Tag: daily press briefing

‘The best protection against this virus is your front door’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Wednesday 25 November:

Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us. I will give you today’s statistics first of all as usual.

There were 880 positive cases reported yesterday which is 6.8% of the total number of tests that were carried out. That means the total number of confirmed cases so far throughout the entire pandemic is 90,961.

260 of the new cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 190 in Lanarkshire, 122 in Grampian and 94 in Lothian.

The remaining cases were across 8 other health board areas. 1,161 people are currently in hospital – that is 36 fewer than yesterday. 84 people are in intensive care, that’s the same as yesterday.

And finally, I regret to report that 44 additional deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of patients who first tested positive in the previous 28 day period. The total number of deaths under this measurement that we use on a daily basis is now 3,588.

However, National Records of Scotland, as it does every Wednesday, has just published its weekly update, that you will recall includes cases where COVID is a suspected or contributory cause of death in addition to those that we report daily where COVID has been confirmed through a test.

Today’s update shows that by Sunday just past, the total number of registered deaths linked to COVID under that wider definition, was 5,380.  

244 of those deaths were registered over the course of the last week, that is actually 35 fewer than in the week before.

And that is the first decrease in the weekly number of deaths that we have seen since the end of September. Any reduction in the number of people dying is of course good news, but any feeling of relief that we feel about that must be tempered by a recognition that the number of deaths is still far too high.

160 of last week’s deaths occurred in hospitals, 67 occurred in care homes, and 17 at home or in another non-institutional setting.

Now every single one of those deaths was of an individual who will be right now mourned by friends and family. So again today, as it is important to do every day, I want to convey my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one as a result of this virus.

Now I have a couple of issues I want to cover today before I, with Professor Leitch, will take questions from the media.

The first is that literally as we will be speaking here today the Chancellor of the Exchequer will, in the House of Commons, be delivering his autumn statement.

Over the course of this pandemic, the Scottish Government and the UK Government have worked together constructively on many issues and I will come on to talk about arrangements for the Christmas period in a moment and that is one of those issues.

But we have also welcomed several of the Chancellor’s recent decisions; for example the extension of the Job Retention Scheme until the spring.

But we do believe there are several  areas where families and businesses are likely, as a result of the pandemic, to continue to need help even after April of next year and that’s when many of the current support mechanisms are scheduled to end.

Now the kind of areas I am talking about would include rates relief for businesses, and the uplift to universal credit for households and individuals.

So we are very much hoping that today’s statement brings clarity and positive news on these issues.

That would be very important in providing certainty as all of us continue to cope with the immediate impact of COVID. And of course it would provide the Scottish Government with greater clarity as we prepare our own budget which will be presented to the Scottish Parliament in January – and that budget will provide more details of the support we are able to provide for businesses and individuals into the next financial year so the more clarity we have from the Chancellor about the overall spending envelope would be very welcome.

Now the second issue I want to cover and perhaps take a few moments to dwell on today is yesterday’s announcement about arrangements for the forthcoming Festive period.

Let me tell you that the Scottish Government will be publishing more detailed guidance fleshing out what we said yesterday, we will do that later this week, hopefully tomorrow (Thursday), and I will set out some further details in Parliament ahead of the weekly session of First Minister’s questions.

However as you will undoubtedly have heard yesterday the four UK nations decided that for a five day window over Christmas – that means from 23 December to 27 December inclusive – we will relax slightly the current rules on travel and household meetings.

This relaxation will enable you – if you feel it is necessary and that is a point I want to stress and I will come back to that point shortly – if you feel it is necessary the relaxation will enable you to form a bubble of up to three households over that five day period.

Now let me stress, if you choose to do that, it has to be just one bubble. You can’t chop and change it over the 5 day period. And none of the households in a bubble can form another bubble with other households.

Now, as is the case with most of these COVID decisions, some of you will think this a reasonable decision that we have arrived at, others of you will think it doesn’t go far enough, and many of you will think it is a terrible decision and it goes way too far and my email inbox has all of these views expressed within it today.

But I think that just reflects a reality that none of what we are dealing with right now, none of what we are seeking to steer and navigate our way through, is straightforward. And speaking as First Minister, as head of the Scottish Government, we agonise over all of these decisions and often we are trying to balance all sorts of different factors and come to, not a perfect outcome, because in a pandemic I am not sure there is such a thing, but come to the outcome that balances best all of these competing factors and desires that people have.

And on this particular occasion what we are trying to do is reflect a reality that for some people, whether I like it or not, sticking rigidly to the current rules over Christmas – if that means, for example, leaving loved ones on their own – is something that some people might not be prepared to do.

So rather than just leave everyone to try navigate that themselves and decide their own boundaries, we came to a decision to try to set out some outer limits and some boundaries that we are asking people to work within.

But and this is the key point. Notwithstanding that decision which is trying to recognise a reality that I have just set out, that does not mean that we are positively encouraging people to get together.

I want to stress today that just because we are allowing people to create a bubble it does not mean you have to do it. And, if you do choose to do it at all you don’t have to do it the maximum permitted.

We are relying on people, as we have been throughout this entire pandemic, but maybe particularly over these next few weeks, we are relying on people across the country, to make informed choices about whether or not to come together at all over the Christmas period.

We recognise that for many people, supporting others and their families by being with them, will be something that they feel is essential. But for others, it won’t be essential, and you might choose this year therefore to mark Christmas very differently to how you normally would.

Because the virus will not have gone away by Christmas and it is really important that I am very straight with you about that and we know bringing people together at home, carries risk.

That is why we are asking people not to meet in each other’s homes right now. And of course after 8 months of very hard and very painful sacrifice, of keeping loved ones as safe as possible, and now that we are so close to a possible vaccine, we all have to ask ourselves if that is a risk we personally want to take.

So as I say we will produce guidance to help you come to these decisions and to minimise risks for those of you who do choose to come together albeit in a limited way over the Christmas period.

As I said before we will set out more detail tomorrow. But let me repeat some key points which you will no doubt hear me reiterate over the weeks between now and Christmas.

The first point is this. If you can get through this Christmas staying in your own home, within your own household, please do so. That would be the safest decision and that I guess is the default advice that I am giving to people.

However, If you feel you need to see somebody from another household, please limit that as much as possible.

Remember what I said about the five days, three households. That is the outer limits. That should be seen as a maximum. Stay as far within that as you possibly can.

And if you feel it is essential to see others, think about how you do that think about whether you could do that differently to how most of us traditionally celebrate Christmas, particularly Christmas Day.

So for example and I know this is something I am thinking in my own personal circumstances, instead of meeting indoors for Christmas go for a family walk together, exchange presents on the way, see each other outside. All of this sounds difficult and strange, but we are living in difficult and strange times.

And  of course if you are indoors with people from other households during this limited window, keep the literal windows open. Follow all the hygiene rules. It will be difficult to remember that I know, but wash your hands, clean the hard surfaces in the house that you are in and keep a physical distance as much as you can.

That will be the hardest thing of all if you are with loved ones. Not hugging them. And trying to keep apart, but it is really important we all remember and don’t allow to go by the wayside these really important rules we have been living by.

The fact that I am stressing all of this, despite the announcement we have made yesterday, underlines that yesterday’s decision was not an easy one in fact it was a really difficult one I am sure for all of the governments involved.

We know that the festive period means a lot to people, it means a lot to us as well as individuals, and we know in particular it can be an especially difficult time to be alone or to feel isolated.

Because of that, many people – in seeking to do the right thing over Christmas – will come to the view that for them that means spending some time with friends and loved ones.

And it is for that reason that we have decided to provide some rules and guidance that will minimise the risks of that. But these rules, if you exercise the flexibility they give you, still have a risk attached to them.

We know that people can be infectious without having symptoms of COVID, so all of us find it really hard to fathom and believe and comprehend that it might be our family gathering that is the one that has a risk attached to it. But it may well be, particularly if you are bringing together people in different generations that risk to vulnerable people can be great and that is exacerbated indoors.

So all of this is difficult. Governments agonise over these decisions and I am sure families will be coming to very difficult decisions as well. We are trying to give a framework in which we can all reach these decisions, but I will continue to ask you to err on the side of caution, to think about the safety of loved ones and not to forget how close we may now be to an end of this pandemic and if you have been making painful sacrifices for eight months to keep those you love safe then think about whether you want to take a risk with their safety at this eleventh hour in this horrible journey that we are all going through.

And one final point I want to stress before moving on to questions is this one.

While we are all thinking about Christmas as is inevitably the case as we get towards December Christmas is still four weeks away and the most important thing we can all do right now – to make not just Christmas as safe as possible but the period after Christmas as safe as possible – is to reduce the number of people that are infectious now and for all of us that means sticking to all of the rules and guidance that is in place right now.

First Minister: Do not drop your guard

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Tuesday 30 June:

Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s briefing. I want to start by providing my usual update on the most recent Covid-19 statistics for Scotland.

An additional 10 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – that takes the total now in Scotland to 18,251. 
 
A total of 885 patients are currently in hospital with the virus – either confirmed or suspected. That is actually an increase of 145 since yesterday, but the increase is all in suspected cases. The number of confirmed cases fell by 3.

A total of 19 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That is 9 more than yesterday – but again the increase is all in suspected cases.

Since 5 March, a total of 4,061 patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 have been able to leave hospital. I wish all of them well.

And in the past 24 hours, I’m sorry to say 3 deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having Covid-19. That takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2,485.

I know that, after four consecutive days without any deaths being registered, news of any deaths, while not unexpected, is not what we want to hear.

And of course the three people whose deaths were registered yesterday – like everyone who has died from this virus – were individuals whose loss will be causing heartbreak to those who loved them. I want to send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one as a result of this virus.

However – and I know that this will not be any comfort to those who are grieving – it is still worth remembering the overall trend in Scotland’s figures.

On this day last week, I announced four deaths, which took the total for the previous seven days – under this daily measure – to 23. The three deaths I have announced today, take that seven day total to 9.

That is a sustained and significant ongoing reduction and it is due to everybody – and as I will make clear later in my remarks, maintaining that progress is also a responsibility for all of us as we move forward.

But I want to make clear once again my particular gratitude to our health and care workers – and indeed to all our key workers. We are all grateful for the work you have done during the crisis and indeed continue to do.

The media conferences for the rest of the week will cover a range of issues.

