Tag: media briefing

Sturgeon: Strong grounds for hope

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s statement at a coronavirus media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday:

Good afternoon everyone, thank you very much for joining us at the slightly later time today. As you can see, I am joined by Jason Leitch and we will take questions shortly.

Before that though, I’ll give a quick update on the current state of the pandemic. And I’ll start – as I usually do – with a short summary of today’s reported statistics.

1,004 positive cases were reported yesterday – which is 5.6% of all tests carried out and it takes the total number of confirmed cases now to 342,059.

Now, while as you have heard me say very often in the past, we should never put too much emphasis on a single day’s figures, it is nevertheless I think worth mentioning that today’s positivity rate of 5.6% is the lowest it has been on a single day since 19 June.

I can also confirm that there are 472 people receiving hospital treatment – that’s 3 fewer than yesterday.

And 63 people are in intensive care, that’s 2 fewer than yesterday.

Sadly though, a further 7 deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, and that takes the total number of deaths registered, under this daily definition, to 7,866.

As always, my sincere condolences go to everyone who has lost someone as a result of the virus.

Let me also provide an update on the vaccination programme.

I’m pleased to say, firstly that as of this morning, a new milestone has been passed. More than 4 million people – 4,000,653 to be precise – have now received a first dose of the vaccine.

That’s an increase of 2,031 since yesterday.

In addition to that, 16,826 people got a second dose yesterday and that means the total number of second doses administered is now 3,108,928.

All adults have now been offered a first dose of the vaccine – and 90% have taken up that offer and had a first dose.

In addition, approximately 70% of adults have had now had both doses of the vaccine – that includes 92% of those who are aged 40 or older.

Now obviously we will be working to increase these figures further in the weeks ahead – with a particular focus on the younger age groups.

But make no mistake, compared to any previous vaccination programme undertaken in this country – and indeed compared even to our own expectations at the start of the Covid vaccine programme – these are already quite extraordinary uptake figures.

And they do show how successful the vaccination programme has been so far.

There is lots there for us to be positive about, but as with all aspects of this virus we’re not complacent. We want to see as close to 100% of the eligible population vaccinated as we can get.

So if you haven’t yet had your vaccine it is not too late to do so, please take advantage of the many opportunities across the country and get vaccinated as quickly as possible.

There’s one other point on vaccination that I want to take a moment to particularly stress today.

The Scottish Government – in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation – is strongly recommending that pregnant women get the vaccine as soon as they are asked to do so.

Vaccination is the best way of protecting against the risks of Covid in pregnancy – and these include admission of the pregnant mother to intensive care, and also the possible premature birth of the baby. Already in Scotland alone, more than 4,000 pregnant women have received the vaccine, and there are thousands and thousands more across the world who have received the vaccine. The evidence of its safety is overwhelming.

Further information is available from the Public Health Scotland website, and also from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. But essentially, the message is if you are pregnant, and you are invited for the vaccine, please do get it – it will help you to protect yourself and protect your baby.

The progress of the vaccination programme is very important, of course in considering the current state of the pandemic.

The Scottish Government as you know, hopes to lift more of the remaining Covid measures with a move beyond level 0 from Monday 9 August, and this time next week, I will make a statement to the Scottish parliament setting out whether – and to what extent – we think we are able to go ahead with that.

What we will be doing between now and then is weighing up the different factors that will inform that decision. Several of these factors give us really strong grounds for hope, and that’s positive, although others remind us of the need for continued caution.

So I want to quickly summarise some of those in my remarks today.

First of all, there is no doubt – as I have said before and already highlighted today – we are in a much better place than we were last March at the start of the pandemic or at the beginning of this year or even at the start of this month.

Thanks to vaccination, the very high case numbers we have seen in the past 2 months or so haven’t resulted in same number of deaths or hospitalisations as in previous waves – though I think it is important to say that every single death or every instance of somebody requiring hospital treatment matters. That’s not something we should ever be complacent about.

Vaccination is also one of the factors that helps to explain why case numbers in Scotland are reducing as significantly as they are right now – and to give some context to that – case numbers have more than halved in the last 3 weeks.

Last week – up to 23 July – there was a daily average of 1,523 new cases.

That’s down from 3,305 per day on average in the week up to 2 July.

The average test positivity rate is also down from more than 10% at the start of the month to just over 7% now. As I said earlier, the test positivity reported today is actually the lowest we’ve seen since mid-June.

To put all of this in comparative terms, within the UK at the start of this month, Scotland accounted for 5 of the top 10 local authority covid hotspots across the UK. At this stage, we have none in the top 150 local authority hotspots across the UK.

We are now seeing hospital admissions start to fall as well. 421 people were admitted to hospital with Covid in the most recent week, down from 577 in the previous week.

As a result of that, we would hope to see the number of people in intensive care with Covid, and the number of people dying, also start to reduce soon.

So, in short, we have seen some very positive developments recently and that does give us, certainly gives me, grounds for optimism that we will be able to continue our progress out of restrictions.

That said, we do still need to be cautious.

It’s good that cases are lower than they were three weeks ago. That comes as a relief, I know, to all of us. But they are still 9 times higher than at the start of May. And we know that the Delta variant is significantly more infectious than previous variants.

So just as a sensible degree of caution up to now has helped us get case numbers back on a downward path, a sensible degree of continued caution in the period ahead will help avoid sending that progress into reverse.

It will also help us do something that is really important, to make sure we’re doing everything we can to protect the most vulnerable in our society from Covid.

We know from our own quite recent experience how quickly progress can be reversed.  And we can see it in other countries right now as well.

So while we should be pleased and indeed relieved about our current process, we should not take it for granted.

Covid is still capable of causing serious illness and death, and the of course the impact of long Covid should not be underestimated.

And, the virus can still put significant pressure on the NHS – and indeed, it is doing exactly that right now. Because, although case numbers are reducing, the lag effect means that we are not yet seeing just as big a decline on the pressure on the NHS. Hopefully that will follow in the days and weeks to come.

So, these are the factors we will be weighing up in the days ahead.

In short, to try to summarise that, I am confident we will make progress – and while we are already living with far fewer restrictions, than has been the case at previous stages of the pandemic, all of us want to see the remaining restrictions eased as quickly as possible – that’s important to all of us as individuals. It is very important to businesses and the economy as well. But we will need to do that with appropriate caution and an appropriate degree of care.

And we will weigh all of that up in the days to come. I will set out our conclusions this time next week in a virtual session of parliament.

But for today, let me finish again by stressing the three key things all of us can do – because all of us have a part to play here – to keep things moving firmly in the right direction.

The first of course is to get vaccinated.

