Tag: First Minister

First Minister: ‘A very fragile and volatile situation’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, on Wednesday 4th November:

Thanks for joining us today again. Let me give you the daily updates on the COVID statistics.

The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 1433.

That represents 7.9% of the total number of tests, and the total number of confirmed cases is therefore now to 68,444.

602 of today’s new cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 318 in Lanarkshire, 163 in Lothian and 88 in Ayrshire and Arran.

The remaining 262 cases were spread across 8 other health board areas.

I can also confirm that 1257 people are currently in hospital – that is an increase of 3 from yesterday. And 94 people are in intensive care, which is 2 more than yesterday.

And finally, I deeply regret to say that 50 deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days.

That means that the total number of deaths, under our daily measurement, is now 2,927.

National Records of Scotland has also just published its weekly update, that of course includes cases where COVID is a suspected or contributory cause of death.

Today’s update shows that by Sunday just past, the total number of registered deaths linked to COVID, either confirmed or presumed was 4,649.

167 of those deaths were registered last week, which is 61 more than in the week previous.

Of last week’s deaths 127 occurred in hospital, 31 were in care homes, and 9 were at home or in another non-institutional setting.

Now I report all of that as statistics but particularly when we have numbers such as those that I reported today, it’s always really important to remind ourselves that these deaths are not, and should never simply be, seen as statistics.

Every single one of them represents an individual who was cherished and loved and whose loss has been mourned by family and friends across the country.

So again, I want to send my deepest condolences to all those who have been bereaved as a result of this virus.

I am joined today by Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director. I am also joined by Martin Blunden, Scotland’s Chief Fire Officer, who will say a few words about fire safety – as we look ahead to what of course will be a very different 5th of November from the ones we have been used to.

The Scottish Parliament yesterday discussed longer term measures to prevent the misuse of fireworks. But there is also an immediate need to ensure that this year’s bonfire night passes safely, and the Chief Fire Officer will talk more about that shortly.

Before then, I want to cover two points and I will do so reasonably briefly.

Firstly, a quick return to the situation in relation to furlough payments. As you know, the Scottish Government welcomes the fact that the current furlough scheme has been extended until the 2nd December.

That will help employees and businesses across Scotland and the UK who need to use it over that period.

However we continue to make the case – as do our counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland – that the same level of furlough support must also be available after November. The same level of help for the self-employed should also be made available.

We cannot have a situation where businesses are fully supported, rightly fully supported, when England enters a lockdown, but comparable support isn’t made available, if all or part of Scotland, or Wales or Northern Ireland face similar restrictions.

So I very much welcome the apparent commitment of the Prime Minister to equal treatment, that he gave in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.

As a result of that commitment, we hope and expect that the furlough scheme will be available at its current levels, those levels that will apply through November if we need to impose stronger restrictions in any part of the country in the future.

But we still have not seen any detailed written commitments on this from the Treasury. And we need to do that, as a matter of urgency. The current confusion and lack of clarity is, and I think this is an obvious point, is not helpful for our decision-making, but it is not helpful for businesses and employees who of course are anxious about jobs and wages at this time.

So I hope, although I’m mindful that I said the same thing at this point yesterday, that we will get that clarity over the course of today. (NOTE: UK Chancellor is finally expected to confirm this in a statement today – Ed.)

The second point I want to highlight also relates to support for businesses.

Back in July, we announced a £38 million package of support for new companies, in emerging sectors of the economy as well as supporting existing businesses through this crisis, we want to support the sustainable recovery of the economy in ways that help us meet our challenges of the future, not least climate change.

That support included a £25 million fund for recent start-ups, that’s being shared today between 90 businesses. They will receive a combination of grant and investment funding worth up to £300k.

These companies operate are operating in areas which are likely to grow in importance in the years to come – such as software development, space engineering and sustainable packaging.

And so we hope that this support will help them to innovate and grow, despite the crisis currently being caused by COVID.

Today’s funding also shows the mix of measures we are looking at as we try to support economic growth, both throughout and in the future, as we emerge from this crisis.

It is vital for businesses across the country that we work with the UK Government, and agree the details of furlough support.

The Scottish Government is also responsible for deciding funding for some major economic interventions – whether that is business rates relief, and the support grants available for companies which are hit by COVID restrictions.

But alongside that help, we are also responsible for more targeted measures. So today’s support is an example of that and we hope it will help a relatively small number of companies, but companies that have significance for the future, innovate, build and grow.

These are the two main points I wanted to cover today. However before I hand over to the Chief Fire Officer, I just want to emphasise again the current rules and guidance.

And I want to repeat that although we continue to see some positive signs in our data just now, and that’s all down to the sacrifices that people across the country are making. We are still dealing with a very fragile and volatile situation and therefore it is the case that we have a lot of work to do.

As I set out yesterday, given the nature of what we are dealing with right now, it’s not enough and we cannot take sufficient comfort from a situation where we stop the spread of the virus deteriorating. We also need to be seeing a significant and sustained improvement.

Otherwise the risk we would bear is going deeper into winter with a high baseline of infection – that would mean any increase in the R number could quickly see the virus overwhelm us and overwhelm our hospitals.

So we will be monitoring the situation closely ahead of the first review of our new levels system next Tuesday.

In the meantime though, I ask everyone to remember that we all have a part to play in this. The more all of us abide by the rules, the more chance we have of making the progress we need to see.

And it’s another opportunity to remind everybody that though this virus makes us all feel a little bit powerless and at times bewildered, no of us are powerless in the face of this if we all stick to the rules, we make an individual and a collective impact on the spread of it.

So let me just briefly in conclusion remind you of what these rules are.

If you are living in one of the areas categorised as level three at the moment – most parts of the central belt, and now also Dundee – do not travel outside your own local authority area unless it is essential. You can find more detail of what we mean by ‘essential’ on the Scottish Government website. But it includes, for example, work that you cannot do at home, or caring responsibilities.

And people in other parts of Scotland should not travel into level three areas except for the same essential purposes.

We are also asking you now not to travel outside of Scotland – to other parts of the UK, or overseas – again unless there is an essential reason for you to do so.

This is, I know, very restrictive but it is essential to avoid us taking the virus from areas of high prevalence to areas of low prevalence and that point is important to stress.

In addition to the travel restrictions across the country right now, none of us should be visiting each other’s homes – again except for specific purposes, such as childcare, or looking after a frail or vulnerable person.

When we do meet people from other households, outdoors or indoor public places, please stick to the limits. No more than six people from no more than two households.

Avoid car-sharing if you can.

Work from home if you can.

Download the Protect Scotland app.

And remember the five rules that everybody needs to abide by to minimise the risk of transmission:

· wear face coverings when you’re out and about
· avoid places with crowds of people
· clean your hands regularly and clean surfaces regularly
· keep two metres distance from people from other households
· and self-isolate, and get tested, if you have any of the symptoms of COVID.

I set this out in some detail yesterday, and you hear me say in regularly over the course of the days to come, we have taken early action in Scotland.

Your sacrifices are adding to that, to put us in, not a strong position because no country in the face of a global pandemic can claim its position is strong, but put us in a position that is less severe than many other countries across the world.

But it is a fragile position and we must continue to see progress, that obviously will guide decisions government takes but right now, that need to continue to suppress the virus if we are to avoid tougher restrictions that last for longer, is something all of us need to remember in complying with all of this advice and with all of the rules.

So my thanks again to everybody for joining us today and for all the sacrifices that you continue to make.

Coronavirus: Scotland set to adopt tiered staregic approach

Statement given by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Monday 19 October):

Good afternoon, thanks for joining us again today. I will give you the usual report on the COVID statistics first of all. I can report that the total number of positive cases yesterday was 993.

That represents 17.1% of people who were newly tested and 6.4% of the total number of tests that we carried out and I am going to come on later to say a little bit more about these different measurements.

The total number of cases now stands at 47,708. 362 of today’s cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 294 in Lanarkshire, 122 in Lothian and 57 in Ayrshire and Arran. 

The remaining  cases are spread across the other seven mainland health board areas.

754 people are currently in hospital which is an increase of 40 from yesterday and 61 people are intensive care, that’s two fewer than yesterday.

Now for the eagle-eyed amongst you who  follow these figures very closely day-to-day and might have spotted that yesterday’s hospital and ICU figures and today’s don’t exactly tally,

I can tell  you there has been a small revision made to the figures reported by Ayrshire and Arran yesterday and that will be shown in the publication that will appear on the website later.

I also regret to say that in the last 24 hours 1 additional death has been registered of a patient who had tested positive over the previous 28 days.

We also reported 15 deaths on Saturday. So since I last stood here to give the daily update on Friday, 16 additional deaths have been registered. And the total number of deaths, under the daily measurement is now 2,610.

That figure is a reminder of the heartbreak that this virus is capable of causing and once again I want to pass on my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.

Now I have got a few things I want to briefly update on today. I am going to highlight two points about the daily figures that I have just reported and at the end of my remarks I will look forward to the week ahead and some of the decisions that lie ahead of us.

But briefly first of all, let me just look back. It seems clear from anecdotal reports that people overwhelmingly stuck to the rules over this weekend, including the rules on household gatherings.

And that’s really important – stopping households meeting up indoors is, as you know, crucial to slowing the spread of Covid.

But I am aware that it is also really tough, and it gets tougher with every week that passes.

I just wanted to take the opportunity today to say thank you  to everyone who has  played a part by following the rules and guidelines. You are making a difference and please be assured of that.

Let me now cover a couple of issues relating to the daily statistics. We reported only 316 new cases yesterday and as you can see that’s far lower than the numbers we have been reporting on previous days.

Now, we are still exploring this with the UK Government but we think this might be because from Friday onwards, quite a large number of tests were diverted from the Lighthouse laboratory in Glasgow, to  be processed in other laboratories in the Lighthouse network.

Our understanding  – although we do not control this process –  is that this was to ensure that the Lighthouse lab in Glasgow didn’t handle more tests, from across the UK, than it had the capacity to deal with promptly.

We also understand that the tests diverted included those of people with symptoms, who had gone to drive-through or walk-in testing centres. 

And it stands to reason these people are more likely to test positive than asymptomatic people who are being tested as part of routine care home testing, for example. And that might help to explain why yesterday’s number of positive cases was probably artificially low.

The rerouting of cases was due to stop yesterday and  my expectation is that any new cases which we would have expected to see yesterday, will be included in the figures for today and tomorrow, although we continue, as I said earlier, to explore whether there might be any other issues at play here.

Of course this is one reason why – when we consider the number of positive cases – we always look at the trends over a number of days, rather at any single day at a time.