Tomorrow we will report on the latest weekly statistics from National Records of Scotland.

On Thursday, I hope to confirm the changes that we had indicated for the 3rd of July and the 6th of July.

I will also talk about the advice we are due to receive on the 2 metre rule for physical distancing – and whether there are any circumstances in which it can be adapted, with appropriate mitigations in place.

And on Friday, I am likely to look ahead to the weekend – particularly in view of the changes to travel restrictions that are likely to take effect on that day.

Today, however, I want to focus on where we are now. It is maybe an appropriate time to do that: partly because of the data we have seen recently, and also because today is the 100th day of lockdown – although I realise that for most of us, it seems a lot longer than that.

At the time when we imposed lockdown, Covid was starting to run out of control in Scotland.

Because of that, two weeks after the start of lockdown, in early April, hospital admissions for the virus averaged over 200 a day.

And two weeks after that, Covid deaths in Scotland – going by the wider National Records of Scotland data – were averaging more than 90 a day.

To be in our current position – with hospital admissions averaging just 4 a day, with consistently low numbers of new Covid cases, and with such a sharp reduction in death rates – all of that is massive and welcome progress. Once again, I want to thank every single person in Scotland for that. All of us have played a part in getting to this position.

We now have a genuine chance to come as close as is possible to eliminating the virus in Scotland. Of course we will then have to work to ensure we keep it at those levels. 

That in turn gives us the best possible chance of seeing more of our friends in less restricted circumstances; of reopening the economy much more fully; and of being able to fully reopen our schools.

So this is a moment of great opportunity.

But it is also a time of very real danger.

And I suppose it’s that I want to focus on today.

Not to be negative. But to be realistic and to seek to persuade you all that we still have to work very hard to make sure our progress of recent weeks is not lost or even worse reversed.

We all feel a sense of relief at low levels of the virus today. I know I certainly feel that relief intensely.

But we saw from late March just how quickly low levels of the virus can spread to become much higher. And we saw the consequences of that.

Some of the reports we are seeing from elsewhere in the UK and around the world right now underline that point.

Lockdown restrictions have just been reimposed in Leicester as a result of increased transmission.

And we are seeing increases in infection rates in other countries – for example in some US states, and in Melbourne in Australia. Lockdown restrictions are being reimposed in these places too.

And the World Health Organisation pointed out yesterday that although many countries are making progress in tackling Covid, the pandemic globally is still speeding up and is not close yet to being over.

I don’t say any of this to depress anyone – but as a very loud reminder that the virus has not gone away. It is still present – which is why we are still seeing some new cases in Scotland. It is just as infectious and dangerous as it ever was. And it will come back hard if we let it.

The figures in Scotland we are seeing right now, are a result of the decisions and the sacrifices all of us have made over the past 100 days.

The figures we see in the future – in the second half of July; in August, as schools prepare to reopen; and into the autumn – they will be the result of the decisions we all take now, and in the weeks ahead.

That is why – as I said – we are right now in a potentially very dangerous moment.

We are reopening more public services and more businesses;  we will soon start travelling a bit more; and we will also start seeing a bit more of our family and friends – including in outdoor pubs and restaurants.

That is absolutely right – it is justified by the progress we have made. And it’s important, of course, to get our economy going again.

But by opening up a bit more, at a time when the daily statistics are looking so positive, there is a real risk that people will let down their guard. There is a danger that it will seem as though life is getting back to normal. And I want to stress right now, life can’t and shouldn’t get completely back to normal yet, because the virus is still there.

I do not want us to be looking back in a month’s time, or in three months’ time, and thinking that this week’s figures – the culmination of 100 days of sacrifice – were as good as it ever got in our efforts to suppress this virus.

Instead, I want us to be looking back in a month’s time – and then in the autumn – and thinking that this week’s figures provided us with the best possible foundation for our efforts to almost eliminate the virus.

Because if we can continue to suppress the virus – and come as close as possible to elimination – then living a less restricted life without the constant threat of lockdowns being reimposed becomes more possible. And dealing with localised outbreaks when they happen – which they will – will become far easier.

For the Scottish Government, that means that we may still have to take some really tough and unpopular decisions in the weeks ahead – that we have to go against the grain of what many of you would like, in order to secure the progress we have made. If that is necessary we won’t shy away from doing it.

And for all of us – it means still thinking hard in our personal lives about what we choose to do and not to do. Just because we can do more now, doesn’t necessarily mean we should do these things as often as we used to. And it certainly doesn’t mean we should do them without significantly increased care. Following the rules continues to be vital. In fact, it is even more important now as we start to interact more, so we don’t squander the progress that we’ve made.

So as we start to do more – as we go to more shops, as more people return to work, as we maybe travel a bit more from the end of this week – please remember that the virus has not gone away.

We have suppressed it to the levels we see today because of the action we have collectively been taking, so we must continue to take action to keep it there and hopefully get it lower still. It is still as a virus highly infectious. It is still very dangerous. And it will start to spread rapidly again, if we give it the opportunity to do so.

That is why our public health campaign – FACTS – is so important. It summarises the five key things all of us must remember in everything we do.

· Face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces such as shops and public transport.
· Avoid crowded places.
· Clean your hands and hard surfaces regularly.
· Two metre distancing remains the rule. 
· and Self isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms.

By remembering those 5 basic measures, all of us can stay safe, protect others and save lives.

So please, my appeal to you today, and I cannot stress this enough, do not drop your guard.

Do not become complacent. Do not drift back to life exactly as normal.

Do not think the risk of the virus has gone away.

Please make sure you are doing everything you can – every day and every time you go out – to deny it the chance to spread. And if we all behave in that way, then the progress we are seeing now will continue. So my thanks for everything that you’ve done over these past 100 days and I ask all of you to stick with the advice that’s so important.

Air Bridges: Scotland considers it’s own response to quarantine

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Monday 29 June:

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us. Before I move on to today’s update on Covid, I want to say just a few words about Friday’s knife attack in the city of Glasgow.

During the briefing on Friday, I commented on what an exceptional job our police service was doing in enforcing proportionately and sensitively the lockdown restrictions.

But Friday afternoon reminded us of another side of the police’s duties – it reminded us that in order to protect all of us, the public, our police officers so often run towards danger, despite the risk to themselves.

Now we are considering what further lessons need to be learned from what happened on Friday – Aileen Campbell, the Communities Secretary, is discussing the safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers in a phone call with the UK Government later today.

But for the moment, I simply want to take this opportunity to thank all of the police officers involved in dealing with Friday’s attack – they showed outstanding courage, dedication and professionalism. And through that undoubtedly avoided a very serious situation indeed becoming even worse.

I also want to praise our medical services, including of course the Scottish Ambulance Service, for providing such effective care so quickly to those affected by the attack.

And my thoughts are very much with Constable David Whyte (above), and with everyone harmed in Friday’s incident. I hope all six people injured make a full and speedy recovery – my best wishes go to them and to their loved ones.

Now, let me start the Covid part of the briefing by providing my usual update on the most recent statistics.

I can report today, that an additional 5 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – which takes the total now in Scotland to 18,241 confirmed cases.

A total of 740 patients are currently in hospital with the virus – either confirmed or suspected. That is 38 fewer than yesterday overall, and there has been no change since yesterday in the number of confirmed cases in hospital.

A total of 10 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid and that is 3 fewer than yesterday.

Since 5 March, a total of 4,051 patients who had tested positive for the virus and required hospital treatment have now been able to leave hospital.

And in the past 24 hours, I’m pleased to report that no deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having Covid-19 – the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, therefore remains at 2,482.

This is the fourth day in a row when no deaths of patients confirmed through a test have been recorded in Scotland.

Now of course two of these days have been weekends, and we know that registration can be artificially low at weekends and we may see more deaths registered later this week.

But there is no doubt that these recent figures demonstrate beyond any doubt how much progress Scotland has made in tackling Covid. That is down to the efforts and sacrifices of everyone across the country and I want again to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you for that.

Our challenge now, and it is a big challenge, and it will again depend on the efforts of all of us – is to continue that progress, while at the same time reopening more of our economy, restarting more of our public services, and seeing more of our family and friends.

And of course – the tally of total deaths that I have reported is a constant reminder, and should continue to be a constant reminder, of the human toll of this virus and why our efforts to contain, control and hopefully eliminate it are so important.

Everyone who has died due to this illness was a unique and irreplaceable individual, whose loss right now is a source of grief to many. I want again today to send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one as a result of COVID-19.

And again let me express my thanks to our health and our care workers and indeed to all our key workers – the progress we have made to date is in no small part due to your dedication. The entire country is grateful to you for everything you have done, and indeed, everything you continue to do.

I have two key points I want to briefly update on today. The first relates to public finances and the economy – and I am joined today by Kate Forbes, the Finance Secretary.

Today – and I will return to this briefly at the end of my remarks – we are seeing the reopening of significant parts of our economy. And later this afternoon, I will be discussing how we continue that restart safely and sustainably, at one of the Scottish Government’s regular meetings with the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

In addition, the Scottish Government has published a paper today, which puts forward some hopefully constructive proposals for how the UK as a whole can and needs to stimulate economic growth in a way that is both fair and sustainable.

The paper proposes an £80 billion stimulus programme – roughly comparable in ambition to the one Germany has recently adopted – and it has a particular focus on investment in low carbon and digital infrastructure. Our proposals would also provide an employment guarantee for young people.

We are also suggesting a temporary cut in VAT to boost consumption – with especially low rates for our hospitality and tourism sectors because they have been particularly hard hit and are likely to be hit for even longer than some other parts of our economy.

And alongside those UK-wide proposals, we propose that Scotland should gain greater financial powers – for example over borrowing – so that we can shape our own response to the economic implications of the pandemic.

The economic crisis caused by COVID-19 is undoubtedly the most serious of our lifetimes. The Scottish Government’s proposals are therefore ambitious, but also practical, and sustainable – and we believe they would benefit not just Scotland but the whole of the UK.

Central to them is the strong belief that the austerity mistake of the post financial crash period must not be repeated and that debt must be managed over a longer time period. We hope that these proposals will be considered seriously – and we will of course happily discuss the details of them with the UK Government. 

The second issue I want to talk about is the issue of air bridges.

The UK Government made its announcement on what are called air bridges – which allow travel to and from certain countries without quarantine restrictions – unfortunately without any prior consultation at all with the Scottish Government.