Remember, if you are over 18 and haven’t had your first dose yet; or indeed if you turn 18 before the end of October; or if you had your first dose 8 or more weeks ago – you can simply go to a drop-in clinic to get your either your first or second dose as appropriate.

There are drop-in sites now in every mainland health board area. You can find out where they are through the vaccinations section of the NHS Inform website, or through your local health board’s website, or by following your local health board on social media.

You will see lots of examples right now, here in Lothian and Glasgow for example, of innovative locations for setting up vaccination sites to make it as easy and as accessible for people as possible.

That said, you can also book an appointment, if that’s easier for you. And you can do that also through NHS Inform.

Second thing we’re asking everybody to do is get tested regularly.

You can get the free lateral flow tests through NHS inform, by post or you can collect them from testing sites and local pharmacies.

Remember, if you test positive through one of these devices – or if you have symptoms of the virus – self-isolate, and book a PCR test as quickly as possible.

And third and finally, stick to the rules that are still in place for now, and keep following the basic hygiene measures.

All of these things are really helping us get the situation under control. If we can keep it under control, then we have a greater chance of continuing to move in the right direction.

So, meet other people outdoors as much as possible.

Having had some good weather in the past couple of weeks, I think we’ve got a few days ahead of not so good weather to put it mildly. But still, try and stay outdoors as much as you can.

If you are meeting indoors, open windows if at all possible – the better ventilated a room is, the relatively speaking, safer that’s going to be.  

And for now, stick to the limits on group sizes. In someone’s home right now, you can currently meet in groups of up to 8 people, from up to 4 households.

And lastly remember, please remember physical distancing, hand-washing, face coverings – all of these things are as important now as they have ever been.

They are helping us get a really difficult situation at the start of this month back under control. And, they will help us continue to make the progress that all of us are desperate to see.

So, thank you again for joining us and listening.

First Minister: Vaccinating younger teenagers ‘not ruled out’

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update: First Minister’s statement – 20 July 2021

Good afternoon everyone. As you can see I am joined today by Dr Nicola Steedman, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer and she will answer questions with me shortly.

Firstly, though, an update on the current state of the pandemic, starting with a summary of today’s statistics.

1,604 positive cases were reported yesterday – 9.2% of all of tests carried out. That takes the total number of confirmed cases now to 332,455.

There are 529 people now receiving hospital treatment – which is 7 fewer than yesterday and 47 people are in intensive care, that is 2 more than yesterday.

Sadly, a further 13 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, which means that the total number of deaths registered, under the daily definition, is now 7,813.

As always, my condolences are with everyone who has suffered bereavement.

Now, although case numbers remain high – and I’ll cover the implications of that shortly – they are very much right now on a downward path.

To illustrate that point – in the 7 days up to 2 July, there were an average of 3,305 new cases being reported each day but, in the 7 days to 16 July, that had fallen to an average of 2,112 new cases a day.

So that amounts to a decline in the past two weeks of more than 1/3 – and that is very encouraging. Because of that, we were able to go ahead yesterday with the move to level 0.

But as I said a moment ago, case numbers – though they are definitely falling – do remain higher than we should be comfortable with.

Covid as we know is highly infectious – indeed, Delta is significantly more transmissible than previous variants of the virus.

And although vaccination is weakening the link between Covid cases and serious illness, the virus is still potentially dangerous.

And, of course, long Covid is affecting many, including those in younger age groups.

All of this means that vigilance and care remain really important. Restrictions were eased yesterday as part of a gradual process – but restrictions were not abandoned yesterday.

Important measures and mitigations do remain in place – and we continue to ask people across the country and I do so again today to treat the threat that Covid poses seriously at this stage.

I’ll emphasise that point in more detail towards the end of my remarks, but before then I’ll touch briefly on some other issues.

The first of those is vaccination.

As of this morning, 3,984,433 people had received their first dose of vaccine.

That’s an increase of 2,483 since yesterday. As you can see were are getting to the end of first doses.

In addition to that, 16,340 people had a second dose yesterday and that means the total number of second doses is now 2,995,086.

All adults have now been offered first dose appointments – indeed that has happened earlier than we had initially anticipated.

And as of now, around 90% of all adults in the population have actually taken up the opportunity and had the first jag administered.

Also, more than 2/3 of all adults have had the second dose as well – and that proportion will continue to rise on a daily basis, as the programme of second doses continues.

Remember the clinical advice is that – in order to maximise the protection and the longevity of the protection of the vaccine – we should leave 8 weeks between first and second doses.

I think it’s important to say that the level of uptake achieved so far is quite remarkable by the standard of any previous vaccination programme. And it actually exceeds what we dared hoped for when this programme started back at the turn of the year. That said, we want to see uptake levels increase further, we want to get as close to 100% uptake as it is possible to do.

To put it bluntly, each and every single person who gets jagged helps us take a step back to normality. And of course the converse of that is true, for as long as there remains a proportion of eligible people who have not had the vaccine that leaves us with a vulnerability against the virus.

So we must keep at it.

Although around 90% of all adults have taken up the offer of the first dose, so far amongst 30 – 39 year olds that is only 81% and in the 18 – 29 year old age group it is 70%.

So I want to stress again today and we will keep stressing this that if you are 18 or over, and if you haven’t yet had a first dose, then you can still get it. In fact, we really, really want you to get the first dose of vaccine.

You can access that by registering online, through NHS inform but remember you don’t have to register – you’re also able to simply turn up at one of the drop-in vaccination centres that are now operational across all mainland health board areas.

Covid is – and this is something we should always be thankful for – is less of a threat to younger people than to older people – but that doesn’t mean it poses no threat at all to young people.  

Some young people do need hospital care when they get the virus, some young people will even end up in intensive care and of course, as we know, young people can get long Covid which we still don’t fully understand the implications of.

Vaccination will help protect you from those risks– but it will also help you protect other people.

So please – get vaccinated as soon as you possibly can. If you know somebody in a younger age group in your own family that hasn’t had the vaccine yet, please encourage them to do so. There’s lots of information on the NHS Inform website, not just about how to get the vaccine but about the vaccine itself. It is a safe vaccine so please get it or encourage those you know who haven’t done so already to get it.  

It’s the single most important thing any of us can do right now to give protection to ourselves but also protect others and of course to help all of us collectively get back to more normality.

Obviously, we want to extend the protection of the vaccine as far as we can.

To that end, the advice yesterday from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the vaccination of 12 to 17 year olds is important and I want to spend just a couple of minutes talking about that.

At this stage – given that it considers the risk of 12 to 17 year olds falling seriously ill from Covid to be very low – the JCVI is not recommending that we vaccinate all young people in that 12 to 17 year olds age group.