And of course our Test and Protect teams will be working to identify contacts of positive cases as soon as the information about them comes into our case management system.

And I would remind anyone who may be waiting for a test result, that you should of course be continuing to self-isolate while you wait for that. That is a really important part of our collective effort to control the virus.

Now, the other point about our statistics that I want to cover, relates to the percentage of people who test positive for Covid.

And I’m afraid that – as occasionally happens – I’m going to discuss an issue now which is quite technical, but which is important, so please bear with me as I always like to try and give you an understanding of what lies behind our statistics and the reasons for any change in how we are calculating any aspect of them.

For some time now, as you know, I have reported here a daily figure for the proportion of people who test positive for Covid – that’s an important metric that allows us, amongst other metrics,  to determine whether the virus is spreading more rapidly  or going into decline.

To arrive at that figure what we have done so far is measure the number of people

testing positive, as a percentage of the total number of people being tested, who had never been tested before. That’s why you hear me say every day that it is a percentage of people newly tested.

That ensures that we don’t count people who are tested twice in a very short period of time – for example if a test result needs checked, or perhaps some days tested both on admission to hospital and then a few days later.

Now the current measure has been helpful so far in assessing how the virus is spreading.

All of you will have seen in recent weeks in the percentage of positive cases that we have reported the rise in that has been consistent  with the rise in case numbers, in hospital admissions and increasingly, unfortunately, in people dying.

However the way in which we currently calculate  this becomes less reliable over time as more and more people in the population have been tested.

We are now more than 7 months into the pandemic and already more than 1/7 of the population of Scotland has already been tested for Covid. Under our existing measure, none of those people will ever count again as a newly tested person – someone who has not been tested before although if they test positive their positive result will be counted.

Let me illustrate that with an example – if you had a fever in August, if you got a test then and you didn’t have Covid – and then you have a cough now, you get tested again, and it turns out you do have Covid – your positive test will be counted, but you will not count as a “newly tested person”, when we work out the percentage.

So, as you can see, over time as more and more people who have already been tested go for further tests – and remember almost 40,000 care home workers are tested every single week – what happens is that the percentage of positive test that we report is artificially high and gets more and more artificially high as time goes on.

So we have been discussing this issue in some detail with the UK’s Office for Statistics Regulation. We have taken their advice into account in deciding a new measure, and will continue to engage with them on future improvements.

Instead of relying only on people who have been newly tested, we will now calculate the percentage of positive tests, based on the total number of test results which have come in on that day.

Now that measure is simple to calculate. And it does come closer to matching the methodologies used by the World Health Organisation, for determining whether the virus is out of control.

It is worth stressing though that although it is a better measurement for this stage in the pandemic for the reasons I have tried to set out as clearly as possible , it’s still not perfect so we’ll continue to look at further improvements. And the imperfections are these – if you need to be tested more than once in the same day or the same week, all of those samples will now be counted.

And in addition, the new measure – to a much greater extent than the old measure – combines test results from different groups of people.

The majority of our tests are of people who have symptoms of Covid.

But we also test lots of asymptomatic people every week as well, principally people who work in care homes.  And those tests are much less likely to be positive than tests of people with symptoms, so in a day-to-day basis that could lead to some fluctuations in the daily percentage.

But on a weekly or monthly basis that the trend in test positivity will be clear.

And our view is that the new measure will give us a better picture of the course of the virus over the weeks and months ahead. The old measure was the most accurate for the early phase of the pandemic, we think this one is more accurate for the next phase.

Now, as you have just gathered, that is quite a technical change, and thanks for bearing with me if you have managed to do so. But we also want to give you a bit of time to see the effects of the change in methodology. So, for that reason, and also to be completely transparent, to avoid any suspicion, what we are trying to do here is change methodology to result in a lower  number, every day  for at least the rest of this week I will am going to give you both our old and our new measurements  when I give you the daily figures. Eventually though, I will start to report the figure under our new measurement only.

So to remind you of what I said earlier on, on the old measurement taking people just newly tested, our test positivity rate today was 17.1%, on our new measurement taking  all tests it was 6.4%.

The final point I want to cover is to look to the week ahead as I indicated last week  we will publish this week detail of our new strategic approach to tackling the virus. I hope to discuss the outlines of this tomorrow with leaders of the other parties in the Scottish Parliament.

And we will then publish a strategic framework at the end of the week, before debating it in parliament next week.

One of the things the framework will set out are the different tiers or levels of intervention and restrictions which may be applied in future – either locally or nationally across Scotland – depending on how the virus is spreading.

We will also indicate –  based on the latest advice from the National Incident Management Team and our clinical advisers – what levels should apply to different parts of the country or potentially all of the country once the current temporary restrictions on hospitality come to an end on 26 October.

The framework will also summarise our work to improve the effectiveness of existing measures to curb Covid – for example how we will work to improve compliance with FACTS advice and all of the other guidelines; the review of our testing strategy and how we will continue to support Test and Protect; and also how we will provide support for businesses and individuals so that they can comply with all that they are being asked to do, either now or in the future.

Publication of the framework is an important step, as we look ahead to the winter and prepare to manage the virus over, what may well be and I would expect to be, a very challenging period.

We hope that the framework can command broad support both politically in parliament and across wider society.

But this is where I will end, it is worth stressing that – although the strategic framework will update our approach to tackling the virus – many of the basic elements of that approach will not change.

In particular, it will continue to be vital that to slow the spread of the virus, all of us as individuals stick to all of the essential rules and guidelines on hygiene, physical distancing and limiting contact  with other households.

Let me just briefly remind everyone of what those current general rules and guidelines are.

As I said earlier, except for very specific purposes – such as childcare – none of us should be visiting each other’s homes right now.

When we do meet – outdoors, or indoor public places that are open like cafes –  we shouldn’t meet in groups of any more than six people from a maximum of two households.

Only car-share if it is essential to do so

Work from home if you possibly can and again I would appeal to employers to facilitate that for your workers.

Download the Protect Scotland app, if you haven’t done so already.

And finally, remember FACTS.

  • Wear Face coverings, it is now the law, as of today, to wear them in communal areas in work places, like corridors
  • Avoid crowded places.
  • Clean your hands and hard surfaces
  • keep two metres distance from people in other households.
  • and Self isolate, and get tested, if you have symptoms.

These are the basic things, no matter the other rules in place at any given time,  these are the basic things  that if all of us do all of them all of the time  then we give ourselves the best chance of keeping the spread of the virus  under control

It’s the best way to look after ourselves, to look after our loved ones and our communities.

And ultimately it is the best way to protect our National Health Service and save lives.

Thank you again for listening today and thank you particularly for bearing with me through quite a long, laborious and technical update on how we will calculate the percentage of people testing positive.

FM urges Old Firm fans: ‘resist temptation to bend the rules’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, yesterday (Friday 16 October):

Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us. I will start with the usual run-through of today’s COVID statistics.

The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 1,196. That is 16.9% of people newly-tested, and the total number of cases now stands at 45,232.

416 of the cases were in Greater Glasgow & Clyde, 309 in Lanarkshire, 161 in Lothian and 104 in Ayrshire & Arran. The remaining cases were spread across 9 other health board areas. Only Shetland today has no reported cases.

I can also confirm that 629 people are currently in hospital, that is an increase of 27 since yesterday. And 58 people are in intensive care, that is 6 more than yesterday.

I’m also very sad to report that in the past 24 hours, 9 additional deaths were registered of patients who had first tested positive over the previous 28-day period. That means that the total number of deaths under the daily measurement is now 2,594.

Again, I want to send my deepest condolences to all those who have lost a loved-one to this virus at any point during this pandemic, but obviously of course, in particular to those who have more recently been bereaved.

There are a few items I want to briefly cover today before the Chief Medical Officer and I take questions from the media.

As I often do on a Friday, I will shortly give an update on the quarantine requirements for international travel. I will then say a word about the opening of two new walk-through testing sites.  And finally, I want to say something about this weekend. Before that, though, let me start by saying a special word about schools.

Obviously many schools will soon be returning from the October break while others are just now preparing to start the half-term.

I wanted to take this opportunity today to say a very big and a very heartfelt thank-you – to teachers, to other school staff, to pupils and to parents across the country.

I know that you have faced many challenges over the past few months. I also know that, because of the restrictions, the October break will not be all that you might have hoped that it would be.

But we must not lose sight of what you have achieved during this first half term.

It is down to your efforts and your ability to adapt in extremely difficult circumstances that schools have been able to return.

As a result, the vast majority of pupils are now able to have the classroom, and the wider school experience that was lost back in the Spring. And I don’t think we should underestimate that it is a real achievement that young people have been able to have that normal schooling experience for the last number of weeks that they lost out on for much of this year.

So that, I think, is something important, and something positive in this difficult period for all of us to mark and reflect on.

Now, I know there will be further challenges ahead; I think that is almost inevitable.

And I don’t want to stand here today and give any sense that I am under-estimating how difficult it will have been so far, not least for teachers.

However, I just wanted to put on record my thanks to all of you for the really important work that you’ve done and, so that you know, that in spite of all of the difficulties it is hugely appreciated, and it is very important for, not just the wellbeing of our children and young people now, but I think, for their future prospects as well.

So thank-you to everybody for that.

Let me now turn to my first update of today. That concerns the list of countries that are subject to quarantine requirements.

We announced last night that Italy, San Marino and the Vatican City state will now be added to the list of countries with quarantine requirements.

That means that, from 4 am on Sunday, people travelling to Scotland from these places must self-isolate for 14 days on their arrival or return here.

We’ve also announced that Greece and all of the Greek islands, apart from Mykonos, will now be removed from the list.

So from Sunday people arriving from Greece, or a Greek island other than Mykonos will no longer have to self-isolate.

However, if you have arrived from these places in the past two weeks – or if you arrive later today or tomorrow – you will still be required to self-isolate for 14 days.

These changes are just an example of how quickly levels of the virus in any country or area – here at home and of course overseas – can change.

That is nature of an accelerating global pandemic. And that, of course, underlines why we are continuing to advise all of you against any non-essential travel overseas right now.

That’s not an easy or a welcome thing to be doing, I know, but it is a reflection of the uncertainty and volatility that all of us continue to live through.

My second update for today is about the opening of two additional walk-through testing centres.

One of those sites opened in Dundee city centre today. Another will open in Sighthill in Edinburgh tomorrow (Saturday). 

These add to the seven walk-through centres already open – two in Glasgow, one already in Edinburgh, and one each in Aberdeen, St Andrews, West Dunbartonshire and Stirling.