As a result, we are still considering our response and our own proposals. The Justice Secretary, Humza Yousaf, was part of a four-way phone discussion with Michael Gove and the other devolved administrations earlier today. 

This is an issue on which we have tried very hard to work closely with the UK Government and other devolved administrations. And we can and do of course see the benefits of adopting a consistent approach across all parts of the UK.

However, we also know that quarantine measures – albeit perhaps on a more targeted basis in future – may become more important in Scotland, rather than less, as our infection rates fall, since then the relative impact of new cases from outside Scotland potentially become greater.

And of course the prospect of cases coming in from elsewhere poses a risk, not just to health but also to our economy.

We therefore want to take a bit of time to consider the public health impact of the UK Government’s proposals as well as the data and evidence underpinning them, which hopefully we will see before too long, and we will make a further announcement once we have had the opportunity to do so.

The final point I want to make relates once again to our key public health measures.

As I said earlier on, today sees a significant resumption of activity in key public services and in our economy. Optometry services for example are now resuming and, from today, women who had a cervical cancer screening scheduled before that service was paused can contact their GP to arrange a new appointment.

In terms of the economy many factories, warehouses and laboratories can now reopen, the construction sector can move to the next phase of its reopening plan, house moves can also resume.

And of course, most non-essential retail premises are able to reopen from today with appropriate physical distancing measures in place.

We’re also recommending that everyone should wear a face covering in a shop, unless for example you have a medical condition which makes that difficult.

But I would strongly urge everyone else to wear a face covering. It is a way in which you can protect other people, you’re less likely to transmit the virus to them if you are waiting one, and everyone else who is wearing a face covering is, in turn, helping to protect you.

I know that wearing face coverings takes some getting used to but please get into the habit of it now because it does add to the protections we want to confer on each other, and it is one measure that helps us to reduce the risk of the transmission of COVID-19.

This gradual reopening of our economy and our public services is of course very welcome and it has been very hard-earned by everybody across the country.

And of course the figures I’ve just reported demonstrate once again just how much progress we have made in recent weeks, but please don’t think because of this that life should be completely back to normal, or that the risk of COVID has somehow disappeared. It has not disappeared, the virus has not gone away.

There are still, as I reported today, hundreds of people in Scotland in hospital as a result of the virus, there are still new people becoming infected every day.

And, although those numbers are low, this is a virus that we know is still highly infectious and very dangerous, and it will start to spread rapidly again if we give it the opportunity to do so.

So please, even as we all go out and about more and do more things, do not give it that opportunity to spread. Our public health campaign, FACTS, summarises the key points that all of us need to remember and to abide by.

Firstly, face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces such as shops, they are already mandatory on public transport.

Second, avoid crowded places – crowded places are a danger, even if they are outdoors.

Third, clean your hands and hard surfaces that you touch regularly.

Fourth, two-metre distancing remains the advice.

And lastly, self-isolate and immediately book a test if you have any of the symptoms of COVID-19.

If all of us remember these five basic measures, then all of us can help to stay safe ourselves, help to protect others and, ultimately help to save lives.

So please continue to do all of that and to stick with these rules. If you do we can and we will sustain the progress we’ve all made.

My thanks again to everyone who is doing that.

I hope it is becoming clearer with every day that passes what a difference it is all making and why it is important to continue with that discipline.

Thank you very much indeed for listening. I’m going to hand now to the Finance Secretary to say a few words before we move on to questions.

First Minister’s message for school leavers

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Tuesday 23 June):

Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s briefing. I’ll start with the usual update on the COVID-19 statistics.

An additional 12 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – that takes the total now in Scotland to 18,182.

A total of 865 patients are currently in hospital with the virus either confirmed or suspected. That is 2 fewer than yesterday.

A total of 21 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid 19. That is an increase of 6 since yesterday – but the increase is all in suspected cases. And while our thoughts are with anyone in ICU, to put today’s number of 21 in context – on 12 April, there were 221 patients in ICU confirmed or suspected as having the virus.

Since 5 March, a total of 3,995 patients who had tested positive and been in hospital have now been discharged.

And in the last 24 hours, 4 deaths were sadly registered of patients confirmed through a test as having Covid-19.   It takes the total number of deaths in Scotland – under that measurement of people confirmed by a test as having Covid – to 2,476.

Tomorrow of course we’ll see the weekly publications from National Records of Scotland which gives us the total number of deaths of those confirmed through a test and of those who are suspected of having had COVID-19.

Today’s statistics again show – very starkly – the human cost of this virus, and my condolences go again to all those who have suffered bereavement.

However, the statistics also underline the very significant progress that we’ve made in suppressing it.  And that is really the point I want to focus on today.

It’s now three months – to the very day – since Scotland went into lockdown.  Although I’m sure – for all of us – it seems an awful lot longer than that, it is worth remembering that back then we did predict that many of these measures would last a minimum of 12 weeks.

This has been one most challenging periods that our country has ever faced in the lifetimes of the vast majority of us.

And of course, as we have seen in other parts of the world, it is not over yet. The virus continues to pose a major threat and it is likely that it will do so for some time to come – and so we still have a lot more work to do.

However, I think it’s important to remind ourselves of the progress we have made and to do that to remember the situation we were in three months ago.  Back then, COVID-19 was out of control. It was spreading exponentially.  There was a very real prospect that our health service would be overwhelmed, even with the extra capacity we had created. And back then that was a daily worry for me. And back then none of us knew – for certain – how the country would cope.

Today, we are in a very different position, as the numbers I’ve just reported demonstrate.  Hospital admissions – which at one point totalled 200 a day – are currently in single figures each day.

The number of people in intensive care has fallen by more than 90%.  And while one person dying is too many – we’ve also seen a very significant and sustained decline in the number of deaths.

And though demand was high at points and the pressure on NHS and social care staff was extreme and remains extreme, at no point did the NHS come close to being overwhelmed.

All of that progress is – of course – a direct consequence of your efforts and your sacrifices.

Over these last three months we have all contended with this virus in different ways – both individually and collectively.

Our health and social care workers have had to respond to an unprecedented threat.  And they’ve done so absolutely magnificently.

Our businesses have answered the call – we now have whisky producers making hand sanitizer and clothing firms producing PPE.

And all across the country, people have adapted to new circumstances – whether that’s working from home, or becoming a key worker.

We have in the most trying of circumstances seen the very best of Scotland – as our communities have rallied together – in support of those in need, to check in on neighbours, to help people with shopping, or simply to offer a friendly face.

For shielded people, the last three months have been especially difficult – not being able to go out, and in some cases, not being able to see anyone at all.

The images we’ve seen over the weekend of some grandparents being reunited with grandchildren and shielded people finally meeting others outside, show us just how hard things have been.

And of course, perhaps most importantly of all for us to remember, more than 4,000 families across our country have lost a loved one to this virus, with around half of those losing someone who lived in a care home. That is something which I never lose sight of. I know the sorrow of that will live with me forever, but I also know that is as nothing compared to the pain of bereaved families.

So as we go through the recovery process, it’s really important to remember those for whom this experience will never be completely left behind.

Nor should we forget the enormous sacrifices made to get us here. So, while we still have a long way to go, I want to take this opportunity at this three moth milestone to thank everyone who has played their part and stuck by the rules.  In doing so, you’ve helped to protect our NHS, and you’ve undoubtedly saved a considerable number of lives.

Of course, you’ve also made it possible for us to gradually ease our way out of some of the restrictions.

That’s why last week I was able to announce Scotland’s move to the next phase in our exit from lockdown.

And it’s why tomorrow I’ll be able to provide some further detail on the timing of some of the specific steps in that journey – and to do so ahead of when I thought might be possible.

Later today, the Health Secretary will also update the Scottish Parliament on the remobilisation of our NHS – and how staff and patients will be protected, as we resume services that had been paused.

And the Deputy First Minister John Swinney will deliver a significant statement this afternoon, on the reopening of schools and support to help young people catch up on missed learning.  Four weeks on from the report of the Education Recovery Group – when things looked bleaker than they do today – he will set out where we are now. And crucially, he will outline where we aim to be by August, when the new term begins.

And on that issue, I want to say a few brief words today to pupils who are about to leave school, as the summer holidays begin. 

I know that some of you will now be finishing up.  And I’m so sorry you aren’t able to celebrate this milestone in your lives with your classmates and your teachers in the normal way.

I know that’s a bitter disappointment.  This special moment in your lives is not one we would have wanted to be marred in this way. And I understand that – given these circumstances – you might be feeling even more apprehensive or unsure about what comes next.

That’s why we are providing a range of different support options to help you through this transition.

For example, through Developing the Young Workforce – our employability programme – we’re offering school leavers the chance to take part in an online Skills Academy.

If you are interested in that you can find out more about that – and all of the support available – at the website www.dyw.scot.  So please take a look – there’s some really valuable help there if you need it.

But also, and this is the personal message I want to convey to you, however difficult this experience undoubtedly has been – the way you have coped has shown a resilience that should make you very proud of yourselves as you embark on the next phase of your lives. I want to thank all of you and wish you every success.

Now, as I indicated earlier, as well as today’s statements on schools and the NHS, I will provide a general update tomorrow on Scotland’s route map out of lockdown.  And as part of that, I will set out indicative dates for when some measures – and some phases – will come into effect.

I said from the very start that if we saw maintained good progress, we could move through phases perhaps more quickly – or even bring certain measures forward.  And in some instances, that is what we hope now be able to do.

However, we are still taking a cautious approach. Our aim remains maximum suppression of the virus because that is what will give us the firmest foundation for whatever lies ahead to deal with outbreaks such as those we are seeing in other countries right now. And also to equip ourselves as best we can to deal with any possible resurgence of the virus as we enter the winter months. That’s why on all these decisions, we are proceeding very carefully.

That’s why – for example – I have commissioned additional work from our Scientific Advisory Group.  One key issue we have asked about is physical distancing.

The Scottish Government is clear that the advice and evidence we have right now supports physical distancing at 2 metres in order to reduce the risk of virus transmission.

But we have asked in what settings, what circumstances and with what additional mitigations it might be possible to accept the risk of people not keeping to a 2 metre distance.  That advice will be available by 2 July – ahead of our decisions on moving from phase 2 to phase 3.

Until then, the position here in Scotland remains the same. We are advising people to maintain 2 metres physical distancing. So any changes announced today for other parts of the UK, while we will look at the evidence underpinning those very carefully, will not apply here at this particular stage.