Now, the Scottish Government has always followed the advice of the JCVI – for good reason. You’ll have heard me talk about that before in different contexts including recently that eight week interval between first and second doses.

But I am acutely aware that some other countries are vaccinating younger teenagers and I certainly consider it to be extremely important that this is not ruled out here.

So to that end, the Chief Medical Officer is writing to the JCVI asking that the benefit of vaccinating all 12-17 year olds is kept under close and ongoing review – and that it takes account of all available data from countries already doing this. I think that it is really important if there is a benefit to be got from vaccinating younger teenagers then it’s really important that we make sure younger people don’t lose out on that.

In the meantime though and most immediately, we intend to get on with implementing what the JCVI is recommending – and it is recommending that vaccine should be offered to specific groups of 12 to 17 year olds.

Vaccination is already available to 16 and 17 year olds at higher risk of falling seriously ill and they will continue to be eligible.

But in addition, the JCVI is advising that 12 to 15 year olds should be eligible for vaccination if they have Down’s Syndrome; severe neuro-disabilities; or underlying conditions that mean their immune systems are suppressed.

In addition, it advises vaccination for 12 to 15 year olds with severe learning disabilities; with profound and multiple learning disabilities; or who are on the learning disability register. 

Finally, vaccination is recommended for 12 to 17 year olds who are household contacts of people with suppressed immune systems. And in that latter case that is less about the protection of the young person and more about the protection of somebody they may live with.

We will shortly provide details of our operational plans to vaccinate these groups of young people as quickly as possible.

And of course in light of what I said earlier about this advice being kept under review, we will make sure that we are prepared to go further as soon as that is recommended. If indeed that is recommended.

The final point on vaccination I want to stress is that if you are currently 17 years old but if you are due to turn 18 on or before 31 October this year, you are now eligible for vaccination as part of this year’s programme.

You can self-register again through the portal on NHS Inform or go to a drop in centre.

So, I want to just emphasise this point today, if you or indeed if you know somebody in this category, if you are due to turn 18 before the end of October, register for an appointment or go to a drop-in centre, and get your vaccination as soon as possible.

Finally, today, I want to return briefly to the need for all of us to continue to treat this virus seriously and follow all of the rules and advice still in place.

We did take a further very welcome step back to normality yesterday with the next step in what is a careful and gradual easing of restrictions.

Full details of what that means are on the Government’s website.

These rules are more relaxed, considerably more relaxed than the ones we’ve all had to live with in the first part of the year.

But – as I mentioned at the start – case levels are still high and Covid is still dangerous.

So I want to comment more today on the things – in addition of course to that vital imperative of vaccination – that it is important for us still to do so that we are individually and collectively reducing the risk.

Because of vaccination, we are undoubtedly in a much better position than we were last year, or even at the start of this year. But we can’t abandon caution altogether or at least we will be foolish if we do that. We all still have a role to play, in helping to protect ourselves and each other.

Firstly, although the limits have increased slightly as of yesterday, the limit on the number of friends and family who can meet together – 8 people from 4 households indoors and 15 from 15 households outdoors – is still really important because that limits the number of households the virus might spread to as the result of one social occasion.

Face coverings also remain important – and a really good way for all of us to help protect each other – and of course they continue to be a legal requirement in certain settings here in Scotland and indeed that requirement to wear face coverings in some settings is likely to remain in force for some time to come.

Also, please test yourself regularly, particularly if you are planning to visit somebody, or go to an event or perhaps if you’re planning to spend a few days on holiday in a different part of the country.

Free lateral flow tests can be obtained through NHS inform. You can get them sent to you by post but you can also collect them from testing centres and local pharmacies.

Remember If you test positive through one of these devices – or indeed if you have symptoms of the virus – then you should self-isolate, and book a PCR test as quickly as possible.

And, lastly, because it remains really important, please keep following all the basic hygiene measures.

Meet other people outdoors as much as possible and particularly while the weather is as good as it is right now. It’s a really good opportunity to stay outdoors and minimise the risk of transmission that bit more.

As I said a moment ago, stick to the limits on group sizes, and if you are meeting indoors, open windows and keep rooms well ventilated. 

And please remember physical distancing, hand-washing, face coverings as I’ve just said – all of these measures are as important now as they have been throughout.

And if all of us do these things, then I hope we will see cases continue to fall in the days and weeks to come and if that happens then that creates the conditions we hope for a further easing of the remaining restrictions over the next few weeks.

My thanks again to everybody for all of your cooperation and all of the sacrifices you continue to make. It doesn’t get any easier but it remains really important so my thanks to everyone.

‘A moment for care and caution’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh today (Thursday 8th July):

Good afternoon everyone. As you can see, I’m joined by the Chief Medical Officer today, and he will take questions with me shortly.

Before that though I want to reflect on our current Covid situation and, in doing that, I will also look ahead briefly to the statement I will make to Parliament next week.

But before any of that, I’ll summarize today’s statistics.

Yesterday there were 2,802 positive cases reported, which is 8% of all of the tests that were carried out.

The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 306,449.

There are 401 people who are currently in hospital  – that is 14 more than yesterday.

And 38 people are receiving intensive care, and that is 4 more than yesterday.

Sadly 4 further deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, and that takes the total number of deaths registered under this daily definition to 7,744.

As always, I want to convey my thoughts and condolences to everyone who has been bereaved over the course of this pandemic.

I’ll also briefly update on the progress of the vaccination programme.

As of this morning, 3,900,864 people had received a first dose of vaccine.

That is an increase of 10,688 since yesterday.

In addition to that, yesterday 16,984 people got the second dose and that brings the total number of second doses to 2,825,886.

So as you can see from these numbers, the vaccine programme continues to make really good progress and that should make us optimistic. For now though, that optimism needs to be balanced by concern at the high case numbers we’ve seen recently – a pattern that is increasingly evident in other countries as well.

However, on the upside – and while there will always be daily fluctuations as we can see, and that’s why we look most closely at 7 day averages – looking at the figures reported over the past few days, we can see the suggestion that the recent surge in cases may be, to some extent, levelling off now.  Today’s reported figure, for example, represents 1,432 fewer cases than were reported on this day last week.

Similarly, if we look at the seven day average, there does appear to be a slowdown in the rise in positive cases.

So while we need to monitor this in the days to come, that is encouraging news but obviously case numbers remain high.  And that is a worry.

We increasingly hear talk just now of learning to live with the virus, which we all want to be able to do.

And it is true, absolutely true, that we can’t live a restricted way of life forever – because that in itself affects our health and wellbeing. And it is also true, thankfully, that vaccines are offering us an alternative way forward.