A number of others are due to open in the coming weeks.

Many of these centres are within walking distance of student campuses – deliberately so – and so are particularly useful for our student populations. But it is important to note that they are open to all members of the public and you can book a test by going onto the NHS Inform website should you experience any of the COVID symptoms.

There are of course a few points that I would ask everybody to remember if you experience symptoms and book a test.

Firstly, please don’t use public transport to travel to any testing centre.

If you don’t have a car and if you’re not able to walk or perhaps cycle to a testing centre, please book a home testing kit through NHS Inform.

In addition, you should start to self-isolate from the moment you start feeling the symptoms of COVID.

You shouldn’t wait to get a test or to get your test result back before you start self-isolating.

That means staying at home with the sole exception of, if you need to, going to a testing centre for your test.

Finally today, I want to say just a word or two about this weekend.

I appreciate – I think probably we all feel this – that it’s at the weekend when the temptation to bend the rules a bit will be at its strongest, whether that’s about meeting up with others, or going round to somebody else’s house, a member of your family or a friend.

I also know that for football fans, and this weekend in particular perhaps for Celtic and Rangers fans, that temptation might be even greater.

Tomorrow, of course, sees the first of these Glasgow derbies to be played without fans in the stadium.

It is also taking place at a time when we have additional restrictions on household visits and hospitality.

So with that in mind, I want to underline a few key points, ahead of the match.  And I should say that both clubs and the SPFL are also emphasising these points to supporters, and I’m very grateful to them for that.

The first thing to say is that you mustn’t go round to somebody else’s house to watch the match.

None of us – not just football supporters but none of us – should be going into each other’s homes at the moment unless it is for an essential purpose such as childcare or looking after a vulnerable person.

And I’m afraid – and I know that this statement is possibly a controversial one in Scotland, I readily acknowledge that – I’m afraid that watching football, no matter how essential I know it might feel to some, does not fall into that ‘essential’ category.

In addition, people should not be gathering outside or around the stadium.  There will be nothing to see there so there is no point at all in turning up.

Finally, please don’t travel in order to try to watch the match.

I know there might be a temptation to try to get around local or national restrictions in this way.  But it’s really important that you don’t do that.

In general right now, people in the central belt should be avoiding travel to other parts of Scotland, and all of us should be avoiding travelling to areas in England that have high infection levels.

So please, don’t travel to other parts of Scotland or across the Border just in an attempt to watch the match in a pub.  It’s really not worth the risk.

Nobody likes the fact that these restrictions have to be in place but they are vital to protecting all of us, and keeping us safe. 

So please comply with the restrictions. By doing that, you will be playing your part in helping us to get the virus under control. And you will be helping to hasten the day when we can all watch and enjoy the things we love doing – whether that’s football or the many other things that we find ourselves not able to do normally right now.

I’ve spoken about some of the restrictions as they relate to football but I want to close today with my usual reminder to everybody – because this is not just about football supporters, this is about all of us right now.

So let me give a general reminder of all of the rules and guidelines. 

As I said earlier, except for very specific purposes like childcare or caring for somebody who is vulnerable, none of us should be visiting each other’s homes right now.

That is really tough. I feel that just as all of you find that tough – not being able to see family and friends at their homes, or in our homes. But this is perhaps the single most important thing that all of us can do to limit the risk of transmission, to make sure it doesn’t jump from one household to another. Because we know, once it gets into a household the risk is that it infects everybody in that household.

When we do meet up outdoors, or in indoor public spaces where they are still open, we shouldn’t meet in groups of any more than 6 and those 6 people should be from no more than two households.

Please only car-share if it is essential to do so. And if you must car-share, remember to take sensible precautions – wear face coverings and keep the windows open to allow ventilation.

Work from home if you can – that has been our consistent advice and that remains the advice. My plea to employers is to facilitate your workers working from home if it is at all possible.

Download the Protect Scotland app if you haven’t already done so. That’s an important way of extending the reach of Test and Protect.

And finally, remember FACTS

  • Wear face coverings when you are out and about, particularly in enclosed spaces. The law mandates that. As of today that law extends to staff canteens. From Monday it will be extended to communal areas like corridors in workplaces but already in shops and public transport it is the law to wear a face covering. But try to wear one wherever you are when you are out and about because it does help protect against you passing on the virus or other people, if they’re wearing face coverings, passing it to you.
  • Remember to avoid crowded places – indoors in particular, but even outdoors where there can be a risk of transmission.
  • Clean your hands regularly and thoroughly, and clean hard surfaces that you’re touching, because we know that from hands and also from surfaces, that’s a way of the virus spreading from one person to another.
  • Keep two metres distance from people in other households because the farther apart you are, the less risk there is of the virus hopping from one person to another.
  • And as I’ve already covered today, self-isolate and get tested if you have any of the symptoms. Remember, those symptoms to look out for are a new continuous cough, a fever, high temperature, or a loss of or change in your sense of taste or smell. With any of these, please act immediately to isolate and book a test, don’t hang around and wait to see if you feel better in a day or two.

All of these rules take a lot to remember, they take even more effort to abide by every day, but it’s really important now that we do.

We are in a precarious position, many countries across the world are facing the same challenges right now.

The position we are in requires some really tough restrictions from government, such as not going into other people’s houses, pubs and bars, not being able to open as normal.

But our best defence, our first line of defence against this virus – and this is as true today as it was back in the spring – is me, you and everybody else complying with all of this basic hygiene advice.

As I said yesterday, and it’s important to remember as we head into winter we’re all feeling, I think, more and more fatigued and in despair at this pandemic and everything it’s doing to our lives, but remember, we are not powerless. None of us are powerless; by following the FACTS advice, all of us can strike a blow against this horrible virus, so please remember to do that.

Thank you again for listening.

Ahead of the Old Firm match, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Director of Public Health has issued a plea to football fans to abide by the restrictions in place to avoid increasing pressure on hospitals which have seen a significant increase in COVID-19 hospitalisations.
 
There are currently 289 patients with a positive test in last 28 days in hospitals across Greater Glasgow and Clyde and staff at acute sites are working extremely hard to manage the increase, with appropriate red and green pathways established to minimise the spread of the virus.


Dr Linda De Caestecker, said: “I am directly appealing to football fans ahead of the weekend to ask them please do not to go to anyone else’s house, or travel outside of Greater Glasgow and Clyde to watch the football.
 
“If you do, you are putting others at risk. The current restrictions are in place to minimise the spread of the virus. If you do not follow them, this will increase the rate of transmission of COVID-19 in the community and in turn, the number of people who being hospitalised by the virus. Sadly, this will also mean more people will die.”
 
Greater Glasgow and Clyde currently has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Scotland. Any unnecessary travel, meeting indoors with other households or meeting more than one other household outside, significantly increases the spread of the virus and reduces the impact of the measures in place.
 
Dr De Caestecker added: “Cases across Scotland are on the rise, and the more the public can do to follow the rules now, the lives will be saved.”

First Minister: COVID is on the rise again

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, yesterday – Tuesday 29 September: the day coronavirus deaths topped one million worldwide.

Hello, and thanks for joining us. I will start with the daily update of COVID statistics. The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 806. I’m going to make some important contextual points on today’s figure shortly but I will report the rest of the statistics first.

That 806 represents 11.5% of people newly tested, and takes the total number of cases to 28,604.

I can confirm that 302 of today’s reported cases are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 180 in Lothian, 91 in Lanarkshire and 54 in Grampian. The remaining 179 cases are spread across 9 other health board areas.

I can also confirm that 123 people are in hospital – that is an increase of 1 from yesterday. 14 people are in intensive care, which is 2 fewer than yesterday.

No additional deaths have been confirmed of patients who had tested positive within the preceding 28 days.

That means that the total number of deaths, under the daily measurement, remains at 2,512.

That total of course reminds us of the impact this virus has had, and continues to have. I want once again to pass on my condolences to everybody who is grieving a loved one.

Let me now turn to some points of context about today’s figures.

First, as I have explained before our daily case numbers reflects test results reported in previous 24 hours. Each day’s figure therefore reflects test samples actually carried out over the previous couple of days.

You will recall me saying that yesterday’s figure of reported cases seemed lower than expected. So today’s total of 806 includes a high number of results from samples actually taken on Friday and Saturday that we would have expected to see reported yesterday.

So that perhaps partly explains the particularly high number of cases we’re seeing today. We continue to work with the UK government to ensure that turnaround times for test results, which after a bit of a problem a couple of weeks ago have improved, continue to be as speedy as they need to be.

The second point is that, while we are certainly seeing rising transmission – and I am not underplaying that – we are doing much more testing now than in the spring, so comparisons of daily case numbers now versus then are not really particularly valid.

And of course Test and Protect is able to follow up every person who tests positive to ensure their contacts are traced and told to self-isolate.

So when we know transmission is rising as it is right now, it is actually important to know that significant numbers are being reported every day – that means we know about these positive cases and their contacts are being traced by Test and Protect and all of the work that Test and Protect has to do to break chains of transmission is being done.

The final point to draw attention to about today’s numbers is the age range of the cases. The majority are in the under 40 age groups – with the bulk of those in the under 25 age group – and that is of course affected by university clusters we’ve been seeing in recent days.

But the point I want to make today which is one you’ve heard me make before is that the fact that many cases are now in the younger age groups and we know that younger people are less likely to die from COVID than older, more vulnerable people, that mustn’t give rise to complacency.

Firstly, because young people can become very unwell from this virus and, while their risk of dying is lower, they’re not non-existent and we hear almost every day of what is described as ‘long COVID’ – of younger otherwise healthy people having quite long lasting health impacts from having had the virus.

But the other point about this is that, while we’re seeing a significant number of cases in the younger age group which is a phenomenon we’ve seen across Europe in the latest surge of COVID, it is the case that transmission amongst older age groups is also rising.

Around a third of today’s cases are actually in the over 40 age group and there are a number in the over 60 age group so transmission is rising across the spectrum of age ranges and I’ll say more shortly therefore about what we must all do to guard against transmission.

However, I will briefly address a couple of other issues first.

The Scottish Government Chief Economist has published his regular State of the Economy report today.

The report highlights that – year on year – economic output is likely to decline by 10% over the course of 2020. In many ways that is unsurprising, given the disruption caused to so many businesses. Nevertheless, that would still be the biggest reduction in output in modern times.

That is why the Scottish Government welcomed some parts of the UK Government’s announcement last week about continued support for employment and businesses. It is vital that some support for employers continues, after the furlough scheme ends at the end of October.