Of course, the more we can continue to suppress the virus, the more likely it is that we will be able to consider some changes to that rule.  So to close today, I want to reiterate the critical public health guidance, which everyone needs to follow.

You are now able to meet with up to two other households – however those meetings must be outdoors. And you should only go indoors to use the toilet, or to get through to a garden, and you should clean any surfaces you touch as you do that.

I know that as we start to see this virus receding – and as we ease some restrictions – it’s easy for all of us to become complacent.

But we need to guard against that.  COVID-19 has not gone away.  And as we gradually remove the restrictions that have kept it under control, there’s a real risk is it could start to circulate again.

So we need to proceed with purpose – but also with caution. And we all need to continue to play our part, in suppressing this virus.

The public health campaign we launched on Friday – the Facts – summarises the key points all of us need to remember every single day:

  • Face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces;
  • Avoid crowded places;
  • Clean your hands and hard surfaces regularly;
  • Two metre distancing is important; and
  • Self isolate and book a test – if you have symptoms.

By remembering those 5 basic but crucial measures, all of us can stay safe, protect others and save lives.

My thanks go to all of you for all of your sacrifices over these last three months and for continuing to show the patience

So please continue to do the right thing, and to stick with these rules. Thank you once again, to everyone who is doing that.

First Minister: ‘virus in Scotland is firmly in retreat’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Friday 19 June:

Everyone, thank you very much for joining us. I am joined today by the Economy Secretary, Fiona Hyslop and our National Clinical Director, Jason Leitch.

Let me give you the usual update on the COVID-19 statistics.

An additional 27 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – that takes the total now in Scotland  to 18,104.

A total of 904 patients are currently in hospital with the virus either confirmed or suspected.

That is 25 fewer than yesterday and it includes a reduction of 19 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 19 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That is 4 fewer than yesterday.

Since 5 March, a total of 3,961 patients who had tested positive and been in hospital have been discharged from hospital

And in the last 24 hours, 6 deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having COVID-19 – the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, is 2,470.

My deepest condolences are with the families behind these statistics and indeed to everyone who is grieving a loved one because of this illness.

And my thanks go to everyone across our health and care services who continue to care for those affected.

Yesterday I confirmed that we would move into Phase 2 of our exit from lockdown which is good and positive news

That was made possible by the significant progress we have all made over the past three months and I want today again to thank everybody across the country for that.

The virus of course hasn’t gone away that is something we need to continue to keep in our minds but there’s no doubt that the virus in Scotland is firmly in retreat.

That’s why the changes to the rules and the guidance that I announced yesterday, though significant, were also careful because we have to keep the virus in retreat. We have today published the supporting evidence, which informed those decisions that we took and we confirmed yesterday.

Now, I don’t intend to repeat everything I said yesterday, but let me quickly recap on some of the main changes.

The Cabinet Secretary will talk in a moment about the measures that directly affect businesses – and the reopening of our economy.

For my part today, I want to focus on the changes relating to social interaction and leisure.

Ahead of the weekend, just to remind you the new rules for staying safe.

And that’s what we are now asking you to prioritise.

You will see on the lectern in front of me that Stay Home has been replaced with Stay Safe, and now we asking you to focus on Staying Safe, Protecting Others, Saving Lives.

That’s what we are asking you to do. And as we start to go out and about more, we need people to pay more attention to the basic steps we can all take to stay safe.

From today, you can meet with up to two households outdoors – rather than just one.

However, it should be no more than two at a time, and no more than two in a day.  And we are still advising that there should be no more than eight people in any group.

The risk of mixed household gatherings indoors is still too great.   So these meetings still have to take place outdoors.  However, if you are meeting in the garden of another household, we’ve changed the guidance so that you can go indoors to use a toilet.

If you do that – of course – you should avoid touching surfaces, and immediately and thoroughly clean those you do touch. That’s essential in preventing the spread of the virus from one household to another.

We’re continuing at the moment to ask people to stay within or close to their local area.  That means – for leisure and recreation purposes – you should be travelling no more than around five miles or so.  Although let me stress that limit does not apply to meeting with family and friends.

Those are some of the more general measures which apply from today.  But I also want to highlight two sets of changes we’ve made, for specific groups. 

The first relates to people who are shielding.  The guidance for those individuals remains very different to the general population.  And we’re continuing to advise shielding people, to be very cautious because you are most at risk from this virus. 

However, we’ve also announced some careful changes, which will hopefully improve your quality of life.

We’ve said that – unless you live in a nursing or residential care home – you are now able to go outdoors for exercise – for example for a walk or cycle.

You can take part in non-contact outdoor activities – such as golf.

And you can meet outdoors with people from one other household – but in groups of no more than eight.

You should stay at least two metres away from other people at all times, even if you live with the person you’re out with. Do not go inside someone else’s house, or allow someone from another household to go inside yours – even to use the toilet.

And when you go outdoors, see if you can choose times and areas that are quiet and that is all for your own safety but I hope these changes do help to make things better for you because this lockdown has been difficult for everyone we know it has been particular hard for those in the shielding category

The other set of changes I want to briefly highlight are those for people who either live alone, or live only with children, under the age of 18.

From today, people in those circumstances are able to form an ‘extended household group’ with one other household.

Within that extended household, people will be able to meet indoors, without physical distancing, and if you want to, you will be able to stay at each other’s houses overnight.

However, you must if you are in one of these household group, continue to see any other households outdoors only, and stay two metres apart from them.

There are also other conditions, which are necessary to make sure this change can work without significantly increasing the risk of the virus passing from one household to another.

An extended household must not include anyone who is shielding because the risk to the shielding population is still too high. No one in an extended household group should form a similar arrangement with any other household. And if one member of the extended household group gets the virus, all of the group will have to isolate – whether or not they are living in the same house.

So within these conditions, there is a positive change that I hope will help with some of the loneliness and isolation that has been a real cruel feature of the past few weeks.

It won’t benefit everyone this change right now but it will benefit a significant number.

For example, it will allow a grandparent who lives on their own to form a group with another household in their family and see grandchildren – and I’m sure many are taking advantage of this already.  It will allow a single parent and their children to join with another household for support.  And it will allow a non-cohabiting couple, where at least one of them lives alone, to be reunited indoors without the need for physical distancing.

I hope very much we might be able to expand this ‘extended household group’ idea in the not too distant future so it benefits more people and I will keep you updated on that.

All of these changes which I’ve outlined are now in effect.  And if you need more information on them, because as we ease lockdown things get more complicated. So if you want more information and detail please go to the Scottish Government’s website where you will find the guidance and the explanation about what you can do safely.

As I said yesterday it is not possible will the best will in the world for us to provide specific guidance for every single individual circumstances so my advice to you to continue to err on the side of caution, and don’t do it.

One of the consequences of easing restrictions, as I’ve just said, is that the things we’re asking you to do will inevitably become more complex.  So while we still – of course – want people to stay at home as much as possible, we know that the message we’re giving to you needs to adapt, to reflect the phase we’re now in.

That’s why – as I’ve just said – we are now asking you to ‘stay safe, protect others and save lives’.

And that means it is even more important now that people know – and remember – the different things we need you to do.  And so we are launching a new public awareness campaign called FACTS.

Each letter of that word FACTS should serve to remind us all of the key measures we need to comply with. Let me quickly run through them. And those measures are:

  • Face coverings in enclosed spaces
  • Avoid crowded places
  • Clean hands and surfaces regularly
  • Two metre distancing; and
  • Self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms.

Remember these FACTS and that will help all of us to stay safe and protect each other as well.

Complying with all of that, will be critical in making sure we keep the virus under control  as we start to move back to normal, and that will be important in laying the groundwork and the foundation for further changes that we are going to make in the weeks to come.

I’m going to end with this point.

I’m very aware that as we start to see this virus receding – and as we ease some restrictions – there’s a natural desire to go even faster.

But we cannot afford at this stage to be complacent.  This virus is still out there, it has not gone away.  And as we gradually remove the restrictions that have kept it under control, there’s a real risk is it could start to circulate again. That’s why we need to proceed with purpose – but also with caution. And we all need to continue to play our part, in suppressing this virus.

In these days and weeks to come, the things we do as an individual will have an impact on all of us and they will determine whether we keep this virus under control. So if we all keep doing the right thing I am more optimistic than I’ve been in a long time that we are now firmly on track to getting normality back into our lives and no doubt that is thanks to your sacrifices and your efforts.

So, thank you again very much indeed.

First Minister focuses on return to education

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, yesterday (Tuesday 15 June):

Good afternoon, and thank you very much for joining us again today. I’ll start – as always – with an update on the key statistics in relation to COVID-19.

29 new positive cases were confirmed in Scotland yesterday. Now I’m going to say more about the total number of positive cases in a moment, because from today we are incorporating new data into that total.

A total of 870 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That represents a total decrease of 94 from yesterday, but an increase of 3 in the number of confirmed cases in hospital.

A total of 18 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That is also an increase of 3 since yesterday.

And I can confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,909 patients who had tested positive and needed to go to hospital with the virus have been able to leave hospital.

In the last 24 hours, zero deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having COVID-19 – so the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, therefore remains at 2,448.

I would however stress – as I did last Monday – that although this is clearly hugely welcome and very encouraging, it is nevertheless common for fewer deaths to be reported at weekends and unfortunately I do expect that we will almost certainly report further COVID-19 deaths in the days ahead.

And as always, I want to emphasis that when we do report these figures, they are not simply statistics – they represent individuals whose loss is a source of grief to many. So once again, I want to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this illness.

I also want to express my thanks – as I always – to our health and care workers, and indeed to all key workers across the country. The Scottish Government and indeed I think people the length and breadth of the country are grateful to you for the work you are doing.

I’m going to focus on education in my remarks today, but before I do that, I want to highlight some new data which we are publishing for the first time today.

Up until now, we have only been able to publish testing results that come from NHS Scotland laboratories.

We have been able to report the total number of tests carried out by facilities run by the UK Government – for example drive-through centres and mobile testing units – but we have not yet been able to publish the breakdown of positive and negative results. Though I should say for the avoidance of doubt, the individuals tested have of course been notified directly of their results.

Public Health Scotland has been working with the UK Government to rectify this issue, and from today, we are able to provide daily figures for all tests in Scotland.