However, that desire to just live with it cannot mean that we simply throw all caution to the wind and no longer worry at all about rising levels of infection.

And I want to just set out briefly why we can’t simply through all caution to the wind.

Firstly, this virus is still potentially dangerous. As we see almost every day just now, it is still taking lives – though mercifully, thanks to the vaccines, it is doing so in far fewer numbers than we saw in earlier stages.

Secondly, even though the majority – a quite significant majority – of cases are now in younger people, who are much less likely to become acutely ill, the health impacts can still be significant. Many young people are suffering from long Covid, which of course experts still don’t fully understand.

So it would be wrong and irresponsible – because our young people are not guinea pigs – to have no concern at all about young people being infected with this virus.

And, thirdly, even though far fewer people with Covid are ending up in hospital now – around 3% of all cases compared to 13% earlier in the year – and that’s mainly because vaccines are giving protection to those that previously were most likely to fall seriously ill, it is still the case that 3% of a high number of positive cases will still put significant pressure on our NHS. That’s a matter of basic arithmetic.

And because the NHS is much busier again with non-Covid care – which is a good thing because we are trying to catch up on the backlog created earlier in the pandemic when we had to stop a lot of non-Covid care – that pressure will be felt now much more quickly.

And it is already being felt in our NHS. Already some hospitals are having to scale back a bit on Covid elective care again. And  I just want to take the opportunity again today to pay tribute to everybody working really hard in our NHS up and down the country.

So for all of these reasons – while it is still the case, and this bit hasn’t changed, that vaccines are offering us the way out of this, hopefully soon – this is a moment for care and caution.

And that’s not true just here in Scotland, although we are undoubtedly at the sharp end of this Delta curve.

But increasingly we see and hear other countries, faced with an accelerating Delta wave, also re-emphasise the need for caution.

It is worth pointing out – and I am doing this non-pejoratively, just as a statement of fact and because the pressure is always there for Scotland to follow suit – I think it is worth pointing out that the path the UK government is embarking on for England, which is entirely a matter for them, a path of not just lifting all restrictions from 19 July, but also removing the requirement for basic mitigations like face masks, and doing so against the backdrop of sharply increasing case numbers, is something of an exception.

So while I totally understand the desire that some have for us to follow suit in every single respect, we have to think carefully about the steps we do take at this juncture.

My job is not to take the easy decisions in a quest for popularity.

It is to do what I think is most likely to keep the country as safe as possible as we get to the end of the vaccination programme.

You’ve heard me use the analogy before – and I’m far from the only person to have used it – that this is a race between the virus and the vaccines.

Over the next few weeks as we complete the vaccination programme, it is really important that we don’t let the virus outrun us.

So that brings me on to the second issue I want to just briefly cover today, which is the statement I will make to Parliament next Tuesday.

As you know, when we published our revised strategic framework, we said that 19 July was the indicative date for Scotland’s move to level 0. 

Next Tuesday, ahead of that date, I will set out to Parliament the final decision that the Cabinet will reach on Tuesday morning on whether and to what extent that move is able to proceed.

It is worth noting – again, just as a statement of fact, not because I want you to read anything particular into this – that these decisions needn’t always be binary. It is always possible to proceed with some planned changes but hold back on others if we think that is appropriate.

Obviously though, I very much hope we will be able to move ahead as planned – and the apparent slowing down in the case numbers gives me more cause for optimism about that than I might have had a week ago – but nevertheless between now and Tuesday, we will continue to monitor very carefully the latest data on cases, but also on hospitalizations and deaths to see whether that weakening of the link between cases and severe illness is continuing.

So that is a decision I will set out on Tuesday and I don’t want to pre-empt that decision any further today, but there is one point I do want to emphasise – particularly given that I’m very aware the media will be full of talk of so-called Freedom Day in relation to England and I absolutely understand everybody’s desire to get to what is called Freedom Day here as quickly as possible.

But as the case numbers show, Covid is still with us. It is still present across the globe and it is going to be around for some time to come.

So it is important, I think, just to remind all of us that a move to level 0 does not mean the immediate end of all restrictions.

Many of the baseline measures we use – things like face coverings, physical distancing, rigorous hand hygiene, advising on good ventilation – these are going to continue to be important mitigations in protecting ourselves and others from the virus, perhaps for some time yet.

So no matter what our decision is next week about the move to level 0, there won’t be an abrupt end to these basic protective measures when we do move to level 0.  Obviously I will set out more about that in the statement I make next week.

To finish though, I want to remind everyone of the three things all of us can do to help beat this virus.

We hopefully are seeing a slowdown in the rate of increase that we’ve had in the last couple of weeks. That’s good news. The vaccination programme continues to go well, we’ve got drop in clinics in every part of mainland Scotland to encourage people to come forward for vaccinations. So we have cause and reason to continue to be optimistic – but this is a moment in our path out of this pandemic for us to be careful and cautious.

All of us have a part to play and I just want to end by reiterating the things that all of us can do to help get us back to that position of normality as quickly as possible.  

The first is to get vaccinated as soon as you are invited to do so. If you are over 18 years of age, you should have had your invitation for the first jag by now. So if you haven’t had that, you can self-register on the NHS Inform website to get an appointment or  you can go to one of the drop-in clinics.

As I said a moment ago, there are open clinics in all mainland health board areas and you can find details of the one nearest to you on NHS Inform website or on the social media accounts of your own health board.

These drop in clinics are also available to anyone who has had a first dose 8 weeks or more ago but hasn’t yet had a second dose.

I simply can’t emphasise enough just how important it is that we all get vaccinated with both doses.  So please get both jags as soon as you can and the NHS Inform website is a place to go if you need more information on how to get your jag.  

The second thing we’re asking everyone to do, is to take the opportunity to test yourself regularly. That’s particularly important if you are planning to visit somebody or go somewhere.  If you take a test before you go, you will reduce the risk of you inadvertently spreading the virus if you perhaps have it and don’t have symptoms. So it helps protect those that you will be coming into contact with. 

You can get lateral flow tests through the NHS inform website.  That way you can get them sent to you by post. But you can also pick them up from local and regional test centres, or from local pharmacies.

If you test positive through one of these lateral flow devices – or if you have symptoms of the virus – please make sure that you self-isolate, and that you book a PCR test as quickly as possible.

And if you are identified as a close contact of someone with Covid, you will be asked to self-isolate for 10 days – so please do that. We are reviewing the policy on isolation for contacts of positive cases for the future and will set out our intentions on that shortly. But for now it remains an important mitigation.

The third and final thing we’re asking people to do is stick to the rules wherever you live, and keep following the basic hygiene measures.

Meet other people outdoors as much as possible.

