters is underlining this point, this is a highly infectious virus, and once it takes hold, it can spread rapidly. And the effort that is needed then through our Test and Protect teams to stop it spreading is considerable and remember, Test and Protect is our second line of defence, we are all the first line of defence.

So for all of these reasons, the Scottish Government may well again take a fairly cautious approach on Thursday, when I will announce in the Scottish Parliament the outcome of our review of the Phase 3 lockdown restrictions.

But for all of us, these clusters should remind us of the need to be ultra-careful right now.

They demonstrate in particular how quickly and easily COVID spreads in indoor environments – which is why I am asking you to be particularly careful about socialising indoors.

And remember that the limits I mentioned earlier – a maximum of eight people from no more than three different households – apply to groups in pubs and restaurants together, just as they do in people’s homes.

And finally before we move to questions, all of us must continue not to just remember FACTS but in everything we do, abide by the rules that are encapsulated in that FACTS campaign.

These are the five basic rules that will help all of us to contribute to stopping this virus spreading and getting out of control. So those five rules are;
· Face coverings in enclosed spaces
· Avoid crowded places indoors or outdoors
· Clean your hands regularly and remember to clean hard surfaces that you might be touching.
· Two metre distancing remains the overall rule. Even perhaps especially if you are mixing with other households indoors, in your own home or elsewhere and lastly
· Self-isolate, and book a test, if you have any of the symptoms of COVID that I mentioned earlier. A cough, a temperature, or a loss of, or change in your sense of taste or smell.

If we all do these things, we undoubtedly will continue to see clusters and outbreaks, but all of that will help us keep these contained and stop this virus taking a greater grip of us in terms of wider community transmission.

So, my thanks again to everybody for listening today and for continuing to do the right thing. And please, my usual plea at the end is, please spread this message to as many people as you can, so as many people as possible are following all of this vital health advice.

Screen and Shield face masks have charities covered

Homegrown face mask supplier Screen & Shield has raised more than £7,000 for frontline health and care workers and local communities in its first two months of operations.

The Edinburgh-based firm has followed through on its pledge to give-back a portion of sales to NHS Charities Together and other worthy causes, thanks to the rapid growth of its operation.

Hass Peymani set up his #sasMASK brand from scratch, just 60 days ago – but since then, he’s had tens of thousands of masks produced to keep up with demand.

Hass, 40, who created the business from home while in lockdown with his family, said: “A fundamental aim of the #sasMASK was to raise funds for both charities that support frontline workers and local communities that were struggling in these difficult times.

“It seemed to me that – in a health crisis – anyone who was selling masks should be giving back to the community, and especially to those hardest hit.

“10% of all online sales go to NHS-related charities, but any participating groups / charities / influencers also receive 10% of the sales to support their own causes and communities – as well as their members benefiting from a 10% discount. No one else has offered a scheme to support communities like this.

“£7,000 may seem a relatively small sum given the scale of the problems, but – given our humble beginnings – we’re very proud of this figure and we are looking forward to making substantially more donations as we continue to grow.”

Ellie Orton, CEO of NHS Charities Together, said: “Thank you to Screen and Shield for supporting NHS Charities Together. Every donation will make a difference and will help NHS charities across the UK to support hospitals, community healthcare and social care with the ongoing and long term effects of the virus.”

Unlike many of the masks on the market, the #sasMASK is manufactured in Europe and complies with the latest material and layering guidelines for non-medical-grade face coverings.

The #sasMASK has not only been designed to be washable, comfortable and affordable but also comes in more than 50 designs.

Hass Peymani set up Screen & Shield from scratch after becoming alarmed at the poor quality and unavailability of face masks for his family as he faced lockdown with a pregnant wife and his dad in a high-risk category.

As well as sales to individuals, Screen & Shield have increasingly set up relationships with many businesses, community groups and organisations to supply masks to their networks.

Screen & Shield is using its website https://screenandshield.co.uk/ and social media to drive awareness and sales, particularly facebook.com/screenandshield/.

For more information on Screen & Shield – go to: https://screenandshield.co.uk/

First Minister: Clusters, testing and care home discharges

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Monday 17 August):

Hello and thanks for joining us again today. Let me start with the usual update on the COVID-19 statistics.

I can confirm that an additional 26 positive cases were confirmed yesterday.

That represents 0.7% of the people who were newly tested yesterday, and it takes the total number of cases in Scotland to 19,358.

A full health board breakdown will be published later, but the provisional information I have is that 13 of the 26 new cases are in the Grampian Health Board area.

A total of 248 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed Covid which is five more than yesterday.

Three people are in intensive care which is the same number as yesterday.

I’m also very pleased to say that yet again in the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days, and therefore the number of deaths under that measurement remains 2,491.

However that total of course is still a reminder of the dreadful impact this virus has had. My condolences again go to everyone who has suffered loss.