For example, we can see that of those people tested in the 24 hours up to 8 o’clock this morning, 29 positive cases were confirmed. Of those positive cases, 9 were from tests conducted at UK Government facilities, and 20 were from NHS Scotland facilities.

So In total, there have been 18,030 confirmed positive cases in Scotland since the beginning of this outbreak. 15,687 of these confirmed cases were tested in NHS Scotland laboratories and a further 2,343 were test through UK facilities.

Now I know that some people compare each days figures with the previous day’s very carefully. If you have been doing that, you will have expected the NHS lab number I’ve just given to be 88 cases higher than it is.

The reason it’s not is that where a person has been tested more than once – first at a UK facility and then in an NHS Scotland facility – we have removed them from the NHS figure to avoid double counting of testing.

It is also important to stress that including this data from UK facilities does not change the total number of lab confirmed COVID-19 deaths that we have been reporting throughout.

From Thursday onwards, we will be able to provide a more detailed breakdown of test results – by date and by region – on the Scottish Government’s website and I hope that this information will be helpful in giving a full picture of the progress that has been made on testing over the last three months.

Now as I indicated the main issue I want to talk about today is school education. And I want to address parents and young people very directly today. I know you are deeply anxious – as I am – about the impact of this crisis on schooling.

So I want to be very clear today about the some of the principles that we are working on and the Scottish Government’s expectations – and as we look forward to the new school year. I hope to leave you in no doubt about the priority I and the whole government attaches to making sure our young people do not lose out on education or have their life chances damaged as a result of this crisis that we are all living through right now.

So, firstly, I want to be clear that it is our expectation that, by the time schools return on 11 August – and obviously within necessary safety guidelines – councils will have put in place arrangements that maximise the time that young people spend in a school environment having face to face learning.

In this immediate period that we are in right now, the Scottish Government will be scrutinising council plans closely – and where we conclude that all possible steps have not been taken to maximise face to face teaching and learning, we will ask councils to reconsider and revise their plans.

Innovation and creativity will be required here – but let me also be clear that where there are genuine issues of resources, the Scottish Government will work with councils to address those and the quality of your children’s education will be the absolute priority in those discussions.

And then from the 11 August starting point, our aim will be to return to normal schooling as quickly as we possibly can – recognising that of course that along the way we need to build the confidence of parents, young people and teachers that schools are safe.

And I want to be particularly clear on this point. While we of course have a duty to be open with parents that none of us right now have a crystal ball, and that the path the pandemic will take in the months ahead remains uncertain, it is absolutely not the case that we are ‘planning’ for blended learning, with children learning at home for part of the school week, to last a year – or anything like it.

On the contrary, we do not want blended learning to last a single moment longer than is absolutely necessary and so we will be working with councils to return schools to normal as quickly as we can.

We want young people to be back having face to face teaching for 100% of the school week as soon as it is feasible.

To that end, our regular three-weekly reviews of the Coronavirus regulations will now include specific consideration of the evidence and data relating to transmission of the virus within schools and amongst young people – and where that suggests that safety restrictions can be lifted or eased without putting pupils and teachers at undue risk, we will do so.

As part of these reviews, we will ask our International Council of Education Advisers to consider experiences in other countries.

We will also be working with councils to ensure ongoing and enhanced support for any time that young people do spend learning at home.

And let me be clear it is our firm intention, as things stand right now, that next year’s exam diet will go ahead.

We will also be considering carefully how we work to address and mitigate and make up over time any impact of this crisis period on young people’s learning.

Ensuring that our children and young people have the highest quality education – and that life chances are not negatively impacted by what we are all living through right now – is of absolutely critical importance.

I want to give you my personal assurance that it is central to my and to the whole Government’s thinking as we plan and steer the country through our emergence from lockdown.

Before I hand over to the Chief Medical Officer, I want to end by emphasising again our key public health guidance because sticking to this guidance right now remains the most important way of enabling us to make further progress out of lockdown – which I very much hope we will do later this week.

You should still be staying home most of the time, and you should still be meeting fewer people than normal.

When you do meet people from another household, please stay outdoors, and stay 2 metres apart from them.

Don’t meet with more than one other household at a time, don’t meet more than one a day – and keep to a maximum of eight people in a group.

Wash your hands often. Take hand sanitiser with you if you are away from home.

Wear a face covering when you are in shops or on public transport.

Avoid touching hard surfaces if you can and clean any that you do touch.

All of these measure – hand washing, surface cleaning and wearing face coverings – will all help us to reduce the risk as we start to return to more normal life.

Indeed – if anything – these measures become more important, not less important, as we move through this pandemic.

I’d ask all of you to bear that in mind.

And, just as importantly, if you have the symptoms of COVID-19 – a fever; a new cough; or a loss of, or change, in your sense of taste or smell – ask for a test immediately, and please follow the advice on self-isolation.

You can book a test at nhsinform.scot or by phoning NHS 24 on 0800 028 2816.

Sticking to these rules- as you can see from the numbers we are reporting each day – has had and is having an impact. By doing the right thing, we are suppressing the virus.

We are saving lives.

And we are creating the firm foundations on which we can take further steps out of lockdown.

So my sincere thanks, to all of you once again, for continuing to abide by these rules and by this guidance.

First Minister looks forward to Phase 2

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Sunday 14 June:

Good afternoon everyone, thank you for joining us this afternoon. I’ll start as alwayswith an update on some key statistics in relation to Covid-19.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,755 cases confirmed through our NHS laboratories – that’s an increase of 25 from yesterday.

A total of 964 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents a total reduction of 19 from yesterday, including a reduction of 7 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 15 people last night were in intensive care with either confirmed or suspected Covid 19. That is a decrease of 5 since yesterday.

I can confirm that since 5 March, a total of 3,904 patients who had tested positive for the virus and required to be in hospital have now been able to leave hospital. I wish all of them well.

And in the last 24 hours, I can confirm that 1 death has been registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having Covid-19 –which takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2,448.

I want to stress as I always do that these numbers are not just statistics – they represent people whose loss is being mourned right now. That point is just as important when we are reporting one death, as it is when we report multiple deaths. So – once again – let me send my deepest condolences and my thoughts to everyone who has lost a loved one as a result of this illness.

Let me also express my thanks – as always – to our health and care workers for the extraordinary work that you continue to do in very testing circumstances.

And indeed, let me broaden that today to all of our key workers – health and care, obviously, but our police officers, our prison officers, those who are keeping our energy systems working, keeping food on our tables, everybody who has played a part in ensuring our country has kept operating during this very difficult time.

I’ll move on to questions fairly soon, but I want this afternoon to give an indication of what you can expect in the week ahead.

I hope to be able to confirm on Thursday, that people who are shielding will be able to go outdoors for exercise.

In addition, as you know, we are required by law to review the lockdown restrictions every three weeks. The next review date is Thursday. At that point, I will set out to parliament our assessment of whether the current suppression of the virus allows us to move to phase 2 of our route map.

As things stand right now, I remain optimistic that, on Thursday, while we might not be able to do absolutely everything we hoped to do in phase 2, we will nevertheless be able to enter that next phase and announce some further important steps on our journey back to normality.

The reason for my cautious optimism is that since we last announced changes, we have continued to see a downward trend in COVID-19 cases, and also in the weekly number of deaths. In addition, the R number – which as you know is the rate at which the virus reproduces – has fallen slightly, and is now between 0.6 and 0.8, and it’s crucial that it remains under 1.

So I hope, for example, that as well as allowing a bit more social interaction, from Thursday we will also be able to move forward with the remobilisation of the NHS and also indicate a date from which our retail sector can begin to re-open.

All of that and any other changes that we’re able to announce on Thursday will be in line with the careful approach that we set out in our route map.

And that is really important. The evidence suggests that the careful approach we have adopted so far is working.

The lesson I take from that is that we should stick with that plan – not discard it.

Because – and this is the much harder bit – while transmission of the virus is much reduced, the virus hasn’t gone away yet.

We still have a significant number of infected people in Scotland. And we are still seeing new cases each day. The risk remains that, if we move too quickly, and if we start coming into closer contact with too many people, cases of the virus could start to multiply again very quickly and we need to avoid that happening.

On the other hand, if we hammer down  the incidence and prevalence of the virus down to the lowest levels we can, our exit from lockdown may then involve a return to more normality in the medium term than we previously thought possible.

And that’s of course what we must hope for right across the board – but it will be particularly important as we try over the next few months to restore as much normality as we can to children’s schooling. Which of course is a big priority, not just for the Government and for local authorities, but for parents and young people the length and breadth of the country.

So while there are no risk free options – and we shouldn’t slow down progress in pursuit of perfect risk free options that don’t exist – equally we must not ease restrictions at a pace that very obviously heightens the risks.

And we should also realise that the prize for going perhaps a bit more cautiously now, could be a return to greater normality in the medium term.

We have seen in England and some other countries, that the R number may have increased, particularly in certain regions – and we might see that here too. That’s won’t necessarily be a cause for panic – but it should be a reminder to us to constantly check and assess the impact of our actions.

All of that means the judgements we make about phase 2 will by necessity be finely balanced.

Phase 2 contains a number of significant measures – including potential changes to the rules on how we can meet each other, what workplaces can reopen, and which public services can resume.

We are currently assessing the impact of those different measures.  That means considering the particular risks that each element will bring, and thinking also about what mitigating actions might be needed to reduce those risks. And it means – as we have done right throughout this crisis – weighing up both the harms that come from Covid, and also the harms that come from lockdown itself.

As I said earlier, we might not be able to do absolutely everything – but we want to do as much as possible, and we will do as much as we possibly can.

It is also likely that not everything that we are able to do in phase 2 will kick in straight away on Friday.

Regulatory changes will have to be made.

Our public transport operators will need time to implement their plans to increase capacity safely.

And workplaces that we hope will be permitted to open, will need to ensure they have the appropriate physical distancing measures in place; that guidance is being followed; and that employees feel confident that they can return to work safely.

We are producing additional guidance this week – in advance of any possible changes – for Early Learning and Childcare, for the retail sector, and on the use of public spaces.

Steps such as these are essential, to ensure we continue to suppress the virus as much as possible.

Once we determine what changes can be made, we will phase them in, in the most constructive way we can. We want people to be confident that they will be safe, as more social and economic activities gradually resume.