If you are meeting indoors, stick to the limits on group sizes, follow the advice around hygiene and ventilation and remember that is important even if you are meeting indoors to watch the football or other sport.

And please remember physical distancing, hand-washing, face coverings – all of these basic mitigations still help us to limit the spread of this virus.

And if, like I’m sure most of us have been over the past few weeks, you have been slipping on these things this is a moment to tighten up again as we hopefully embark on this next and final phase of getting out of the Covid restrictions.

So those are the key things we’re asking everybody do to. We’re all thoroughly sick of every single aspect of this. I don’t just know that, I feel that, but it’s really important that, having come so far, and having hopefully an effective end point to this in sight, that we stick with it to make sure not just that we get to that end point but that we get to that end point as safely as possible.

So thank you for your continued patience, thank you for your continued forbearance with all of this, and please continue to stick with it.

Covid: “Keep the Heid”

No change in direction despite record numbers

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update: First Minister’s statement, 29 June:

Thanks very much for joining the Chief Medical Officer and I today. Today’s statistics have actually just been published on the Scottish Government’s website, given that today’s briefing is a bit later than normal so I am going to quickly summarise these.

 Three thousand one hundred and eighteen positive cases were reported yesterday which is 11.6% of all of the tests carried out.

The total number of confirmed cases for the duration of the pandemic is now 277,335.

As of today  215 people are receiving hospital treatment – that  is an increase of 13 since yesterday.

And 20 people are in intensive care, and that  is the same number as  yesterday.

Sadly, one further death has been  reported and that takes the total number of deaths registered, under our daily definition to 7,713. And, as always, my deepest condolences are with  everyone who has lost someone as a result of the virus.

Let me also briefly update on the vaccination programme.

As of this morning, 3,781,887 people have received a first.

That’s an increase of 16,508 since yesterday.

And 9,420 people got a second dose yesterday, which brings the total number of second doses now to 2,701,195.

Today’s case numbers reinforce the pattern that we have seen over the past week.

There has been a much faster increase in cases than at any time since the start of this year – in fact, over the past 7 days we have reported more than twice as many new cases as we did in the previous week. 

In recent days, the numbers of positive cases being reported has also been higher than at any previous point in the pandemic.

It is, however,  important to put that into context, and there is two contextual points that I think it is worth me making at this stage.

Firstly, and before I make this one let  me be very clear that this is early days and we need to monitor this over the course of coming days. When we look at cases over the past week by the date the specimen was taken as opposed to the date we report the test result, which are the numbers we report on a daily basis, then what we see is a peak in cases last Tuesday and since then we have seen what appears to be a slowing down of the rate of increase.

So that is encouraging, but again I would stress that it is early days, we will want to monitor this carefully over the days to come and obviously see what that looks like a week form now.

 But the second, perhaps more fundamental point of context is that while we are comparing case numbers now to the situation at the start of the year. It is the case that at the start of the year, which was the last time case numbers were anywhere near the numbers they are at just now, we were in much stricter lockdown.

Far, far fewer restrictions are in force now. So the reality now that now without vaccination the level of restrictions that are in place just now would undoubtedly be leading to far higher case numbers than is actually the case.

So that is the first sign that vaccination is actually having an effect.

But the number of new cases now is still a cause for concern – and it is obviously the main issue I want to talk about today.

Before I  come on to do that, though, in a bit more detail, l just want to confirm a change that we have indicated this morning in relation to travel.

Because there is no longer a significant difference in case rates between Scotland and the following places, I can confirm that the travel restrictions relating to Manchester, Salford and Bolton are being lifted.

However restrictions will remain in place for now between Scotland and Blackburn with Darwen – where case levels remain higher than in those three other areas. We will undertake a further review of those restrictions, over the course of this week.

Let me return now, though,  to the situation here in Scotland.

As we have been saying from the start of this year, we are very much in a race just now between the virus and the vaccines. Our job is to do all we can to make sure the vaccine stays ahead of the virus.

I should be very clear we are confident, very confident that the vaccines will ultimately win this race. The question is what happens between now and then.

If, over the next few weeks, the virus gets ahead, unfortunately we will see more people become ill, we will see more people die and we will see more significantly pressure on our National Health Service than will be the case if we manage to keep the vaccines ahead of the virus

 The problem we have got just now is  the virus is running faster than it has ever done previously.

The Delta variant that we are dealing with just now is –  accounts for the overwhelming bulk of all new cases right now – is significantly more transmissible than previous variants.

And that is helping to driving the steep rise in cases that we have  been seeing in recent days.

On the other hand, and this is the positive part,  we know that the vaccines are breaking the link between cases and serious illness.

The nature of this wave of the virus is different both in nature but also in  impact than previous waves.

 Let me just illustrate that over the whole pandemic, round about 13% of all cases and 89% of all deaths have been in the over 65  year old age group.

However because virtually all over 65 year olds have now had both doses of vaccine, that is changing, and it is changing really markedly.

According to our most recent figures, those aged 65 or over are now accounting for just 2% of new cases. And what we have seen in recent days is that more than 80% of new cases are in people under the age of 44.

The impact of vaccination is also clear when we look at the data on hospitalisations.

Back in January, more than 10% , perhaps closer to 13 % of people who tested positive for Covid were being admitted to hospital within 14 days of the positive test.

By the start of June, the start of this month that had fallen to just 3%.

In addition, more of those who are admitted to hospital with Covid now are being discharged relatively quickly.

Again, that will reflect the fact that most new cases now are in younger age groups.

So in summary, fewer people who get Covid now need to go to hospital. And a higher proportion of people who do need to go to hospital, are not staying in hospital for as long.

Those two factors are helping, obviously, to cut down the serious illness impact of the virus, but also they are helping to  protect the NHS from the full scale of the pressure that case numbers like this would have heaped on it before vaccination – and these factors are also what continues to give us  confidence that vaccination is going to get us out of this. And that hasn’t changed.

That is why, notwithstanding this increase in cases that we are seeing just now – and obviously bearing in mind that we have  to keep this under review, as we always have done  – we do remain hopeful that we will be able  to continue lifting restrictions first on the 19 July and then ultimately on the  9 August.

But – and this is an important but – how safely we get there will depend on what we do now.

This is a critical moment – I really can’t stress that enough – and over the next few weeks, it demands renewed care and vigilance from all of us.

The virus, as we can see,  is still out there – and it is still potentially dangerous.

Vaccination is very effective – after two doses – but no vaccine gives 100% protection.

And – importantly – while we are vaccinating as quickly as we can, there are still a lot of people who do not yet have the protection of both doses of the vaccine.