But we believe much more is still required and we want to work with the UK government constructively to that end. We can’t get away from the fact that the pandemic will continue to have a significant and, to a large extent, an unavoidable impact on our economy and support provided must reflect that.

The second issue I want to cover relates to funding for health boards and our health and social care integration authorities.

The Health Secretary confirmed earlier today that we are making an additional £1.1 billion available for these bodies.

This will help them to meet additional costs associated with COVID – such as buying personal protective equipment (PPE), safeguarding against infection; and paying for additional staff, and providing cover for staff who are unwell or self-isolating.

The funding will play an important part in ensuring that our health and care services can continue to operate well in the weeks and months to come.

It should help them to prepare for the pressures of the winter, to care safely for patients who have COVID, as well as resume services that were paused during the early months of the pandemic for non-COVID treatments and procedures.

Now let me return to the central issue of the day, which is the current COVID position. As is said earlier, COVID is on the rise again across our population and across Scotland – just as it is across the UK, Europe and the world.

I want to return today to the key actions that we should all take to try and reduce transmission and in particular, the actions we all need to take if we get a positive test result.

This is absolutely vital in helping control the spread of the virus. And it is crucial for all of us, wherever we live – there has been lots of focus on students in halls of residence recently – but self-isolation is essential for all of us if we test positive no matter where we live.

Essentially, if you have any one of the three recognised symptoms of COVID, you should start to self-isolate immediately, and book a test.

You can do that through the NHS Inform website. And I want to be very clear, while we’re not complacent and monitor this carefully, there is good availability of and access to testing across Scotland so make sure you don’t delay booking a test if you have symptoms.

The symptoms are a new cough, a high temperature, or a loss of – or change in – your sense of taste or smell.

From the time you realise you have one of these symptoms, you should not leave your house, except if you need to do that to get tested. You should not use public transport to go to a testing centre – if you can avoid that, you should instead drive or get someone to drive you, request a home test, or use a walk-in centre if there is one nearby or a mobile testing unit.

When you get your test result, if you test negative, and don’t have COVID, you can stop self-isolating at that point.

However if you have COVID, you need to self-isolate for a further 10 days, starting from the day on which you took the test.

Other people in your household should self-isolate for 14 days. They need to self-isolate for longer because if they get COVID from you, their infectious period will probably start a few days after yours did.

In addition, if you test positive someone from Test and Protect will speak to you to identify other possible contacts of yours.

And of course if you have downloaded the Protect Scotland app, you should also enter the code you have been given with your test result.

Once that code is entered onto the app, contacts identified by the app will automatically be notified. This is really important. Since we launched the app a couple of weeks ago, hundreds of people – who might not otherwise have been identified – have received notifications in this way and been given advice to self-isolate.

If you find out that you are a contact of someone with COVID – either through a Test and Protect team, or from the app – you need to self-isolate for 14 days. You will be told when that 14 day period starts from.

And the key thing to stress here is that self-isolation really does mean self-isolation. It means not leaving your house at all.

Because we know that’s really tough, we are working to put as much support in place as possible. For example, we are working with local authorities to ensure that when someone is asked by Test and Protect to self-isolate, they are contacted and offered essential practical support – for example help with delivery of food and other essentials. You can also dial the national assistance hotline if you need to self-isolate and need some help on 0800 111 4000. That’s 0800 111 4000.

As I said last week, we are also introducing financial support of £500 for those on low incomes as a way of supporting people to do the right thing. More details of that will be available later this week.

But although self-isolation is tough, it is also essential.

So please do self-isolate when you need to. It is one of the key ways in which we can help ensure that the virus does not spread to new households. And it is one of the ways in which all of us, at various times, may well be required to play our part in tackling the spread of the virus.

Now I’ve spent some time on self-isolation because it is so important and we want to make sure people understand why it’s so important and also what needs to be done when you’re asked to self-isolate and the support that is available. But there are of course other steps we must all take to try to reduce transmission.

So let me end with a quick recap of what those other steps are:

With some limited exceptions, none of us should be visiting each other’s homes at the moment.

When we do meet other households – outdoors, or in indoor public places – we must not meet in groups of more than six people from a maximum of two households.

We should all try to limit our visits to, and social interactions in, places like pubs and restaurants.

We should work from home if we can.

We should all download the Protect Scotland app, if we can.

And finally, all of us in all our interactions, should remember FACTS:

  • face coverings
  • avoid crowded places
  • clean hands and hard surfaces
  • maintain a two metre distance from people from other households
  • and – as I have already talked about today – immediately self-isolate, and book a test, if you have any of the recognised symptoms

These rules are not easy to comply with and they are a huge inconvenience to all of us in our daily lives. But they are essential right now to ensure that all of us are playing our part in trying to stem the increase in COVID and bring the virus back under control.

So again, my thanks to everybody for all of the many sacrifices that I know are being made the length and breadth of the country.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s address on Coronavirus measures

Address to the nation on 22 September 2020

The last six months have been unprecedented. They’ve been the hardest many of us have ever lived through.

But through our collective efforts across Scotland, we did beat Covid back.

As a result – although too much heartbreak has been endured and too many families are grieving – many lives were also saved.

But as we enter winter, and with many lockdown restrictions now thankfully lifted, the challenge is once again getting harder.

Albeit from the very low level we achieved in the summer, cases are rising again.

In the last three weeks, they have almost trebled.

And as the virus spreads, we see more people being admitted to hospital again and sadly dying.

So we are once again at a tipping point – we must act to get Covid back under control and protect the things that matter most to us.

In a global pandemic of a virus with as yet no vaccine, we simply can’t have 100% normality. No country can. So we must choose our priorities.

Our priorities are saving lives and protecting health.

  • Keeping schools open.
  • Restarting NHS services.
  • Ensuring care homes are safe.
  • And protecting jobs and livelihoods.

It is to safeguard these priorities that I must ask all of you again to make sacrifices. Sacrifices for our national well-being. They are not easy but please believe me when I say they are essential.

We have decided that from Friday there will be a national curfew for pubs, bars and restaurants. They will have to close by 10pm – to reduce the time people spend there.

And from tomorrow, we are all being asked not to visit each other’s homes – because we know that is often how the virus spreads most easily from one household to another.

There are exceptions – for care of the vulnerable, extended households, childcare and tradespeople.

But generally, by staying out of other people’s houses for now, we give ourselves the best chance of bringing Covid back under control.

We can still meet outdoors with one other household in groups of up to 6 people

And because we know this is especially difficult for children and young people we’ve tried to build in more flexibility for you.

If you are younger than 12, there are no limits on playing with your friends outdoors.

And if you are between 12 and 17 you can meet your friends outdoors in groups of 6 – but you don’t all have to be from just two households.

Now, for everyone – adults and children – I know that today must feel like a step backwards.

But please know that thanks to all your efforts over the last six months, we are in a much stronger position than in the spring.

Cases are rising but less rapidly than back then.

Our Test & Protect system is working well – tracing contacts and breaking chains of transmission.

We have much more information on how and where the virus spreads.

And we know what we need to do to protect ourselves and others.

And all of us have a part to play.

So I am asking everyone – please, follow the new rules. They will make a difference.

If you can and haven’t already, please also go to protect.scot and download the Protect Scotland app – so more people who might be at risk of the virus can be traced quickly and asked to self-isolate.

And remember FACTS – face coverings, avoid crowded areas; clean your hands and surfaces; keep two metre distancing; and self-isolate and get tested if you have symptoms.

Finally, I know that all of this has been incredibly tough – and six months on it only gets tougher. But never forget that humanity has come through even bigger challenges than this one.

And though it doesn’t feel like it now, this virus will pass. It won’t last forever and one day, hopefully soon, we will be looking back on it, not living through it.

So though we are all struggling with this – and believe me, we are all struggling – let’s pull together. Let’s keep going, try to keep smiling, keep hoping and keep looking out for each other.

Be strong, be kind and let’s continue to act out of love and solidarity.

I will never find the words to thank all of you enough for the enormous sacrifices you have made so far.

And I am sorry to be asking for more.

But a belief I hold on to – and one I am asking you to keep faith with in those moments when it all feels too hard – is this: If we stick with it – and, above all, if we stick together – we will get through it.

New measures to drive down infection rate

Household restrictions and 10pm closing time for hospitality settings

Further measures to protect the population from the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been announced by the First Minister yesterday (Tuesday) as Scotland faces an upsurge in cases.

The new restrictions focus on no household visits and a 10pm closing time for all hospitality settings.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said today that this action is necessary in order to prevent a resurgence in community transmission of the virus and the potential for a rapid return to the pressures the NHS experienced earlier in the year.

Measures include:

Inside people’s homes (from today, Wednesday 23 September)

  • Do not meet people from any other households in your home or another person’s home socially, unless they are in your extended household
  • These rules also apply to children
  • Children whose parents do not live in the same household can move between homes, as can non-cohabiting couples
  • Very limited exemptions apply for childcare, and for tradespeople

Private gardens or public outdoors spaces (from today, Wednesday 23 September)

  • A maximum of six people from two households can meet in outdoor spaces
  • You should limit as far as possible the total number of households you meet in a day
  • Under-12s do not count towards the maximum number of households or number of people who can meet outdoors. Under-12s do not have to physically distance
  • A maximum of six 12 to 17 year olds can meet in outdoor spaces, with no household limit. Physical distancing is still required

Indoors in public spaces (from today, Wednesday 23 September)

  • A maximum of six people from two households can meet in public indoor spaces such as cafes, pubs and restaurants
  • Children under 12 from those two households do not count towards the limits

Hospitality (from 00:01 Friday 25 September 2020)

  • Pubs, restaurants and all hospitality settings will be required to close at 10pm
  • Table service will continue to be required in all hospitality premises

Car sharing

  • You should only car share with members of your own, or extended, household, and follow guidance when there is no alternative

Working

  • You must continue to work from home where practicable

These restrictions will be reviewed within three weeks and further guidance will made available where necessary.

Action – and adherence to restrictions – is needed now to safeguard lives, protect from infection and bring the R number down below one.

The First Minister said: “It is worth stressing that because of the collective sacrifices we all made to drive infection levels down over the summer, the growth in cases is from a low base and – at this stage – far less rapid than in March.

“I want to thank the people of Scotland for their cooperation, forbearance and the sacrifices they have made – but these measures are essential in ensuring we do not let this virus get out of control again.

“While these measures are tough, we believe they can make a significant difference while keeping our schools, public services and as many businesses open as far as possible.