It’s also vital that we all understand the crucial point that I stressed earlier. Just because the number of cases is currently declining, and we are thinking of easing the restrictions – that does not mean the threat of coronavirus has gone. It hasn’t. The progress we have made still remains fragile, and the virus call too easily could run out of control once again.

There are some worrying signs of that right now in some states in America, for example.

So we must work hard to get the balance as right as we can. And as we do that, some of the most basic public health advice becomes even more important.

As we move through the routemap what we are doing, as a society, is relying less on strict lockdown restrictions to suppress the virus – and relying more instead on all of us following the public health guidance, maintaining physical distancing and of course participating in Test and Protect.

Our ability to move to further phases, and to sustainably re-open our society and economy – so that we do not need to lockdown again in the future – depends on all of us strictly following those principles.

In the weeks and months ahead – perhaps even more than at the present time – we all have to remember that the decisions we are making as individuals, will affect the health and wellbeing of all of us.

And so it remains critical that we stick with the current public health guidance. So let me end just by recapping on what that is.

We should all be staying home most of the time, and seeing fewer people than we normally would. When we do meet people from another household we should stay outdoors. We must stay outdoors and stay 2 metres apart from them. We shouldn’t meet more than one other household at a time, and not more than one a day – and keep to a maximum of 8 people in a group.

We should all be washing our hands often and thoroughly. If we’re not at home, make sure we have hand sanitiser with us.

And please wear a face covering if you are in a shop or on public transport, or in any enclosed space where physical distancing is more difficult.

Avoid touching hard surfaces – and clean any you do touch.

And if you have the symptoms, get a test immediately and follow advice on self-isolation. You can book a test by going to the NHS Inform website.

If we all continue to do these things and make sure we don’t ease up on the basic public health guidance then we will continue to see this virus suppressed and we will continue to see easing of lockdown restrictions become much more possible in the future.

My thanks again to all of you for doing that. I’m going to hand over now to the Chief Nursing Officer and then to our National Clinical Director to say a few words before taking questions.

First Minister fears ‘significant rise in unemployment’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Friday 12 June):

Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s briefing. I am joined today by the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Fair Work and Culture Fiona Hyslop and our National Clinical Director, Jason Leitch.

Let me start, as always, with an update on some of the key statistics in relation to Covid-19.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,709 positive cases confirmed through our NHS laboratories, and that is an increase of 27 from yesterday.

A total of 914 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents an increase of 5 overall from yesterday. However, the number of confirmed cases within that has reduced by 20.

A total of 23 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, and that is an increase of two since yesterday.

I am also able to confirm that since 5 March, a total of 3,873 patients who had tested positive and needed hospital treatment have since been able to leave hospital. I wish all of them well.

In the last 24 hours, 3 deaths were registered of patients confirmed through a test as having the virus. That takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2,442.

Even as we see these figures decline –  thankfully so – it is nevertheless really important that we don’t lose sight of the fact that they are not just statistics. They all represent unique loved individuals whose loss is a source of grief to many people. So once again, my condolences are with everyone who has lost a loved one to this illness.

I will also express again my thanks to our health and care workers. Your efforts are enormously appreciated and, again, even as we see numbers in hospital and intensive care reducing, we know that you are still working incredibly hard in difficult circumstances, and you have our deep gratitude for that.

There are two items I want to update on today.

The first relates to the economy.  Today’s GDP figures show that in April the UK economy contracted by more than 20%.  That is – by some distance – the largest decline on record.  And it confirms the scale of the economic crisis that has inevitably been caused by the health crisis that we face.

I have previously welcomed the UK Government’s interventions, especially the furlough scheme which has helped to preserve jobs during this period but, in my view, it is now time to signal a further extension of Treasury support.

Other countries have already made this move, including France where plans are being put in place for a long-term partial activity scheme covering possibly, as long as the next two years.

The alternative to extended support being put in place is either that businesses are forced to re-open before it is safe to do so – and that of course could damage health and it could cost lives – or businesses have to take an even bigger hit, and that will cost jobs.

In my view neither of those two alternatives is acceptable so I hope we will see further action from the UK Government and we look forward to working constructively with them, playing our full part in making all of that happen.

The fall in GDP is obviously something we discussed in this morning’s weekly meeting of the Scottish Cabinet’s economic sub-committee.

We also looked ahead to the publication of the latest statistics on Scotland’s labour market, next Tuesday.  Those figures will cover February to April of this year – so that’s a period which obviously includes the first full month of lockdown.

I don’t want to pre-empt that publication, I’m not able to pre-empt it, but we do expect to see a significant impact on employment, and a rise in unemployment. And sadly, despite all of our best efforts that situation is likely to remain challenging in the period ahead.

And of course, all of that is before we factor in any potential impact on the economy from Brexit.

That is why I have today joined with the First Minister of Wales in writing to the UK Government calling for an extended Brexit transition period – to take away the risk of a ‘no deal’ outcome and also to make sure that all of us remain focused on supporting business through the post-COVID recovery, and not making the challenges that the economy and our businesses face any worse than it already is.

That is the action I believe we need from the UK, but I am acutely aware of the responsibility I have as First Minister, and that the Scottish Government has, to make sure we are doing everything within our power, and resources.

That is relevant to the announcement I’m making today because we are incredibly focused on making sure we are taking action to protect jobs and, hopefully in the future to create jobs, as we lead our economy through the post-COVID recovery.

The impact of this crisis is of course felt across our whole economy. I had discussions yesterday with the tourism sector – a sector particularly hard hit. And we know there are other sectors that are particularly badly affected too.

For example, Scotland’s energy sector is facing a massive decline in global demand, and that is having a very serious impact on our economy.

The Scottish Government wants to do everything we can to support the energy sector through this crisis.

We want to protect jobs and businesses in the north-east of Scotland and across the country. And in doing that we want to make sure that the sector is able to continue to lead, and indeed to benefit from Scotland’s necessary transition to a net-zero economy.

That’s why today, I’m announcing a new £62 million energy transition fund.

Over the next 5 years the Fund will support key energy projects which will help Scotland’s move to net-zero.

For example, one project – the Global Underwater Hub – brings together engineering expertise from academia and industry.  And it will help our oil and gas sector to use its existing subsea and underwater expertise in new areas such as marine renewables.

Another project receiving support will be the Energy Transition Zone – a new business park adjacent to the Aberdeen South Harbour.  That will provide state of the art facilities for the manufacturing and development of renewable and low carbon technologies.

Almost inevitably, given the focus of the fund is the transition from oil and gas to renewables, the projects which directly benefit from this fund are currently based in the north east of Scotland.  But by securing Scotland’s place as a world leader in key technologies for the future, they will help businesses right across the country to diversify, to attract new investment, seize new opportunities and both protect and create jobs.

We know that the energy transition will shape our country’s economic future.  That was true before the COVID crises and it remains true during and after the COVID crisis.

Through these investments not only will we shape that energy future and economic future, we will also help with the economic recovery from the crisis currently afflicting so many businesses across Scotland.

The second issue I want to touch on today concerns the Scottish Government’s approach to easing restrictions.

As I’m sure many of you know and will be eagerly anticipating, the current restrictions will be reviewed again on Thursday next week.

Our considerations will be informed, as they will always be, by the scientific evidence and advice and the clear principles we have set out.

However, I have been acutely aware throughout this crisis that it’s not, and never will be, enough for me simply to tell you what I want you to do.

I also have a duty to explain to you, on an ongoing basis, the reasons behind what we are asking you to do.

In fact the reason that I conduct these press briefings on a daily basis is to ensure that you get clear and direct information – on the impact of COVID-19 and on the country’s response.

That’s vital to ensuring that people understand the threat this virus poses – but also how we can all work together to reduce and mitigate that threat.

I’ve spoken before about some of the research we undertake to check that the messages we’re trying to convey are getting across.

We’re going to publish the latest research today so that you are able, if you are interested, to read it for yourself.
It shows, amongst other things that the vast majority of people in Scotland continue to support a careful and gradual easing of the restrictions.

But the aspect of the research I wanted to particularly highlight today is around public attitudes to our new Test and Protect system.

The research shows that 90% of people say that they would be willing to isolate for 14 days if someone they had come into contact with had symptoms of the virus.

90% said they would be willing to undergo Coronavirus testing if asked to do this.

And 88% are happy to provide details of people they had been in contact with if they develop coronavirus symptoms.

That’s important and it’s also really encouraging because, as I’ve said to you before, Test and Protect is going to be a vital tool in keeping the virus suppressed as we ease more restrictions.

But Test and Protect can only work if all of us across the country are willing to comply with the measures that it sets out – if we’re willing to get tested when we have symptoms, if we’re willing to isolate if we have the virus, and if we’re willing to self-isolate if we’ve been a close contact of someone with the virus.

So these research findings, showing that willingness to make personal sacrifices for the common good, are really encouraging and I want to thank everybody for that spirit of collective endeavour that I think we all still have.

Now I want to conclude today with a key point about the critical juncture that we are at in fighting this virus.

I know that as cases, hospitalisations, numbers in intensive care, deaths, and the R number all decline, many will think that means we should speed up our exit from lockdown. And I understand that.

We are all deeply, deeply anxious about the impact on the economy. But the fact is this; the reason we are making such good progress now is that we are carefully, following a plan.

And if we depart from that plan we will risk the progress we’re making.

On the other hand, if we’re prepared to stick with the plan I believe we will keep making further progress.

And the more we suppress this virus, the more lives will be saved and the fewer people will suffer the long term health consequences that increasingly we fear that it might leave some people with.

But also, if we suppress this virus sufficiently, we will be able to restore a greater degree of normality to all of our lives.

So while I understand the desire for speed of recovery, the sustainability of our recovery also really matters.

The simple fact is if we go too fast now we risk a resurgence of the virus that will then set us back, and that is a risk, in my view, we must be careful not to take.

So I very much hope that we can and will take more steps forward at next week’s review, but I want to be very clear that we must continue to do that carefully and cautiously. And if we do, we will continue to suppress this virus, and it will mean that we get back to more normality than we will otherwise do.

All of you can help us in moving in the right direction by sticking with the rules.

So as we head into the weekend I want to briefly reiterate again the key public health guidance that is in place for now.

We should all still be staying at home most of the time and meeting fewer people than normal.

If your life feels like it is getting back to normal think about whether you’re complying with the guidance as you should be.