That includes many younger people. And while younger people are much less likely to fall seriously ill, they can still be badly affected, including of course from long Covid.

And finally, while we know that a lower percentage of people with Covid are ending up in hospital now, the fact is that a lower percentage of a very big number of cases, is still  going to be a sizeable number.

So if cases continue to rise as they have been doing, we will see pressure on our NHS in coming weeks – and our worry is that that will set back work that is now being done to recover our  NHS and catch up with the Covid backlogs.

And so my appeal to everyone right now is a serious one.

While we work hard to get to get people vaccinated – and more and more people are being fully vaccinated every days just now,  please help us keep the virus at bay by taking care and following all of the vital health advice.

I know, I really do know, everyone is sick of this – and I include myself in that – I also know that many feel frustrated because we might think others are not taking this as seriously as we have been – but the fact is we are so close now, not just at seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but actually  reaching the light at the end of the tunnel.

Having come so far, let’s redouble our efforts, just for  a few more weeks,  to make sure that we get there and get there as safely as possible.

So there are three key things in particular that each of us really need to do right now to help make sure we get to those milestones, and get to those milestones with as little health impact as we possibly can.

I know that you will have heard this before.

But I’m stressing it again for a reason – with case levels so high, it really is vital that we all play our part in slowing the virus down while the vaccines continue to get ahead and do their work.

So, firstly, please continue to follow the key rules where you live and all of the basic but vital public health advice – for example on physical distancing, hand-washing and face coverings.

Also, meet other people outdoors as much as possible particularly when the weather is a bit nicer – no environment is risk free, but we know that outdoors is relatively safe compared to indoors.

If you are meeting people indoors, please stick to the limits and open the windows to maximise ventilation.

That does apply if you are watching football – or of course now with Wimbledon underway   the tennis.

Good luck to Andy Murray for his next match. And good luck to England tonight.

But if you are planning to watch sport indoors with others, please remember that the maximum group size is 6 people, from 3 households. And the 3 households includes  your own.

That rule is really important. And if we all stop and think about it, It is obvious why that rule is important, if somebody in your group has Covid and might not realise it, then if you have got a limited number of people and households in the house with them, then it is reducing the number of households that the virus might be able to spread to

In addition, try to make sure that people from different households are sitting as far apart as is possible. And as I said earlier, keep some windows open because that helps ventilation and the better ventilated a room is, the less risky it is going to be.

 The second thing everybody is being asked to do, please get tested regularly – and that is especially important if you are planning to visit somebody. Test before you go. Because you are helping not just to spot if you have the virus, but you are obviously helping to protect those you are going to visit.

Lateral flow tests are available through the NHS inform website.

You can get them sent to you that way in the post. But also now you can collect them from local and regional test sites, and from your local pharmacies.

If you test positive through one of these lateral flow devices – or if you have symptoms of the virus – make sure that you self-isolate, and book a PCR test as quickly as possible, and that’s vitally important.

If you are identified as a close contact of someone with Covid, you will be asked to self-isolate for 10 days –usually through a text message so that gets to you as quickly as possible.

Self-isolation is really tough. It is probably more frustrating now that there are fewer restrictions in place than it was earlier in the pandemic .

But it remains vitally important to help break chains of transmission.

Thirdly and finally, our key and ultimate weapon against the virus is the vaccine.

So make sure that you do get vaccinated when you are invited to do so. And make sure you attend for both doses.

If you are aged 18 or over, you should definitely have received news of your first appointment by now.

If you haven’t done so – go on to the NHS Inform website, you can  self-register. The new portal which allows you to do that opened yesterday.

 And that means your up to date details can be submitted and you can get an appointment sent to you as quickly as possible

You should also go to the  website if you need to rearrange an appointment, or if you had your first dose of the vaccine 8 weeks or more ago and want to bring your second appointment forward.

I cant stress enough how important it is that all of us get vaccinated with both doses.

It protects you – but it also protects your family, your friends and anyone that you come into contact with.

So please make sure that you get both doses when you get your invitation – I think, part of the collective, civic duty we all owe to each other.

But to be blunt about it,  it is also our ticket out of this nightmare. So let’s  make sure make full use of it and get out of this as quickly as possible

So these are the three points I want to stress.

Get vaccinated when you are asked, get tested regularly and particularly if you are going to visit somebody or going for an outing somewhere, and continue to follow the public health guidance.

The current surge in cases is a concern – we are seeing it happening elsewhere as the Delta variants starts to take hold – so I’m not going to pretend it is not a concern.

 But I do know that if we all exercise caution and common sense we can make a difference while the vaccine gets ahead. And I remain as confident, possibly even more confident than I have ever been that the vaccine is getting us out of this.

 So if we can all can just keep the heid, keep doing all the things we know we need to do so that we can look forward to the vaccine  getting us back to normal later this summer.

 So thank you very much for listening to all of that just now. 

A temporary travel restriction between Scotland and parts of north west England has been lifted.

Current rules on travel between Scotland and Manchester and Salford – which came into effect on 21 June – was be eased at midnight. A travel restriction on Bolton – in place since 24 May – is also easing.

Until Friday, stay at home – and from Friday onwards, stay local

First Minister’s Coronavirus media briefing: Tuesday 30th March

Thanks for joining us again.

I am not able to give these Covid briefings just now as often as I have been doing because we are now in a pre-election period.

However I think that it’s important to give an update today, in advance of the changes that are due to take place over the weekend.

As things stand just now, I intend to give further updates at this time next Tuesday and on 20 April.

I am joined today by the Chief Medical Officer, Gregor Smith, and the National Clinical Director, Jason Leitch, who will help me answer questions.

However, I will start as usual with the latest statistics.

The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 411.

That represents 2.8% of the total number of tests, and takes the total number of confirmed cases in Scotland to 217,890.

109 of those new cases were in Lothian, 94 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and 76 in Lanarkshire.

The remaining cases were spread across 7 other health board areas.

250 people are currently in hospital – that is 9 fewer than yesterday.

23 people are in intensive care, which is an increase of 1 since yesterday.

And 12 deaths were reported yesterday, of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days. That takes the total number of deaths registered, under that definition, to 7,596.

That reminds us of the heartbreak that this virus continues to cause. Once again, I want to send my condolences to all those who have lost a loved one.

I can also provide an update on our latest vaccination figures.

As of 7.30 this morning, 2,436,398 people in Scotland have received their first dose of the vaccine.

That is an increase of 26,572 since yesterday.

In addition, 12,180 people received their second dose yesterday, which brings the total number of second doses to 338,443 

Virtually all over 65 year olds have now received a first dose of the vaccine.