And as always, let me thank everyone who is still working hard in a variety of different capacities across the country to help us through this pandemic.

I have three issues I want to briefly update on today. First let me provide some further details about ongoing clusters and outbreaks across the country.

I mentioned a moment ago that 13 of the 26 new cases reported earlier were in the Grampian area. On the latest figures available, a total of 380 cases have been identified in the Grampian Health Board area since the 26th of July.

207 of these we think are associated with the same cluster linked to Aberdeen pubs, and 1050 contacts have now been identified from those 207 cases.

In addition, teams are still investigating community clusters in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire and in North East Glasgow. Those clusters of course include some young people who go to local schools and more detail and information about those clusters will be provided as it becomes available.

I can also advise today of a cluster in Coupar Angus which is linked to a 2 Sisters food processing plant. So far, this outbreak has 4 confirmed cases – however contact tracing and testing is still ongoing. The plant’s owners have closed the facility, as part of their work with us to control any outbreak.

These clusters obviously show that the virus is still out there and continues to pose a real and serious risk. It is highly infectious, and once it takes hold, it can spread very rapidly. All of us have a responsibility – in everything we do – to try to stop that from happening which is why we continue to stress the importance of the FACTS advice which I will come back to again at the end of my remarks.

These clusters also show the importance of the work being done by our public health and protect teams in different parts of the country as they work to identify contacts, and trace those contact and help to contain the outbreaks that have been identified. I want to take the opportunity again today thank them for the work they’re doing.

The second thing I want to highlight today is the publication of our updated testing strategy for this phase in the pandemic.

That sets out our current priorities for testing, based on the work we have already done to increase capacity and improve availability.

As you would expect, our top priority is to test anyone who has symptoms of Covid – a temperature, a new cough, or a loss of or change in your sense of taste or smell. Anyone who develops these symptoms should book a test immediately through the NHS Inform website.

Our second priority now is testing contacts of people with Covid, and using testing in that way to prevent or minimise new outbreaks of the virus.

Our third priority is the routine testing of people who work in high risk environments such as care homes.

We’re also using testing to ensure the safe resumption or continuation of NHS services, and to assess prevalence of the virus in Scotland.

Finally, the strategy sets out our intention to further increase testing capacity in Scotland. That will be increasingly important as we move into the autumn and winter, because in those months, more people will have symptoms, such as a new cold, which may be similar to Covid symptoms.

Current weekday capacity in Scotland is just over 40,000 tests a day. We want to and we’re working to increase that to 65,000 tests a day. We are also working to improve the accessibility of tests.

Overall, the strategy seeks to give a concise and clear explanation of who we are seeking to test, why we test them, and what our plans for the near future are. The Health Secretary will say a bit more about it in a moment.

It will be available to read on the Scottish Government website this afternoon for anyone who is interested.

The final point I want to cover relates to media coverage about care home discharges – and particularly the suggestion that in some cases people who were thought to have Covid were discharged from hospitals into care homes.

Let me be very clear – as I have been many times before – that proper scrutiny of all and every aspects of our response to Covid, including of course in care homes, is really essential.

And that scrutiny will and must include consideration of whether – based on what we knew at each stage – the guidance in place was both appropriate and properly implemented.

And that of course is why we have committed to a public inquiry in due course.

However, I want to again be clear also that, while there will undoubtedly be lessons to learn when a new virus is encountered – and we take that very seriously – care was taken to put guidance in place that was considered to be appropriate at every stage.

For example, from mid-March that included guidance requiring clinical screening of patients being transferred from hospitals to care homes, to guard against inappropriate transfer. It also advised social isolation within care homes.

However, it is right that all of this, is properly scrutinised in the inquiry that will be instructed in due course.

I’m about to hand over to the Health Secretary, and then to the National Clinical Director – but before I do that, I would like to end, as always, by stressing the importance of FACTS.

The clusters I mentioned earlier that we are seeing in different parts of the country really do show how quickly and easily the virus can be transmitted from one person to another.

And they demonstrate that all of us need to do everything we can, to ensure that we don’t give it a chance to spread.

We all have a responsibility to each other, to continue to suppress it.

And all of us can do that, by sticking to FACTS – the five golden rules that we should remember as we go out and about our everyday business.

· Face coverings in enclosed spaces
· Avoid crowded places, indoors or outdoors
· Clean your hands regularly and remember to clean hard surfaces after you have touched them.
· Two metre distancing remains the overall rule and it is important everyone remembers that and abides by it
· and Self isolate, and book a test, if you have any of the symptoms of Covid.

If we stick to these 5 rules as rigidly as we possibly can, we will help to deny the virus bridges to travel across from one person to another and from one household to another and in that way, we will all do our bit to suppress the virus and help to protect ourselves and each other.