“Early data suggests that restrictions currently in place in west central Scotland are starting to slow the increase of cases. So by extending household restrictions nationwide now, in an early and preventative way, we hope it will help to bring the R number down and the virus back under control.

On hospitality measures, the First Minister said: “I want to thank those businesses that are making huge efforts to ensure compliance. However, I want to be clear with the hospitality trade about this.

“Notwithstanding the economic implications, further restrictions – including possible closure – will be unavoidable if the rules within pubs and restaurants on hygiene, face coverings, maximum numbers in groups, and the distance between them are not fully complied with.”

First Minister: ‘The bottom line here is that the virus is on the rise again’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House this afternoon (Friday 18 September):

I can report that the total number of positive cases that were reported yesterday was 203. This represents 4.4% of people newly tested and takes the total number of cases now to 23,776.

Let me remind you again that these are positive cases reported yesterday.

Because of the processing backlog we have been dealing with, which as I said yesterday is improving, more of these than normal may be from swabs taken over the past few days.

However, as I’ve also said before, when we look at whether case numbers are rising or not, we look at results by the date the sample was taken, not just the reporting date – so the backlog doesn’t distort our trend analysis.

The full regional breakdown will be published later as normal, but I can confirm now that 69 of the 203 cases are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 30 in Lothian, and 29 in Lanarkshire.  The remaining 75 are across the other 8 mainland health board areas.

I can also confirm that 61 people are in hospital – which is an increase of 9 on yesterday. 5 people are in intensive care, which is the same as yesterday. And finally, I regret to say that in the past 24 hours, one additional death was registered of a patient who first tested positive over the previous 28 days.

That means that the total number of deaths, under this daily measurement, is now 2,502.

This is a reminder that we are again reporting deaths, albeit small numbers, on a regular basis again.

That’s an indication that in Scotland, as elsewhere, Covid is accelerating again, and I will say more about that shortly.

But I want once again to pass on my condolences to everybody who has lost a loved one to this illness – including of course, those  grieving as a result of the death that was registered yesterday.

I’m joined today by our National Clinical Director Jason Leitch.  After my remarks, Jason will say a few words about the news this morning that an Edinburgh Rugby Academy player has tested positive for Covid.

Before that, though, here are a few items I want to cover.

The first let me briefly highlight an announcement that was made by the Scottish Government last night.

We have added two additional places to the list of those that are subject to quarantine restrictions.  Those are Slovenia and Guadeloupe.

That means that from tomorrow, people travelling to Scotland from these countries must self-isolate for 14 days, upon their return or arrival in Scotland. And it is very important that people comply with that.

By contrast, Singapore and Thailand were removed from the international list.

So anyone arriving from either of these countries, from tomorrow, no longer has to quarantine. However, if you have arrived from Singapore or Thailand in the past few days, you do need to complete your 14 days of isolation.

This is all a further reminder of how quickly levels of the virus – in any country or area – can change. So I’ll say again, please avoid non-essential overseas travel at the moment, if possible.

Indeed, please think carefully about non-essential travel at home, as well. In particular, avoid travelling to parts of the UK, that are under tougher restrictions right now because  levels of Covid are rising fastest.

The main thing I want to do today is to take a moment to take stock of where the country stands right now in the pandemic.

We are seeing increasing numbers of places both here in Scotland and across the rest of the UK that are under local and regional restrictions. And, many will have woken up this morning to hear the news of the potential for new national restrictions.

The bottom line here is that the virus is on the rise again.

Our case numbers are not yet rising as fast as there were back in March. But they are rising again and they are rising quite rapidly.  The percentage of tests coming back positive is also not anywhere near as high as it was back in March, but again it is rising.

And as I reported yesterday, the R number we believe is now above 1.

Across the UK, and this is particularly the case in England right now,  hospital admissions are rising. ICU admissions are rising too. While this is particularly the case in England right now, this should sound a warning signal for us here in Scotland too.

And, while for the last few weeks, people might have taken comfort from the low levels of older, more vulnerable people contracting the virus, I have to say to you that picture is also beginning to change.

Recent data shows that the percentage of cases in the older population is now beginning to rise as well.

Looking more widely, we can observe that in broad terms we might now be, at an earlier stage, on a similar path to that which has been taken in recent weeks by France.

About four weeks ago, France stood broadly where we do today.

But now they face around 10,000 new cases per day and hundreds of people in ICU and deaths in France are already rising now as well.

So our task is to make sure – if we can – that we interrupt that, and we don’t end up where they are now.

What lies behind this is a simple reality: we are facing the risk again of exponential growth in Covid. And we all know from our experience earlier this year what that looks like, and why it is so important to seek to avoid  it.

So, I want to talk briefly about what we need to do.

First and foremost, we need to act to interrupt that exponential growth. No one wants to see another full-scale lockdown.

And, above all, we want to keep schools and childcare open because we know how important that is to the education but also to the broader well-being of children and young people.

So right now, and I mean right now, today, over the weekend and into next week, that means following all of the rules and the advice currently in place.

Work from home if you can, that remains our advice. As I said a moment ago, avoid if you can non-essential travel. Don’t meet up with any more than six people from a maximum  of two households, indoors and outdoors.

If you live in Glasgow, as I do, or in East or West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire or East Renfrewshire, North or South Lanarkshire, don’t visit other households at all, unless you have to visit to care for or deliver shopping to a vulnerable person.

The fact is we know, and this is one of the things we have learned about this virus, is that when it gets into a household, it is very likely to infect everyone in that household.

So to be blunt, we must do everything we can to keep it out of our households. When we do have to interact with others, the last piece of advice I want to remind you of right now, is to remember to follow FACTS: all of the basic things that help us reduce the risks of transmitting the virus.

These are the current rules and I am asking everybody to please abide by them strictly and rigorously.  But it may well be that if we are to interrupt  and break this growth, we will have to do more over the next few weeks. And this weekend will be critical in the assessment of how best to do that.

As widely reported, SAGE met yesterday. I have chaired a meeting of senior Scottish Government officials and advisors this morning to assess the current situation and discussions across the 4 nations of the UK will, I hope, take place in the coming days. I’ve this morning asked the Prime Minister to convene a COBRA meeting over this weekend.

So, I am today giving the nation advance notice, that the coming days are likely to see some hard but necessary decisions.

If we want to avoid another full-scale lockdown, which all of us do, doing nothing almost certainly isn’t an option.

Now I will of course, as I have sought to do throughout this pandemic, keep you regularly and fully updated. But for now, over this weekend, please rigorously follow all of the current rules and all of the current advice.

Now there is another issue that I want to update you on, another area where some of us may be able to help in the fight against this virus, and it involves Scotland’s involvement in the UK-wide COVID Infection Survey.

The survey is designed to track the spread and prevalence of the virus in the general population. It is conducted by the Office for National Statistics, and the University of Oxford.  And following a successful pilot in England, it has been expanded to other parts of the UK.

In Scotland, it will ultimately see up to 15,000 people being tested, every fortnight.  Households will be randomly selected for the survey.  And over the coming period, these households will all be sent a letter, inviting them to participate.

Those letters will provide details on how to register.  The first of them should be arriving today.  And from Monday, survey teams will begin visiting households that agree to take part.

Those who do take part will be asked to administer swabs to their throats and noses, to test for the virus.  People aged 12 years or older can take the swab themselves – but parents and carers should administer them for younger children.  A subset of participants – over the age of 16 – will also be invited to provide blood samples, to test whether they have already have had Covid.

Participants will be asked to take further tests every week for the first 5 weeks, then every month for up to a year.  Members of the survey team will visit households, to collect the tests.

These results will help us to see how many people are infected with the virus at a given point in time – whether ot not they have symptoms.

And they will give us a sense of how many people are ever likely to have had the infection. They should therefore provide us with really important new insights into the spread of Covid in Scotland.

The survey will also provide additional data on the characteristics of those who are testing positive and so it will help us to examine any difference in the impact of the virus, on different groups in society.

The initial survey results for Scotland should be available in November.  But that is dependent, and that is why I am raising it today, on people’s willingness to sign up.   So if you receive a letter, and you are able to do so, I encourage you to take part in this survey, it is really important and it will be a vital tool in our efforts to understand the virus and therefore equip ourselves better to know the things to keep it under control.

Now to close today, I want to really  come back to emphasise my earlier point and really emphasise to you that we are at another really critical point. Covid-19 is on the rise.  Not just here in Scotland, it is on the rise in the UK and across Europe.

Just yesterday, the World Health Organization warned that weekly cases across Europe, have now topped 300,000. 

That’s higher than it was in March – when the virus first peaked.

As the WHO has said, that must serve as a wake-up call for all of us.  The virus could get out of our grip again. That’s the news that should be the wake-up call.

The better news is that hasn’t happened yet: we do still have time to prevent it happening, and that is down to Government to take a lead and be very clear and decisive in what we have to do, but it also ultimately comes down to all of us. So before I hand over to Jason, I want remind all you watching, and to ask you to remind others,  of what we need you to do.

If you live in Glasgow; East or West Dunbartonshire; Renfrewshire or East Renfrewshire; North or South Lanarkshire, please don’t visit any other households anywhere in Scotland. 

In the rest of the country, please do not meet with more than 6 people, from a maximum of 2 households.  Don’t give the virus an opportunity to spread between households, because if it spreads between households we know it quickly spreads within households.

Download the Protect Scotland app, if you haven’t already done so. A million people have done so, already. We know that will help make a difference

And finally – in everything you do – lets all follow the FACTS.  These are the five golden rules that help all us of us minimise the risk of transmission:

  • Face coverings in enclosed spaces
  • Avoid crowded places.
  • Clean hands and clean all hard surfaces that you are touching regularly
  • keep two metres away from people other households.
  • and self isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms.

We are at a critical point right now, but as I said in one of these briefings a couple of days ago, nothing is inevitable. We all have power to try and stop this virus running out of control again.

I know the responsibility that is on the shoulders of me and the government here to take the hard decisions that will determine whether we succeed or not.

But as I have said, so many times throughout,  this is down to all of us. We are all in this together and it is only by acting together that we can stop it running out of control and ultimately save lives.

My thanks again to everybody who I know are making all sorts of sacrifices to help us do that. Keep spreading the word to everyone you know.

How the UK Internal Market Bill will help to boost the Scottish Economy

Scotland Secretary Alister Jack’s has written to the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, about the UK Internal Market Bill:

11 September 2020

Dear Nicola,

I am writing to correct the false claims you have made about the UK Government’s Internal Market Bill, introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, 9 September.