So have:

  • 98% of 60-64 year olds;
  • 81% of 55 to 59 year olds;
  • and 57% of 50 to 54 year olds.

We remain on course to offer a first dose of the vaccine by the middle of April to all over 50 year olds; all unpaid carers; and all adults with particular underlying health conditions.

Those figures confirm the progress we have made in the last three months.

We are now averaging 539 new cases per day.

That is a decline of more than 3/4 since early January.

The number of deaths from Covid has fallen even more sharply. They are down by more than 80% in the last 2 months.

And, as you can see from the figures I have reported, the number of people in hospital and intensive care is also reducing.

However there are still no grounds for complacency. Indeed, we must continue to be hyper vigilant. For example the data suggests that the numbers of new cases in Scotland – having fallen throughout January and February – are now plateauing, rather than continuing to decline significantly.

Numbers fell very slightly last week – but they have risen in some other weeks recently.

As a result, hundreds of people in Scotland every day, are still getting the virus which remains very infectious and highly dangerous.

So we still face significant risks – and it is vital that we all continue to bear that in mind and act cautiously and carefully.

However, there is no doubt that we have made progress – both in suppressing the virus and in vaccination – and that is directly relevant to the decisions I am confirming today.

I am able to confirm today, that taking all of the recent data into account, the changes which I previously indicated that we hoped to make on 2 and 5 April can go ahead.

The first change will take effect from Friday, 2 April.

From that day, our current stay at home rule will be lifted. That rule currently applies across all of Scotland, except for some of island communities. 

However the stay at home rule is being replaced by a requirement to stay local.

This means that the current travel restrictions – which prevent non-essential travel outside your local authority area – will remain in place for another 3 weeks.

I understand how frustrating those restrictions are.

I share that frustration – my family live in a different local authority to me.

And like anyone with loved ones in a different part of the country, I desperately want to see them in person.

But the requirement to stay local is there, for the moment, for a good reason.

At the moment, different parts of the country, have different levels of infection.

For example some parts of the central belt have far more new cases each day, than areas such as Highland, the Borders, and Dumfries and Galloway. And there are also different rates of infection within the central belt itself.

So while Covid levels remain high in some areas – and while a lot of people remain unvaccinated – we do not want the virus to spread from areas with relatively high prevalence, to areas with low rates of infection.

That’s why sticking to the stay local rule for another 3 weeks is really important.

All of the other immediate changes will take effect from next Monday, 5 April.

From that date, more students – particularly in colleges – will be allowed to return to on-campus learning. That includes many students who are taking qualifications in construction, in engineering, and in subjects such as hairdressing and beauty.

In addition, from Monday onwards, contact sports will resume for 12 to 17-year-olds. And there will be a limited reopening of some retail services.

All shops will be allowed to operate click and collect services from Monday – although you will need an appointment to pick up your goods.

Car showrooms and forecourts will also reopen. Again, you may need an appointment to get into showrooms, so please check that with the retailer before you go.

Homeware stores and garden centres will also be able to reopen – that’s something which I know will be appreciated by those retailers, and also by many customers, as we head towards the summer.

Obviously, we don’t want big crowds at any of these stores – so although they open on the 5th, think about whether you really need to visit them on Monday itself. If you can, wait until later in the week.

Going later in the week – or later in the month – might mean things are a bit quieter.

And of course, follow the advice and the instructions given by store staff. Those staff will be helping to keep you and the other customers safe. 

Finally, from next Monday, hairdressers and barbers will also be allowed to reopen. I know that many people are already looking forward to their first professional haircuts of the year. But again, please make an appointment before you go.

These changes will I hope be widely welcomed.

But they are – quite deliberately – fairly cautious steps out of lockdown.

If you look across to Europe at the moment, many countries there are seeing a big rise in cases.

We don’t want the same thing to happen here if we can avoid it.

And in our view the virus is still too widespread, and too dangerous, to allow for a more rapid opening up.

However if the data permits, we do expect to be able to make further changes later in April.

First of all, once the Easter holidays finish, all secondary school children will return to school full time.

After that, we hope to ease restrictions further on 26 April. By that time, we expect to have offered a first dose of the vaccine to all JCVI priority groups – that includes everyone over the age of 50.

That is a significant milestone – since those priority groups are estimated to account for 99% of all deaths from Covid.

We hope that mainland Scotland will move from level 4 to level 3 on 26 April.

That means – for example – that we expect to end all restrictions on travelling within mainland Scotland on that day. We also expect to confirm a full reopening of retail premises, and a partial reopening of the hospitality sector.

We also hope that on the 26th, it will be possible to ease some of the rules on outdoor meetings.

I hope to be able to confirm those changes at a media briefing in three weeks’ time.

In addition, the Scottish Government will publish updated levels tables on our website, in the next few days. They will provide some more information about the changes we hope to make during April and May, and into the summer.

We will also update our guidance on the current restrictions on Friday and Monday, to take account of the changes I have just confirmed.

For now, however, the main point that I want to stress is that it will be more possible to relax more restrictions in the future, if case numbers remain under control. So when things open up slightly this weekend – please continue to stick to the rules.

Until Friday, stay at home – and from Friday onwards, stay local.

Remember that you must stay in your local authority, unless your travel is for an essential purpose.

Continue to work from home if you can. That remains the default position. And employers still have a duty – if they reasonably can – to support people to work from home. 

Don’t meet up with other households in their homes. That is really important. We know that the virus spreads much more easily in indoor environments.

When you are outside – the maximum group size for adults is up to four people, from up to two households.

For 12 to 17-year-olds, the maximum group size is still four– but they can be from up to four households.

On any occasion when you do leave the house, remember FACTS.

  • wear face coverings;
  • avoid anywhere busy;
  • clean hands and surfaces;
  • use two metre distancing
  • and self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms.

And Download the Protect Scotland app, if you haven’t already – and make sure that it is enabled when you are out and about.

These basic precautions are always important – but they perhaps become even more vital, as we start to do slightly more.

By following them – and by sticking to the rules – we can all keep the virus under control, while vaccination continues.

And we can all make it safer, for more restrictions to be eased in the future. 

So please, stay at home – for now. Protect the NHS. And save lives.

Thank you, once again, to everyone who is doing that.

Blue do: Tory MSP slams NHS Lothian vaccination letters breakdown

NHS LOTHIAN: ‘THIS SHOULD BE RESOLVED VERY QUICKLY’

Lothian MSP Miles Briggs has said that an urgent investigation is needed into the breakdown in communication between the Scottish Government and people in the Edinburgh and the Lothians expecting their first vaccination letters.

The target to have everyone over 50 in Scotland vaccinated with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine by mid-April, is expected to be met. Lothian residents are however being told they won’t get their first vaccination until May.