When you meet people from another household you must stay outdoors and you must stay two metres apart from them.

Don’t meet up with more than one household at a time. Don’t meet up with more than one a day. And please keep to a maximum of eight people in a group.

Wash your hands, often. Wear a face covering when you are in a shop or public transport – or in any enclosed space where it is more difficult to physically distance.

Avoid touching hard surfaces and clean those that you do touch.

And, as I have said already, if you have symptoms of COVID-19 ask for a test immediately – go to the NHS Inform website and follow the advice on self-isolation.

Above all else we all have to remember that we are still in a situation where our actions as individuals have an impact on the health and well-being of everybody.

So I want to end again today by thanking you sincerely for your patience, for your forbearance, and for making the sacrifices you are making so that collectively as a country we continue to get through this crisis.

My thanks to all of you and I will now hand over to the Economy Secretary to say a few words before handing over to Professor Leitch.

First Minister: making life-saving progress

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Thursday 11 June):

Introduction

Good afternoon, I will start with the usual update on some of the key statistics in relation to Covid-19.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,682 positive cases confirmed through our NHS labs – that’s an increase of 17 from yesterday.

A total of 909 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents a total decrease of 78 since yesterday, including a decrease of 10 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 21 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid 19. That is an increase of 3 since yesterday – but all of the increase I should say is in suspected cases.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,858 patients who had tested positive and needed hospital treatment for the virus have been able to leave hospital – and I wish all of them well.

And in the past 24 hours, 5 deaths were registered of patients confirmed through a test as having the virus  – the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, is now therefore 2,439.

As always, it’s important to stress that the figures I have just read out are not just statistics. They all represent individuals who right now are being mourned by their families and friends. So – again – I want to send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this illness.

I also want to express my thanks – as always – to our health and care workers for the extraordinary work that they continue to do in very difficult and testing circumstances.

R Number

Now I want to highlight three issues today – firstly I will cover our latest report, which has just been published, on the “R” number”; I will update on some developments in the construction industry; and talk about support that we are making available for students over the summer.

I’ll then also close by reflecting on the importance of our Test and Protect system, which was launched two weeks ago, and our wider public health guidance.

Let me start though with today’s report on the “R” number.

As you will recall, the R number shows the rate at which this virus is reproducing. So in summary if R is above 1, every person with the virus will infect more than 1 other person, and the virus will then spread exponentially. If R though is below 1, the number of people with the virus will fall.

We estimate that the R number in Scotland, as of last Friday – 5 June – was between 0.6 and 0.8. That is a lower estimate than for two weeks ago, when we calculated that the number was likely to be between 0.7 and 0.9. So, under that estimate, we expect that the virus will continue to decline.

In addition, we estimate that last Friday, 4,500 people in Scotland had the virus and were infectious. Our previous estimate, for 29 May, had been that 11,500 people were likely to be infectious.

Now that, of course, sounds like a very big decline, so it’s worth me stressing, that we don’t actually think the number of infectious people has more than halved in just one week. What has been happening is that we have been reassessing our estimates for previous weeks, based on the latest figures available to us. So, in short, it is likely that the 11,500 was an overestimate, not that the number has halved in a single week.

However, notwithstanding that, these latest estimates reflect the encouraging data that we have seen in the last couple of weeks, and there is no doubt looking at all of this data, that we are making very real progress in combatting and suppressing the virus in Scotland.

However as always, it is important that I inject a note of caution. Firstly, the estimates I have reported to you today, of course don’t yet take account of the phase 1 changes that we made to begin the easing out of lockdown, and we need to continue to monitor any impact from that carefully.

Secondly, the number of people who we estimate will be infectious is certainly smaller than it was, but it is also still large enough to make the virus take off rapidly again if the R number was to go much above 1. So for these reasons we need to celebrate the progress but continue to be careful and cautious.

Next week, in fact a week today, we will have a further review of the lockdown restrictions.

I am currently very hopeful that at that point we will be able to lift some further restrictions. We may not be able to do everything in phase 2,  but I hope that we can do certainly, at least, some of that. Of course it is also possible that some of these changes will be phased over a three week period, but I’m hopeful that we will be able to take some further important steps forward when we report on the review next week.

But it is important again to stress that we must do that cautiously and proportionately. And I will also make the point I frequently make, but it is not just an obvious point, it is a very important point, we will be in a better position to lift more restrictions if all of us continue to stick with the current guidelines and further suppress the virus to lower levels than it is even now.

Construction sector

Now one area where we judge we can make some further progress now, is in the construction industry. I can confirm today that the sector will be able to move to the next step of its restart plan – which is something that was always envisaged as part of phase 1 of our route map. So it is not a change to phase 1.

Earlier steps have allowed for health and safety planning, followed by preparatory work at construction sites.

And moving to the next step of the industry plan will now allow workers to return to construction sites gradually, while using measures such as physical distancing and hand hygiene to ensure that they can do so safely.

I am very grateful to the sector and trade unions for the very responsible approach that they have taken during an incredibly difficult time.

It’s important to be very clear though, that we still have a long way to go before construction will be working at full capacity, but there is no doubt this is a significant step in allowing an important industry to return safely to work.

I can also confirm today that we are extending our Help to Buy scheme – which was due to come to an end next March – we are extending that to March 2022.

Under that scheme, the Government provides up to 15% of the cost of buying a new-build home, and recovers its share of the funding when the property is sold, or when the share is bought out.

In recent years, this scheme has helped 17,000 people – more than ¾ of them aged 35 or under – to buy new-build homes. It has also, of course, been a valuable support for house builders. At present, of course, the pandemic means that the scheme is not being used.

So by confirming that it is being extended, I hope we can ensure that more people – who may otherwise have missed out on this scheme – are able to move into new homes in the future, and also that we are to provide a bit more confidence for the construction sector.

Student support

The third issue I want to talk about is support for students.

We know that many students rely on income from seasonal or part-time jobs – especially over the summer months – and that the economic impact of Covid will therefore cause them particular difficulties.

And that can be especially important for higher education students, who, unlike further education students, can’t usually claim benefits over the summer.

We have already provided additional support for students, and we have also suspended debt recovery action by the Student Awards Agency. And today, we are bringing forward more than £11 million of further support.

This funding will be administered by colleges and universities to help higher education students who most need it. And it is a further way in which we are trying to support students, at a time when many of them are still facing potential hardship.

Test and Protect

Now the final issue I want to cover today relates to my earlier discussion of the R number, and how we hope next week to announce some further changes to lockdown restrictions.

As we do that – as we gradually, and I emphasise gradually, return to meeting more people, and living a bit more freely, which all of us are of course keen to do – our test and protect system will become ever more important in helping us all to live a less restricted life, while still being able to suppress the virus.

Now yesterday, we published the first data from the system, which started two weeks ago today.

And that data shows, that in the period up to 7 June, 681 people who reported symptoms had tested positive for Covid. As of yesterday, contact tracing had been completed for 481 of those, and was in progress for a further 50.

Amongst those 531 cases, a total of 741 contacts had been traced – that’s just under 1½ people per case. And of course people’s contacts right now will be lower than normal because of the lockdown restrictions that are in place.

Now there’s two points that I think that are important for me to note about this data – and it is very initial data.

The first is that the number of people who have tested positive is higher than is suggested by our daily figures – the ones I report on new cases here each day.

That is because our daily figures do not yet cover tests from labs run by the UK Government – such as those for regional test centres and mobile units – although we will be able to include that information very soon.

In addition, the current figures slightly overstate the number of cases where no tracing has been carried out so far. One reason for that is that some historic cases – from the time when the system was being piloted – still feature in the data. If that historic data is removed, the proportion of completed cases increases from 71% to 86%.

We will publish more detailed data on test and protect in the weeks ahead because it is important not just that government understands how well it is working but you the public can see that too. But I want to be very clear that our preliminary indications are that test and protect is already working well. And of course we will identify areas for improvement as and when they arise and as the system becomes ever more established.

Fundamentally though, I want to stress to everyone watching just how important test and protect is and how important is it going to continue to be in the weeks and potentially the months that lie ahead.

I guess it essentially represents for all of us a kind of social bargain.

If you have symptoms, or – and in some ways actually this is the much more difficult bit, if you have been in contact with someone who has symptoms, even if you don’t have symptoms yourself – we will ask you to isolate completely.

We will support you in doing that, if you need that support – but it is still a very tough thing to ask people to do.

However, and this is the social bargain bit, if all of us agree to do that when necessary, it means that all of us together collectively will be able to continue to emerge from lockdown while keeping the virus under control.

At any one time, some of us will have to self-isolate for a period, so that together, all of us can start to lead a less restricted life.

So please, if you have symptoms of Covid-19 – remember that’s a new continuous cough, or a fever, or a loss of or change in your sense of taste or smell – please do not wait for a few hours or a day or two to see if you feel better. Start self-isolating immediately that you experience these symptoms, and ask for a test immediately.

To remind you, you can do that by going to the NHS inform website, or by phoning NHS 24 on 0800 028 2816 – that’s 0800 028 2816. If we all do that, when we experience symptoms and if any of us are contacted to say we have been in close contact with someone who has the virus, and we agree to self-isolate, then all of us are going to help enable the whole country to get out of lockdown, not just a bit more quickly, but more safely as well.

Conclusion

The final point I’d like to make before we move on to questions is that your best way of reducing, the best way of all of us to reduce our chance of being a close contact with somebody with the virus – and of being asked to self-isolate as a result – is by continuing to stick to our key public health guidance. And of course, that is also our best way of avoiding and getting and transmitting the virus.

So just to remind everybody what that guidance is, you should still be staying home most of the time right now, and you should still be meeting fewer people than you normally would. If your life feels like it is getting back to normal right now, please ask yourself why that is – because it shouldn’t yet be feeling as if it is getting back to normal.

When you do meet people from another household, you absolutely must stay outdoors, do not go indoors, and you must stay 2 metres apart from members of the other household.

Please, do not meet up with more than one other household at a time, don’t meet more than one in the course of any single day – and please keep to a maximum, I stress a maximum, of 8 people in any group.

Wash your hands often, make sure you’re doing it thoroughly. If you are out of your home take hand sanitiser with you.

Wear a face covering if you are in an enclose space, where physical distancing may be more difficult, for example in a shop or on public transport. Again I want to stress that. We know that one of us wearing a face covering helps reduce the risk of us transmitting the virus to somebody else. And somebody else wearing a face covering reduces the risk of them transmitting the virus to us.