So, I want to thank everybody who is taking care to do all this once again for that, and encourage all of you to pass that message to everybody else that you know and encourage everybody to stick to FACTS, so we can continue to keep this virus under control.

Is going back to the office a good idea?

ISG research reveals workplace preferences depending on personality types

– For 55% of the UK office workers having plenty of natural light is the main workplace priority

– Edinburgh, London, and Birmingham office workers have the highest workplace satisfaction in the UK

To help businesses and employees navigate uncertainty over the future of workplace, ISG paired up with a clinical trainee psychologist to develop a personality test that reveals workplace preferences based on people’s character traits.

As restrictions slowly ease and businesses resume, both employers and employees face the question about the future of workplace. ISG, a global construction specialist, conducted a survey of 5,779 office workers in the UK, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia to better understand the power of workplace prior to the lockdown.

The survey indicated that plenty of natural light (55%), plenty of fresh air (48%) and being able to work from home or outside of the workplace (45%) came on top as the main employee priorities for UK workers.

In terms of the regional split, employees working in Edinburgh tend to have the highest satisfaction about their workplace conditions (63%), followed by London (55%) and Birmingham (53%). However, employees working in Cardiff are least satisfied by their workplace with only 37% confirming so.

Taking into account the research findings, ISG collaborated with Hannah Baker, a trainee clinical psychologist, to discover ways in which employees’ personality traits can be indicators of their preferences for office or remote working.

By using the Big Five personality theory as the foundation, the test outlines ten statements that are based on five main dimensions of an individual’s personality – extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, stress and openness to experience.

Respondents are asked if they agree with the statements and depending on the number of positive responses they are sorted in three workplace personality types available on https://www.isgltd.com/en/campaigns/workplace-personality-types.

Hannah Baker, a trainee clinical psychologist, said: “When considering your workspace, it is important to remember that all people respond to their environments differently.

“It can be helpful to think about where your motivation comes from – some people are motivated internally, while others respond to external factors. Also, understanding how other people impact your work can help.

“Individuals who are more introverted might find thinking independently in a quiet space most helpful. Extroverts, however, might prefer a busy office space, where they can exchange ideas and information with others.”

To find out more about the research and access the workplace personality test, please visit https://www.isgltd.com/en/campaigns/workplace-personality-types.

Public encouraged to register for COVID-19 vaccine trials

Over 100,000 people have signed up for future COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials through the NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry of volunteers are helping speed up efforts to find a safe and effective vaccine in the fight against coronavirus

UK researchers urge more volunteers across all groups to sign-up, especially the over 65s and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds

Over 100,000 people have volunteered to take part in COVID-19 vaccine trials, helping to speed up efforts to discover a safe and effective vaccine.

The UK Government is today (Monday 17 August) encouraging more people to join the thousands of volunteers and sign up to the NHS COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry to help the NHS in the fight against coronavirus and ensure potential candidates work for everyone.

To enable large-scale vaccine studies to take place across the UK, the aim is to get as many people as possible signed up to the Registry by October.

Researchers particularly welcome people from all parts of society, especially those who are more likely to benefit from a vaccine, including the over 65s, frontline health and social care workers, and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

Clinical studies with a diverse pool of volunteers will help scientists and researchers better understand the effectiveness of each vaccine candidate and will considerably speed up efforts to discover a safe and workable vaccine.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “From John O’Groats to Land’s End, everyone has played their part in tackling coronavirus from wearing face coverings to following social distancing guidance.

“Scientists and researchers are working day and night to find a vaccine that meets the UK’s rigorous regulatory and safety standards, but they need hundreds of thousands of people of all backgrounds and ages to sign-up for studies to speed up this vital research.

“I urge everyone to play our part in the fight against coronavirus and join the 100,000 people who have already registered, so we can help save and protect millions of lives.”

Chair of the government’s Vaccines Taskforce Kate Bingham said: “Protecting those at risk is the only way we will end this pandemic. That’s why we are working as quickly as possible to run clinical studies on the most promising vaccines to see whether they offer protection against COVID-19, whilst adhering to the UK’s strict safety and regulatory processes. And we need people throughout the UK to sign up to the registry to help us achieve this.

“Getting 100,000 volunteers on board is a great start but we need many more people from many different backgrounds that we can call on for future studies if we are to find a vaccine quickly to protect those who need it against coronavirus.”

Consultant Respiratory Physician and Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) PRC, Bradford, Dinesh Saralaya said: “The best way to protect us from future outbreaks is to develop effective vaccines. Several vaccine trials are being conducted around the UK in the coming months and it is important that we all sign up to be contacted about them.

“I would like to reassure people that research trials and studies are strictly regulated for ethics and safety. They are conducted within the framework of the NIHR, which is the research partner of the NHS, and we take every precaution to safeguard participants taking part. This includes appointments in settings like sports halls close to where people live and work rather than in hospitals.