As we’ve been clear, the Bill will protect and strengthen our internal market which is so vital to Scotland’s economy with 60 per cent of our exports, worth over £50 billion per year, going to other parts of the United Kingdom.

It will also create new opportunities for the UK Government, working with the Scottish Government, local authorities and other partners, to invest in Scotland.

That’s why I have described the Bill as a win-win for Scotland.

It is good for business, jobs and consumers. It will boost our economy and help us rebuild from the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bill has now begun its passage through Parliament and will be debated at length in the weeks ahead.

In accordance with the Sewel Convention, the UK Government will seek a Legislative Consent Motion so the Scottish Parliament, also, will have the opportunity to consider our proposals.

Before this takes place, I wish to correct a series of assertions you have made about the Bill.

1. You have said the Bill will lead to a ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of food standards and environmental protections. That is emphatically not the case.

The UK is a world leader in food and environmental standards and that will not change.

Also, as you know, the UK Government and all devolved administrations have agreed a common framework on food and feed safety and hygiene law which clearly sets out the ‘rules and regulations related to the production and distribution of food and feed’. Guaranteeing our shared commitment to high standards across the UK.

The UK Government is proud of our record and keenly aware of the premium our high standards place on UK goods in overseas markets.

2. Similarly, your speculation that Scotland could be ‘forced to accept chlorinated chicken’ is unfounded.

As we have previously reminded Scottish Government ministers during discussions about the Bill, chlorine washed chicken is illegal in the UK. The UK Government has been clear we will not sign a trade deal that would compromise our high standards of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection.

Of course, we recognise and welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to high standards in these areas. Our shared view should be the basis of an agreed UK approach to high standards.

3. You also claimed the new spending power contained in the Bill could divert funding from schools and hospitals in Scotland. This is not the case.

Education and health are – and will continue to be – devolved to the Scottish Parliament and decisions on funding in those areas are for your Government to take. Scotland’s block grant is at a record level and the Barnett Formula will continue to operate as set out in the Statement on Funding Policy.

The UK Government’s spending power set out in the Bill will complement existing Scottish Government spending powers. This can only be a benefit to the people and businesses of Scotland.

They will enable us to spend money previously controlled by the EU to make strategic investments of UK-wide importance.

This is good news for the communities we serve and I am confident these new opportunities will be warmly welcomed by the people of Scotland.

4. You claim the Bill, had it been in place at the time, would have prohibited the Scottish Parliament from legislating to introduce a minimum price for alcohol. Again – as we have already made clear to Scottish Government ministers – this is incorrect.

Under the terms of the Bill, the Scottish Parliament would be able to introduce a minimum alcohol price provided, of course, it was not applied only to alcoholic drinks produced in certain parts of the UK.

5. You claim the Bill is ‘a naked power grab’ and ‘an attack on the powers of devolution’. It is not.

The Scottish Parliament will lose none of its existing powers. Indeed, as powers return from Brussels when we leave the Transition Period at the end of the year, scores of new responsibilities will flow to Holyrood.

It should be noted that your Government’s ambition to take Scotland out of the UK and into the EU would remove these powers from the Scottish Parliament. That is the only threat to Holyrood’s powers.

6. Finally, you claim the Bill would ‘break’ or ‘cripple’ devolution.

I’m afraid your Government is never less convincing than when it purports to champion a system it unashamedly wishes to overthrow.

Independence would destroy devolution, ending our system of two governments which was backed overwhelmingly by the people of Scotland in the referendums of 1997 and 2014.

The UK Government emphatically supports devolution and our Bill will strengthen the Scottish Parliament and create new opportunities for Scotland.

Your colourful description of the Internal Market Bill as ‘an abomination’ is deeply regrettable.

In my view, it would be abominable for the people of Scotland to be misinformed about a Bill which has such potential to improve lives and strengthen our country.

THE RT HON. ALISTER JACK MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop has since written to the UK Government voicing concern at its plans for a post-Brexit internal market, saying it represents a threat to the Scottish economy.

Ms Hyslop said the proposed Internal Markets Bill will jeopardise Scotland’s food and drink sector, which has a world-renowned reputation for high standards and high quality products.

She also highlighted how the Bill will undermine the good progress made on common frameworks, the preferred means of managing policy difference across the UK when EU rules no longer apply. 

Last month the Scottish Parliament considered the original proposals set out in the UK Government White Paper and voted overwhelmingly – by 92 votes to 31 – to reject them.

In her letter to Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Ms Hyslop said:

“Coronavirus (COVID-19) is clearly currently the biggest challenge for business and the economy. Unnecessary legislation, which undermines devolution, on top of an entirely unnecessary end to the Brexit transition period will do nothing to protect or promote trade across the UK and beyond.

“If this legislation were already in place, Scotland would not have been able to lead the way on the ban on smoking in public, on introducing minimum unit pricing for alcohol, having rules on the marketing of raw milk consistent with the nature of the dairy sector in Scotland, or taking forward bans on the sale of plastic-stemmed cotton buds and microbeads in cosmetics.

“A linked concern is the prospect of the UK entering into future international trade agreements which might result in lower standard products being accepted into UK markets. Scotland’s world-leading food and drink sector, for example, is built on a reputation for the highest quality produce and nothing should be done to put that at risk.”

FM: volunteers wanted for early warning modelling trials

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh yesterday (Tuesday 4 August):

I’m going to turn in a moment to the usual statistical update about COVID, but before I do that I want to say a special word to all young people across the country who are receiving their SQA results today.

It’s a long time, a very long time, since I got my results, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. It is a really big moment in a young person’s life so I hope you got what you were hoping for, but if you didn’t it is really important to remember that there are lots of options open to you, not least, in the immediate sense, the option to appeal.

And whatever your results are, you should all be incredibly proud of the way you have coped with the challenges of the past few months.

At a moment’s notice you had to adapt to new forms of learning. Your contact with friends and family was restricted. Many of you have missed out on a proper end to your final year. You didn’t get to sit exams. And of course you are now having to think about your future at a time of real economic uncertainty.

All of that has been really tough and we don’t underestimate how tough it has been. And I know that, for some of you, there will be difficult decisions that lie ahead.

Later on in my remarks I am going to say a bit more about where you can get some advice and support if you need it and the Deputy First Minister will also say a bit more about the process of producing your results this year.

But the main thing I want to say at the outset is that you all deserve enormous credit for your patience, for the sacrifices you’ve made and for all the hard work you’ve put in. So well done to all of you.

Now, as usual, I’ll give the update on today’s COVID figures. An additional 23 positive cases were confirmed yesterday which represents 0.9% of the people who were newly tested yesterday and it takes the total number of cases in Scotland now to 18,717.

A full health board breakdown will be available later, as usual, but the provisional information I have is that 15 of the 23 cases are in the Grampian health board area. It is not yet clear how many are connected to the ongoing outbreak in Aberdeen and I will say a bit more about that outbreak shortly.

I can also report that a total of 270 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed COVID which is 5 more than yesterday.

And a total of 4 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed COVID-19 which is 1 more than yesterday.

Finally, I am very pleased to say that, yet again during the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test in the past 28 days as having COVID.  The total number of deaths under that measurement remains at 2,491.

We are of course reporting fewer deaths on a daily basis now, but the total reminds us of the impact this virus has had on too many families across the country so again I want to extend my thoughts to everyone who has lost a loved one.

And as always, let me say a big thank you to everyone working hard to help us keep COVID under control and also to deal with its many consequences.

There are a few items I want to briefly touch on today before I hand over to the Deputy First Minister. 

Firstly, I want to provide a further update on that cluster of cases in Aberdeen which is linked to the Hawthorn Bar in the city. I can confirm that, as of now, 27 positive cases have been identified as part of the cluster though, let me be clear, I would expect that number to rise.

I can also confirm that, so far, 120 contacts have been traced through the Test and Protect system.

The Incident Management Team, which is led by NHS Grampian, will meet again this afternoon and they continue to take all necessary steps to try to minimise the risk of further transmission.  And I am extremely grateful to them for their considerable efforts.

Investigations of course are ongoing and we will provide more details as and when they become available.

However, this particular cluster is another reminder that this virus is still out there and has not gone away. It remains extremely infectious and, of course, it remains extremely dangerous and all of us have a part to play in denying it the opportunity to spread.

I talked yesterday about the importance of our Test and Protect system in helping us to contain these kinds of incidents so I think it is worth me reminding you of one of the key elements of that system.

If you are contacted by a Test and Protect team and advised that you are a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID you must self-isolate for 14 days. That should be seen as non-negotiable. The team might ask you, or arrange for you, to take a test. If they don’t do that you should only book a test yourself if you have symptoms.

If you are a close contact of an identified case and you do get tested, and this bit is really important for me to convey very clearly to you, if you do get tested you must self-isolate for 14 days even if you test negative.

And that’s because, given what we know about the incubation of this virus, it is entirely possible that you have the virus in your system, but it hasn’t had time to develop so it doesn’t show up in the test. For example, on a Monday, you might test negative for the virus, but by the Tuesday you might have developed the virus without knowing it.

At that point, you might be infectious and yet it might not be until the Thursday or the Friday that you start to show any symptoms. In fact, you might never show any significant symptoms at all, but if you are not self-isolating, you could nevertheless still be spreading the virus.

That’s really tough to say to people that, even if you have tested negative for this virus, if you are a close contact you have to self-isolate for 14 days, but that is partly what makes this virus so difficult to deal with, but it is also why self-isolation is so important and so necessary.

And I want to give a special message to employers. Please don’t think that testing any of your staff who are deemed to be close contacts of a positive case is an alternative to them self-isolating. That is absolutely not the case and I must stress that. There are simply no shortcuts here when it comes to trying to contain the spread of this virus.

All of us need to comply with the requirements of Test and Protect otherwise it won’t work and that includes, and is possibly the most important element of this, self-isolation. If we do all comply we can help to contain these kinds of incidents when they do occur and we can ensure that, rather than going into reverse, we can continue our exit from lockdown.

That brings me to the second point I want to briefly touch on and that’s about how we are trying to track the course of the pandemic here in Scotland.

The daily statistics I share with you obviously provide us with really important information about the spread of the virus, but because of the time it takes COVID to incubate, some of these statistics only reflect what might have been happening in the community two or three weeks previously.

That’s one of the reasons why the lockdown restrictions are reviewed every three weeks because it gives us time to assess the impact of any changes that we make.

At this point, of course, as we come further out of lockdown, the risks are heightened and it becomes more important that we have early warning, as early as possible, of any new trends.