It’s another way in which we can all act to protect each other.

Avoid touching hard surfaces – and any you do touch make sure you are cleaning them thoroughly.

And as I have already covered today, if you have symptoms of Covid-19 – ask for a test immediately, and please follow the advice on self-isolation.

Above all else, all of us right now should remember that in every single individual decision we take, we are potentially affecting the health and the wellbeing of others, and indeed the wellbeing of the whole country.

So if all of us continue to do the right thing, if all of us continue to stick to these rules, then we will continue to see the progress that I have been reporting in recent days, and we will be able to come out of lockdown, hopefully even more quickly, but much more importantly than that, we will be able to do that sustainably, because we will come out of lockdown and continue to suppress this virus, which is our overall aim.

So thank you for everything you have been doing. Please keep doing it, so that together we can continue to make this life saving progress.

First Minister: ‘We will not forget you’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, yesterday (Monday 8 June):

Good afternoon. My update today will be a bit longer than normal as I have important information to convey, including on shielding.

But first I’ll give an update on the key statistics in relation to Covid-19.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,639 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 18 from yesterday.

A total of 1,042 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents a total increase of 40 from yesterday, including an increase of 9 in the number of confirmed cases in hospital.

A total of 24 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected cases of the virus. That is a decrease of 1 since yesterday.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,799 patients who had tested positive and required hospital treatment for the virus have been able to leave hospital.

And in the last 24 hours, 0 deaths were registered of patients confirmed through a test as having Covid-19 –the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, therefore remains at 2,415.

This is the second day in a row that no deaths have been registered in the preceding 24 hours. This is obviously very encouraging. I can’t tell how much I have longed to report such a development – and I know you will have longed to hear that. 

But even so, we must still exercise caution. We know from previous weeks that fewer deaths tend to be registered at weekends – so it is still highly likely that more Covid deaths will be recorded in the days ahead. But I very much hope we continue to see a steady decline.

As always, I want to stress that the figures I have been reporting over the last few weeks are not simply statistics. They represent individuals whose loss is a source of sorrow to many. My deepest condolences are with everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus.

I also want to express my thanks to our health and care workers for the incredible work that you continue to do in very testing circumstances.

And today I want to convey a special message – from my heart – to everyone watching. I want to take a moment to thank you for the sacrifices you have made in recent weeks.

I know how painful many of these sacrifices have been – not being able to see family, especially grandchildren, or attend funerals of loved ones, or celebrate special occasions.

These are times in our lives that we don’t get back.

And the experience – the worry and the loneliness – of these weeks will live with all of us forever. That is true for everyone – but it is and will continue to be especially so for those in the shielded category who I will address directly in a moment.

I want all of you – shielded or not – to know that I am acutely aware of this in every single decision I take. And there are no words that will ever adequately express the sorrow I feel for all you have gone through – or indeed the gratitude for the way you have borne it.

I also know that as you listen to me report statistics that are now going in a positive direction, you will be asking if these sacrifices remain necessary.

And as you witness some people, even just a minority, not abiding by the rules, I suspect you may be also asking ‘why should I bother?’ I understand all of that. I really do. And I share the frustration at times.

But sticking with it for a bit longer really does matter. These painful but necessary sacrifices have brought us to where we are today – with this virus in retreat.

In retreat, but not gone. And still posing a real risk, especially to the most clinically vulnerable.

And that’s the key point I want to make to you today. This is such a crucial juncture in our battle against the virus. We will either keep going, keep beating it back – or we will give it the chance to roar back with a vengeance.

We must do the former. If we break the chains of transmission even more and drive down the number of new cases to a lower base, the safer it will be to more meaningfully ease the restrictions and speed up our journey back to some normality.

And if we do keep making the progress we have in the last few weeks, I am optimistic that 10 days from now at the next formal review, we will be able to move, at least in part, into the next phase of our routemap out of lockdown, with more individual freedoms restored and more businesses able to open up and operate again.

But that depends on all of us. So please stick with it. Every day we do, brings us closer to getting back to a form of normality. But today I want to thank each and every one of you for all of those sacrifices you have been making.

The main – and difficult – issue I want to talk about today is shielding. I want to give as much of an update as I can for the approximately 180,000 people across Scotland who have been shielding – because we know you are at greatest risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from this virus.

Our initial advice in March was for you to shield until the 18th of June and I know you are anxious about what happens next.

This is not an easy update to give – and I know it will not be an easy one for you to hear – but it is important that we set out for you our current expectations at this stage. You will receive a letter from the Chief Medical Officer shortly with the information I am about to give.

The advice for you to shield has been necessary to protect you from harm – and for now it remains so – but I am well aware that such a long period of isolation causes its own harms and distress.

For all of these reasons we want, as soon as we possibly can, to move to a better position where we can give you more tailored advice on the risks associated with your specific condition – and then set out what you can do to mitigate these risks and how we can support you to live more normally.

However to do that properly and safely, we need more clinical and scientific evidence than we have right now. I will say more about that in a few moments.

For the moment, despite the progress that has been made in reducing levels of Covid in the community, the virus still poses a very significant threat to you. I am afraid, therefore, that our recommendation at this stage is that you should continue to shield until 31 July.

We are however likely to amend our current guidance so that from next week you can go outside to exercise. I will say more about that shortly.

The support you currently receive will of course still be available. At present, more than 50,000 shielding people receive free weekly grocery boxes, and 46,000 have registered for priority online delivery with supermarkets. That is in addition to the services local pharmacists are providing, and the help given by local authorities and the third sector.  All of those services will continue – and even if you haven’t needed them up until now, you can still access them.

I promise you, and I want to say this very directly and very sincerely to you, I promise you we are not going to forget about you between now and the end of July.

During that period, we will consider on an ongoing basis whether further easing is possible. And if we can bring shielding in its current form to an end earlier than the end of July, we will do so. But we judge it is better to give you the clarity of a backstop date now.

And please be assured that we are working hard to provide a more tailored approach for you – so that from the end of July at the latest, you can enjoy more normality in your life.

We know that not every person who is shielding faces exactly the same risk.

So we are working to develop tools that allow you and your clinicians to take into account your specific condition –  and also other factors, like your age or ethnicity – in order to give you a better sense of the risks you face.

As part of that, we are also looking for ways to help you understand the changing risk of infection in your local area.

Once this evidence is available, we will start providing more specific advice for you, so that you can understand the safest ways to go back to a more normal life. We are working on this with clinicians and scientific advisers across the 4 nations of the UK.

It is worth stressing that some of the issues here are complex – and new clinical evidence is becoming available constantly – however we hope to make this more detailed advice available over the next few weeks.

Before then – for the period from 18 June onwards – we have been considering what steps we can safely take.

We now know that the risk of catching Covid outdoors, if you stay 2 metres apart from other people, is relatively low.

And so we currently expect that from Thursday 18 June, anybody who is shielding, unless they live in a nursing or residential care home, will be able to go outdoors for exercise. There will be no limit to how long or how often you can go out each day.

We hope that this will provide some boost for your quality of life – particularly if you live in a home which doesn’t have a garden, or which has limited space – without greatly increasing the risks you face.

Assuming that this change goes ahead – and I currently expect that to be the case – you’ll be able to go out for exercise; for example a walk, wheel, run or cycle.

However you should stay two metres away from others while you’re out.

We will not recommend yet that you take part in sports such as golf or tennis.

And you should still avoid meeting up with other households, even in a physically distanced setting. I know that that in particular is really  hard, but we want to avoid the possibility of creating additional risks.

For people who live in nursing or residential care homes – I am afraid that any change to the guidance on exercise from 18 June, will not yet apply to you.  We will change our advice for you as soon as we can confidently do so.

In relation to education, we have already published guidance to clarify that children who are shielding should not be expected to return until it is safe. Instead, they should be supported to receive education at home or in a way that best meets their needs

And in relation to work, the starting point for everyone – regardless of whether or not you are shielding – should be that you work from home where possible

But if you are shielding, you are not expected to return to a workplace until at least 31 July. And I want to be clear that employers should do everything they can to help you to work from home safely. Nobody should be penalised for following medical guidance.

Before I finish, I want to acknowledge that the support made available to people who are shielding is only possible because different organisations have worked together. That includes national and local government, the third sector, supermarkets and wholesalers, and the NHS.

And these services depend on a lot of hard work from a lot of people – for example the staff in local authority assistance centres, delivery drivers, volunteers and many others. I want to say thank you to all of them.

I also know that for anyone who lives with someone who is shielding, this has been a very stressful time. I want to particularly acknowledge the support that you will have been providing, in incredibly difficult circumstances.

And of course most of all, I want to say thank you to those of you who are shielding.

I don’t know, from my own personal experience, just how difficult this has been for you, so I’m not going to pretend to you that I do, but I can imagine how difficult this has been.

I know that many of you listening today will be very disappointed that shielding is to continue for some time yet. I want to assure you though that this is not a decision we take lightly – it weighs heavily on all of us, including on me.

But it is for your protection. And I hope that our advice on exercise, should it come into force next week as I expect, will make a difference for many of you.

I also promise that we will ease our guidance again before the end of July  – if we are confident we can do so safely. And I guarantee that in the weeks ahead, you will continue to be absolutely central to our thinking.

I want to conclude just by emphasizing again our key public health guidance for all people outside the shielding group.

You should still be staying home most of the time, and you should still be meeting fewer people than normal.

When you do meet people from another household, you must stay outdoors, and you must stay 2 metres apart from them.

Don’t meet with more than one other household at a time, don’t meet more than one a day – and keep to a maximum of 8 people in a group.

Wash your hands often. Take hand sanitiser if you are out and about.

Wear a face covering when you are in shops or on public transport.

Avoid touching hard surfaces – and clean any you do touch.

And if you have the symptoms of Covid-19 you must get tested, and follow the advice on self-isolation.

Above all else, please remember that the decisions you take as an individual, affect the health and wellbeing of us all.

If we all do the right thing, then we will continue to slow the spread of this virus and we will save lives. And we will bring forward much closer that day when all of us can continue to get back to some normality.

So my thanks again to all of you, my thanks in particular to those watching in the shielded category. I know how difficult what I have just reported to you will be, but let me repeat that promise – that we have not and will not forget you.