“By working together, we can produce efficient vaccines which are likely to protect all sections of our society from this dreadful virus in future.”

18-year-old Marium Zumeer from Bradford, who was hospitalised after contracting COVID-19, has first-hand experience of the benefits of taking part in clinical trials.

During her time in intensive care, she was offered the opportunity to take part in the national RECOVERY trial, which is testing a range of potential treatments for COVID-19. This includes the drug dexamethasone, which was found to be the first drug to be effective when treating those who are critically ill with the virus.

RECOVERY trial volunteer Marium Zumeer said: “I will always be grateful for being encouraged to sign up. I remember my dad at the time urging me to take part, not just for myself but for the wider community.

“The result has been really positive for me and I would encourage others to do their bit in helping us all in the fight against coronavirus.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said: “I’m very grateful to those who have volunteered for researchers to contact them to take part in COVID-19 vaccine studies, via the NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry. The more people who volunteer to take part the more likely we find an answer to whether any vaccine is effective.

“Having 100,000 volunteers in just four weeks shows the selflessness of the public and is testament to the speed of work done by the Vaccines Taskforce, National Institute for Health Research and others to make signing up possible.

“I urge people to continue to sign up. It is important that we have people from different backgrounds and ages as volunteers, so that the vaccines that are developed work for everyone.”

A number of trials in the UK are expected to begin this autumn, working with the NHS, research institutions and businesses, helping to develop and manufacture the vaccines.

Launched on 20 July, the NHS COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry is an online service allowing members of the public to register their interest in COVID-19 vaccine studies and be contacted to participate in future clinical trials.

Vaccines are tested in stages to ensure they are safe and effective. Volunteers who are contacted to take part in trials will be given information about what stage a particular vaccine is at and details of how it has already been tested. They will be able to consider this when deciding to take part and people can withdraw from the registry at any point.

The Registry has been developed by the government, in partnership with the NIHR, NHS Digital, the Scottish and Welsh governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.

Scran Academy announces merger with Prep Table Scotland

Scotland’s social enterprise and charity sector today sees the merger of two successful social impact organisations.

Scran Academy, the locally-based youth charity – which also today marks its third anniversary – has formally united with catering enterprise, Prep Table Scotland, whose mission is to make the food industry more open, fair and ethical for producers, suppliers, employees and customers.

The merger became an increasingly obvious move for both organisations as the dramatic events of 2020 unfolded.

Conversations to join forces were already underway before the Coronavirus pandemic hit the UK, but the Scran Meals Programme, developed to feed Edinburgh’s most vulnerable people during lockdown, was a real testing ground and the ‘accelerating force’ for integrating both organisations.

Today’s formal announcement comes following that period of joint operations for both organisations as they responded to the Covid-19 food crisis. The partnership’s pioneering Scran Meals Programme has produced and delivered over 112,500 meals to around 3,500 residents across the capital.

All core delivery, assets and staff will continue within the Scran Academy operations. This primarily includes the café that operates from the NHS Comely Bank Centre becoming the Scran Café (which will be a trading element that creates job placements for young people), securing employment for the Prep Table staff team and the Prep Table Scotland assets transferring to enable increased value for Scran Academy young people.

The merged organisation will retain the Scran Academy name.

John Loughton, Founder of Scran Academy, said: “The staff and Board at Scran Academy are delighted to welcome this merger with Prep Table Scotland. We see this as a mature and exciting move that helps us all collectively deliver better social outcomes than either of us could have alone.

“The epic response we were able to initiate in these last 4 months immediately proves how important it is for social enterprises to work together and embrace change. When things got really tough, we recognised we needed to collaborate, not simply compete.”

“We are honoured to take forward the impressive legacy Fiona Donaldson and the Prep Table Scotland team have built up using food for social change. We are fused by two core beliefs – the importance of empowering young people and communities, and secondly the transformational role of food to change lives and challenge norms.

“Our new increased capacity will see us continue to build a social catering business model that is better known, creates more jobs, enhances our impact and critically creates more life-changing opportunities for young people.”

Fiona Donaldson, Founder of Prep Table Scotland said: “Looking at what has been achieved by Scran Academy and partners since March this year, gives me great pride in an organisation I had admired for quite some time.

“In a culture which can be difficult to navigate, to find the core meaning and outcomes of, Scran has always had young people and their families as the engine that powered every decision they had to make.”

“Both organisations had concerns about losses incurred from the cancellation of income generating events, the closure of schools and the café. This decision has delivered a long-term plan for young people in Edinburgh, to flourish and to engage with their community. It has given hope to people who feared for their jobs in the catering industry and that’s a proud legacy of my organisation.”

“I look forward to joining the Scran Academy Board, with the great pride and excitement for what we will collectively achieve for years to come. I feel incredibly proud to have played a part in its most incredible rise.”