That’s why we are increasingly looking to use a form of modelling which helps to estimate changes in the epidemic and model and estimate those as early as possible before they come through the daily statistics that I report to you.

That modelling just now is carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and it involves using online surveys to gather information about people’s social behaviour.

The surveys are run every two weeks and they ask about a range of different topics from people’s contact with others to recent travel to their use of face masks, for example.

At the moment, very few people from Scotland are included in those surveys so the modelling is of more limited value to us in assessing a particular situation here. So that’s why we intend to establish a Scottish version of the survey.

It will feed into the other modelling work that’s already carried out and it will help to produce results which are more relevant and therefore more applicable to Scotland.

We are looking for 3,000 members of the public to take part. As a starting point we’ll be sending invitations to those who have previously been involved in our population surveys.

But we will also need volunteers over and above that so I would urge anyone who is interested to find out more on the Scottish Government’s Twitter feed. I will make sure there is information there later today.

By volunteering, you’ll be helping us to improve our understanding of the epidemic and you’ll be helping to ensure that we can identify and respond quickly to any changes that threaten the progress we’ve made.

Finally today, before I conclude, I want to return to the issue of the SQA results.

138,000 learners from across the country should by now have received their results and I’m sure that for many of you and for your families the build up to this day has been very tense and I really do hope that you got the exams results that you wanted.

But if you didn’t and you’re feeling disappointed right now, please bear in mind that this is just the beginning. There will be many more opportunities ahead and you do have plenty of options.

It’s also important to note that there is advice and support there for you if you need it.

For example, if you have a question about your results or if you want to appeal the results you got today you should contact your school, college or training provider. The SQA is this year running a free appeal service.

There’s also an SQA Candidate Advice Line and I’m about to read out the number for that.

You should call the advice line if you have questions about your certificate, for example, if you need help understanding it, or you think there’s something missing from it. That line is now open and the number is 0345 279 1000.

Alternatively, if you want advice or information about what comes next you can call Skills Development Scotland’s dedicated helpline. Again, I’ll read out that number shortly.

That helpline offers free, impartial advice for young people, parents and carers.  And it will help you to learn about your options for the future whether that’s staying on at school, going to college or university, taking on an apprenticeship or entering the world of work.

The number for the helpline is 0808 100 8000. And I would encourage you if you need a bit of advice to give it a call. Again you will find these numbers on the Scottish Government Twitter feed later.

All of you have faced huge challenges this year, challenges which previous generations like mine and the Deputy First Minister’s could never have imagined so we are determined to do everything we can to ensure you have the support and opportunities you need as you start to think about your future.

I will hand on to the Deputy First Minister, now but before I do I will end, as I usually do, by reminding you once again of the Facts advice.

Those are the five key things all of us should remember in everything we do:

  • Face coverings must 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 immediately if you have symptoms.

It’s vital that all of us continue to follow these rules because if we don’t, we risk allowing the virus to take grip again and the consequences of that we know are very clear.

We only need to look at what’s happening elsewhere in the world to see that countries can go into reverse and restrictions can require to be re-imposed. We don’t want to have to do that here, but we will have no choice if the virus gets out of control.

And all of us have the power, the agency, and indeed the responsibility to minimise the chance of that happening and that is why it is vital that we follow and abide by these five rules.

So my thanks to everyone who is doing so. It is hugely appreciated.

First Minister: relief at last for shielders

First Minister’s coronavirus update from St Andrew’s House on Thursday 23 July 2020:

Good afternoon everyone, thank you for joining us today as usual. Let me start as I always do with the update on the Covid-19 statistics.

An additional 16 positive cases were confirmed yesterday. That represents 0.4% of people who were newly tested yesterday, and it takes the total number of cases in Scotland to 18,500.

It’s worth highlighting that we have changed the reporting of figures on the Scottish Government’s website from today so that the figures for new cases – including that percentage of positive tests – are now shown more prominently on the main Covid page. That website is updated at 2 o’clock every day.

The health board breakdown of today’s cases will be available at 2 o’clock but the provisional information I have is that 4 of today’s cases are in Lanarkshire.

And, more specifically in relation to the outbreak at the Sitel call centre in Lanarkshire, I can confirm that as of this morning, there are a total of 24 positive cases associated with that outbreak which is an increase of 4 since yesterday.

That includes 17 people employed at the site, which is 2 more than yesterday, and 7 contacts, which is also 2 more than yesterday.

Now, given that the virus can have a long incubation period, intensive work is still ongoing in order to ensure that all possible chains of transmission from this outbreak are being closed down. And I am very grateful to everyone who is working very had as part of that effort.

I can also report today that a total of 287 patients confirmed as having the virus are currently in hospital which is 8 fewer than yesterday.

And as of last night, there were just 2 people with confirmed COVID in intensive care in Scotland, which is 1 fewer than yesterday.

And finally, on the statistics, I am very glad to say that once again, during the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients confirmed through a test as having the virus. The total number of deaths, under this measure, therefore remains 2,491.

This is obviously very welcome news. It means that no deaths have been reported in Scotland under this measurement during the entirety of the past week – and that just one death in Scotland has been reported over the past 15 days.

Now, it is exactly four months today since the country went into lockdown, so there is no doubt that these figures show the incredible progress that has been made in that time.

But that progress has been hard won and it has been a very painful journey over these past four months in particular for those who have lost someone to this virus. The number of deaths is still a reminder of the impact of the virus and therefore I want to extend my condolences again today to everyone who is grieving somebody that they loved.

In addition, I want to thank again our health and care workers for all of the work that you continue to do through this really challenging time for everyone.

Now, I have one very important issue I want to talk about today – which is changes in our advice to people who are shielding.

It’s now almost four months since we asked those considered to be at the greatest risk from this virus, to shield.

At that time, there was a very high risk that you might be exposed to the virus, and therefore shielding was necessary to keep you safe.

Together with local government and the third sector, we have been able to put in place support for you while you have been shielding– for example access to free food deliveries if necessary.

But I know that shielding has been incredibly difficult – it has separated you from your family and loved ones, it has restricted you in virtually every aspect of your normal lives, and there are very obvious and very real potential harms to your mental health from extended isolation.

For all of those reasons, we’ve always been clear that we won’t ask you to shield longer than you have to.

The infection rate now is much lower than it was in March. And just to give some illustration of that, when the shielding advice started, more than 20% of Covid tests were proving positive, and 150 new cases a day were being reported. Less than a week after shielding started, we were reporting more than 300 new cases a day. Tpoday of course I have reported 16 new cases and that is 0.4% of people testing newly positive

So, as these figures today show, we are now in a very different position to the one we that faced back in March. And as a result – and as we have previously indicated – some further key changes to our advice will take effect from tomorrow for people who are shielding.

Now the information I am about to give you I know can perhaps be a bit difficult to follow as I am saying it. All of the changes I am about to mention are listed in our routemap for shielders which you can find on the Scottish government’s website.

From tomorrow (Friday), you will, if you are shielding, be able to meet indoors with up to 8 people from up to 2 other households, as long as physical distancing is in place.

You will also be able to meet outdoors in groups of up to 15 people from a maximum of 4 other households.

You can also use public transport – including taxis – while wearing a face covering.

You can go to outdoor spaces in pubs and restaurants.

You can go to into indoor shops, pharmacies and indoor markets. You can attend hairdressers and barbers and you can visit museums, galleries, libraries and cinemas.

And children who live with someone who is shielding, can attend formal childcare providers.

Now, all of these changes that I have just mentioned, which you can find more detail on on the website, these will take effect from tomorrow. But our clinical advisers, – who have been closely examining all of the evidence – have also advised us that as things stand right now, assuming no significant deterioration in the position, as things stand right now we will be able to pause the shielding advice all together from 1 Aug.

From that day, the advice for people shielding will then be the same as for those who are simply at heightened risk from Covid – older people, people who receive the flu jab because of a health condition, and people who are pregnant.

This means from the end of next week, you will be advised to follow the guidance for the general population, although we will ask you to be especially careful about hand hygiene and physical distancing.

That will also mean that that children who have been shielding will be able to return to school in August.

And if you have been staying away from your workplace because you have been shielding, you will also be able to return.

However your employer must ensure that you can do so safely.

And of course our advice – not simply for shielding people, but for everyone – remains very strongly that you should continue to work from home whenever that is possible.

I know these changes will be welcome to many of you but they will also, for many of you, create a great deal of anxiety because you have been living in such a restricted way for so long and you will worry about going back to normal and that is completely understandable.

So we are not asking you to stop being careful – and we do not want you to feel under pressure to do anything that you think is unsafe. In fact, we want to do everything we can to help you to feel as safe as possible.

Last month, I indicated that we were looking to develop a range of information and tools to help each of you to make informed decisions about how to stay safe.

We are providing a range of advice on returning to employment and schools. The guidance for schools will be published on 30 July.

For those of you in employment, we have developed a risk assessment tool. That will be available from Monday. It will help your employer understand the adjustments they need to make to help you feel safe.

We are also providing information on what activities are safer, or less risky, than others, and how to undertake them safely. We’ve developed advice on risk factors- and practical information on how to stay safe during everyday activities like going to the shops, visiting friends and family, or using public transport.

You also told us in feedback that you would find it helpful to know what the infection rates are at any given time in your local areas. So we are developing a Covid forecasting service for people who have been shielding. That will allow you to sign up to an SMS update that tells you about your risk of being exposed to Covid in your local area.

And although the food box scheme is ending, you will continue to access priority supermarket delivery slots if you need them, and if you have registered for this service by the end of this month. You will also still be able to go to your Local Authority for support for food provision.

And we will be keeping open our Shielding SMS text messaging service, and our national helpline.

Finally, we are continuing our work to keep you safe after 1 August.

We are strengthening the evidence base about who may need to shield again in the future should we see a resurgence of the virus.

We are continuing our surveys and research to understand your experiences and to offer support that has value to you.

And we will set out the kind of steps we might need to take should there be a spike of infections in the future.

We are changing our guidance now because the infection rate is low now.

But we will continue to monitor this, and if things take a significant turn for the worse – whether nationally or in your local area – we will take the steps we need to in order to keep you as safe as possible. In particular we will contact you and we will give you clear advice on what to do if we are asking you to do anything different.

Before I end, I want to thank everyone who has been shielding. You’ve had to remain in your house and largely apart from all other people, even people in your own household, for months now.

That has been incredibly tough, and it is easy for me to say that when the reality is I actually find it hard to fully imagine just how difficult that must have been. But by doing so, you have protected yourselves, you’ve reassured your loved ones, and helped our health and care services. So a sincere and heartfelt thank you from me to each of you for that.  

And I also want to say a few words to people who are not shielding.

Many of you have been actively involved in support for people who have been shielding: whether that is as family, friends, carers, volunteers, council workers, delivery drivers, health and social care professionals, supermarkets, wholesalers, and a whole host of other people so my thanks to all of you for that too.

Secondly – if you are an employer or a school – we need you to work closely with people who have been shielding, in order to take the necessary steps to keep them safe but also to assure them you will keep them safe.

Please do that, reach out to people who have been shielding to understand their needs, and provide that help.

And for all of us, we should understand the worries and concerns of people who have been shielding.

Many people who are shielding will still be nervous about returning to work, or returning to shops and restaurants, or socialising a bit more. All of us should understand that and be as supportive as we can be.

And finally, this is my final point, shielding and shielding people demonstrate again, and perhaps more powerfully than anything does, how all of us are dependent right now on each other’s actions.

The reason that we can pause shielding, hopefully at the end of next week, is because all of us have stuck to the guidance so far. All of us need to continue to do that, in order that we continue collectively to protect those most at risk.

And that basic idea – that all of us, more than ever, are depending on each other, is the note that I will end on.

We can only reopen services, start to reopen the economy again because infection rates are low. We will only be able to keep all these things open if infection rates stay low.

The virus as we know is still out there, it is still highly infectious and it is still highly dangerous.

So all of us have a part to play in keeping it under control. So let me end with the usual advice that I am going to continue to say as often as I need to in order that everybody understands that if we all stick to this we can keep this virus under control.

That is the FACTS message.

  • Face coverings in shops, public transport or any enclosed spaces where physical distancing is difficult
  •  Avoid crowded places, whether that’s indoors or outdoors
  • Clean your hands and clean hard surfaces regularly.
  • Two metre distancing – that remains the important advice
  • and self isolate, and book a test, if you have any symptoms.

If we all follow this advice rigorously and rigidly then the progress we have made over these past painful four months will be progress that we can continue to see.

So my thanks to all of you for doing that, in particular today, my thanks to all of you who have been shielding.

First Minister: Phase 3 could last a while longer yet

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Wednesday 22  July):

Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s briefing. I want to start with the 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 18,484.

The Health Board breakdown will be available later as normal.

However, the provisional information I have is that three of these 10 cases are in Lanarkshire where we are dealing with an outbreak, which I’ll say more about shortly. At this stage, we know one of these three is associated with the outbreak.

From today, as well as reporting the overall number of positive cases – which can fluctuate in line with the number of tests carried out – I will also report the percentage of people tested who have been newly identified as positive.

For context, the World Health Organisation suggests than an indication of the epidemic being under control is less than 5% of samples testing positive over a two week period.

The 10 cases being reported today in Scotland represent 0.3% testing positive.

The 22 cases reported yesterday, represented 0.8%.

I can also report that 295 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed Covid. That is eight fewer than yesterday. As you may remember from yesterday’s briefing, we will now report figures for confirmed cases only.

A total of three people last night were in intensive care with confirmed Covid-19. That is one fewer than yesterday.

I am glad to say that during the last 24 hours, no deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having Covid-19.  The total number of deaths, under this particular measure, therefore remains at 2,491.

In addition, the National Records of Scotland has just published its regular weekly report, which is more detailed than our daily figures. Like the daily figures, it includes deaths of people who have been confirmed by a test as having COVID.

However it also covers cases where the virus has been entered on a death certificate as a suspected or contributory cause of death – even if its presence was not confirmed by a test. That is a wider measure, and therefore it captures more cases.

The latest NRS report covers the period to Sunday 19 July. At that point, according to our daily figures, 2,491 deaths of people who had tested positive had been registered.

However, today’s report shows that, by Sunday, the total number of registered deaths with either a confirmed or a presumed link to the virus was 4,193. Of those, six were registered in the seven days up to Sunday. That is a decrease of seven from the week before.

Three of those six deaths were in care homes, which is a reduction of four from last week.

The total number of deaths recorded last week – from all causes – was 32 higher than the five year average for the same time of year.

We will of course see if there are any causes for concern there, but it is worth remembering that the total number of deaths is always likely to fluctuate a bit. Last week’s figures follow on from a three week period, when the total number of deaths was below the five year average by 18, 35 and 49 respectively.

Last week was the twelfth week in a row in which the number of deaths from the virus has fallen. In addition, the total weekly number of Covid deaths now is the lowest we have seen since we started to record them in this way.

Today’s report shows once again that Covid has been driven to very low levels in Scotland.

However the figures also remind us that more than 4,000 people have lost their lives to this virus.  

We must always remember that each of those deaths, was of a unique and irreplaceable individual. I want to send my condolences to everyone who is grieving the loss of a loved one.

I also want, as I always do, to send my gratitude our health and care workers for the extraordinary job they continue to do.

I want to talk about two issues this afternoon. In a few minutes, I will go over some of the changes to lockdown rules which we have previously announced come into effect today.

However before I do that, I will give a brief update on the latest information we have about the Covid outbreak in Lanarkshire, based around the Sitel call centre.

Since Sunday an intensive contact tracing operation has been underway.

All staff at Sitel have been told to isolate at home for 14 days, and in addition all staff have been asked to come forward for testing.  As of this morning, around 390 test results, out of around 400 tested overall, have been returned.

As of now, 15 positive cases have been identified of people who work at the site, and a further five additional positive cases have been identified through the tracing of family members and close contacts.

Contact tracing has also confirmed that a number of Sitel staff who have tested positive also had links to other locations, prior to becoming aware of the outbreak.

Environmental Health officers have checked on those locations. They are satisfied that precautions such as protective equipment and cleaning were in place, and that the risk of transmission is therefore low.  Close contacts from these locations have also been advised to isolate.

I want to take the opportunity today to thank the five locations – which are Owen’s Bar in Coatbridge; The Railway Tavern and Merlin’s Bar in Motherwell; Costa Coffee in Carfin; and END clothing in Glasgow – for their co-operation.

I would also ask people who might have attended those locations in the last week or so to be extra vigilant, to follow all guidance and to isolate and book a test if you do experience any symptoms. I am saying this not because I think there is a real concern in transmission there but simply as an added precaution

This outbreak should be a very clear reminder to people that Coronavirus has not gone away. It does not take much for very small numbers of cases to become much bigger numbers – and while Test & Protect and our local public health teams are working incredibly hard to contain any outbreaks, it is not just their job. I think that’s an important point for all of us to remember, each and every one of us has a job to do to keep the virus at bay.

The second point I want to cover is to confirm that – in line with the timetable set out in our routemap – more services are reopening today.

From today, universities and colleges can institute a phased return to on-campus learning.

Further personal retail services – such as beauticians and tailors – can re-open, with enhanced hygiene measures in place.

Motorcycle instruction, tractor driving instruction and car theory tests can also resume from today.

And finally drive-in live events – such as comedy and theatre shows, concerts and bingo evenings – can also take place from today

Today’s steps represent a further cautious re-opening of sectors, and cautious resumption of services. As always, there are some risks attached to them, but we believe that with the appropriate mitigations in place, these risks can be managed. 

As many of you will know, the regulations currently require us to review the lockdown restrictions every three weeks. The next review is due next Thursday, a week tomorrow, so I now is the right time to inject a note of caution.

Phase 2 of our emergence from lockdown took exactly three weeks. But as I indicated two weeks ago this current phase, phase 3, is likely to last considerably longer.

The changes we have made over the last two weeks have been really significant, including the opening of our tourism sector and indoor hospitality, so we have to carefully monitor the impact of that and the number of new coronavirus cases we are seeing each day.  

Examples like the outbreak in North Lanarkshire show what can happen when people are mixing indoors and when guidance is perhaps not rigorously followed.

At a time when the virus is picking up again in a number of European countries, we need to be confident that it is safe to change restrictions further.

Our main focus right now, I think it is a priority, is on keeping the virus at a low enough level to enable schools to fully and safely re-open from the 11th of August.

That would be a further significant change. In addition, we have said already that if possible, we would like to remove the requirement for shielding from 31 July. I will say more about changes for shielding people tomorrow.

These two aims – allowing people who have been shielding to live more normally, and enabling children to go back to school full time – are really important priorities. And to be frank they are only achievable, if levels of Covid in the community remain very low.

Now obviously, we will continue to review the data for new cases and hospital admissions, among other things and our final decisions will be made next week.  If there are steps we can take, then we will – we cannot leave restrictions in place for longer than is judged to be necessary.

However I want to flag up now that it is possible that we may not be able to make any changes next week beyond confirming the return of schooling and a pause in shielding.

So for those businesses who are still waiting for a date to restart, I thank you for your ongoing patience. I fully understand how difficult any further delay is for you, but I also hope you will understand why we need to prioritise re-opening schools.

I also want to underline that we are making changes at a pace and at a level that we think is right and safe for our current circumstances here in Scotland.

Announcements made for other parts of the UK do not automatically apply here. 

For example I want to underline that the UK government’s encouragement to those who can work from home in England to nevertheless return to workplaces, does not yet apply in Scotland.

Working from home, where that is feasible, remains the default and preferred position and we expect employers to continue to support people to do that.  We will be publishing new guidance on home working shortly.

The cluster of cases I have just talked about – around a call centre in Lanarkshire – is a salutary reminder that transmission of this virus can occur in workplaces and spread relatively easily.

Our position remains that non-essential offices and call centres should remain closed, until we judge it is safe to make this significant change for Scotland.

These notes of caution link to the point I want to end on.

It continues to be the case that the only way in which we can take further steps out of lockdown safely, is if we continue to suppress the virus. And achieving that – now, more than ever – comes down to the individual decisions that each and every one of us is making.

I know how difficult it is to maintain two metre distancing when you are meeting people you haven’t seen for three or four months – especially with family members and close friends, the human instinct to hug and be physically close is a very strong one.

But staying that bit further apart can make all the difference – it makes you less likely to get the virus, and makes you less likely to transmit the virus.

The choices we all make as individuals – on physical distancing, on wearing face coverings, on washing our hands – these will decide how quickly all of us can make further progress out of lockdown together.

And so I want to close once again by emphasising Facts – the five key things all of us should 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 – it is the one measure we all need to remind ourselves to constantly comply with
  • and self-isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms. Go to https://www.nhsinform.scot and book a test immediately

If we all stick to this we have a real chance of getting the virus back under control and accelerating progress back to something much more normal than life has felt in the past few months. My thanks again to everybody who is co-operating and playing their part.