Additionally some residents aged 60 and over are phoning the Covid-19 vaccine helpline, to be told their vaccination is due next week, but they haven’t received a letter.  

Yesterday (Thursday 11th March) the Lothian MSP raised the issue of vaccination letters with the First Minister:

‘I have been contacted by a number of constituents who are becoming increasingly concerned about the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Edinburgh and about the inconsistencies relating to people in different age groups being called to be vaccinated.

‘I have raised those concerns with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport. I appreciate that there will be some overlap within age groups, but there seems to be confusion about when those in the 60 to 65-year-old age group will receive their vaccination in Edinburgh.

‘I am sure that the First Minister agrees that it would be unacceptable for NHS Lothian residents to be behind those in other health board areas. What additional resources will NHS Lothian receive? Will she investigate the situation? Why is the Scottish Government not publishing age-specific vaccination uptake figures for health boards?

There has also been a delay to people hearing back from the online system where people submit a vaccination form if they think they should have had a vaccination appointment letter, due to the “high volume of enquiries”.

Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “It is the responsibility of the Scottish Government to distribute vaccination appointment letters to everyone in Scotland.

“This week something has obviously gone very wrong with people not receiving their letter, or being told their appointment is not until May.

“An urgent investigation is needed to give people clarity on when their appointment will be and they are not being forgotten about.

“The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination is too important to get wrong and we all want it to happen as quickly as possible so that restrictions can be lifted safely.

“SNP Ministers have to date refused to provide a breakdown of the numbers of people in age groups in each Health Board who have received the vaccination. It would be totally unacceptable for people in Lothian to be at the end of the queue.

“I would encourage people aged between 60-65, due for COVID-19 vaccine, who live in NHS Lothian and who have not received an appointment letter then phone 0800 030 8013.”

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman insisted there are no ‘systemic problems’ when she led the daily media briefing this afternoon.

NHS Lothian finally clarified the situation this evening:

.’We are vaccinating the “priority groups” of patients as fast as the vaccine supply allows. We are currently vaccinating group 6 and next week (week commencing March 15) will extend into group 7, which is patients aged 60 years and over.

‘Appointment letters are being distributed by a central system to patients across Scotland. We understand there has been a delay in sending out some appointment letters this week (March 12).

‘This should be resolved very quickly and the letters are expected to arrive by this weekend. However, if you are over 60 and have not received an appointment letter by Monday (March 15), please call the national helpline on 0800 030 8013.’

Prime Minister: Over 1.3 million people have now been vaccinated

Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a statement at the coronavirus press conference yesterday (Tuesday 5 January):

Good afternoon,

I want to update everybody about vaccines because across this entire country today there are people – everybody – making another huge sacrifice.

  • Teachers and pupils coping with online learning
  • Businesses who have borne the brunt of successive lockdowns,
  • and, of course, the amazing staff of our NHS and our care workers who are grappling with a new variant – this new variant – of coronavirus.

And I believe that when everybody looks at the position people understand overwhelmingly that we have no choice when the Office of National Statistics is telling us that more than 2 per cent of the population is now infected – that’s over 1 million people in England – and when today we have reported another 60,000 new cases. And when the number of patients in hospitals in England is now 40 per cent higher than at the first peak in April.

I think obviously – everybody, you all – want to be sure that we in government are now using every second of this lockdown to put that invisible shield around the elderly and the vulnerable in the form of vaccination and so to begin to bring this crisis to an end.

And I can tell you that this afternoon, with Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca combined, as of this afternoon we have now vaccinated over 1.1 million people in England and over 1.3 million across the UK.

And that includes more than 650,000 people over 80, which is 23 per cent of all the over 80s in England

And that means that nearly 1 in 4 of one of the most vulnerable groups will have in 2 to 3 weeks – all of them – a significant degree of immunity.

And when you consider that the average age of Covid fatalities is in the 80s you can see the importance of what we have already achieved.

And that is why I believe that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation was right to draw up a programme aimed at saving the most lives the fastest.

So by February 15th, as I said last night, the NHS is committed to offering a vaccination to everyone in the top four priority groups including older care home residents and staff, everyone over 70, all frontline NHS and care staff and all those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

And to help us with meeting this target we already have 595 GP-led sites providing vaccines, with a further 180 coming on stream later this week.

We have 107 hospital sites – with a further 100 later this week

So that is almost a thousand sites – vaccination sites – across the country by the end of this week

And next week we will also have 7 vaccination centres opening in places such as sports stadia and exhibition centres.

We know that there will still be long weeks ahead in which we must persevere with these restrictions, but I want to give you – the British people – the maximum possible transparency about this vaccine roll out with more detail on Thursday and daily updates from Monday so that you can see, day by day and jab by jab, how much progress we are making.

Thanks very much.

First Minister explains new regulations

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

Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us. I will start with the usual report on the daily COVID statistics.

The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 1,246.

That is 16.2% of people newly tested, and takes the total number of cases to 37,033.

440 of the cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 306 in Lanarkshire, and 192 in Lothian. 

The remaining cases were spread across 9 other health board areas.

I can also confirm that 397 people are currently in hospital – that is an increase of 20  since yesterday.

33 people are now in intensive care, that is  2 more than yesterday.

And I regret to say that 6 additional deaths have been registered of people who first tested positive during the previous 28 days. The total number of deaths, under the measure used in these daily figures, is therefore now 2,544.

Today’s total – and indeed all of the deaths that have been recorded in recent days – reminds us, and should remind us, again that Covid is a virus that is deadly for some people, as well as being really dangerous for others.

This is not a virus that we can be complacent about or just allow to spread unchecked, however much we might wish it was and I think that is an important point in the context of everything else I will say today. But let me at this stage pass on my condolences to everybody who has lost a loved one to this illness.

Now, I have a couple of points I want to update on today. First of all, let me report that two more walk-in testing centres have opened this week.

A new centre opened in Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire yesterday, and a centre is opening for bookings in Stirling shortly.

We are continuing to work with the UK Government to increase the number of walk-in sites across the country, and several more – including centres in Dundee and Inverness – are due to open later this month.

These add to the five walk-in centres that are already in operation – two in Glasgow and one each in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews. These five centres, that are already operational, are within walking distance of student campuses, and therefore will be especially useful for students. But I want to stress that all walk-in centres are open to all members of the public. You can book a test by going onto the NHS Inform website.

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

If you do not have a car – and can’t walk, or cycle to a testing centre – please book a home testing kit through NHS Inform.

And remember, because this is an absolutely crucial point for all of us to understand, that you must start to self-isolate from the time you start to experience symptoms of Covid – you must not wait until you get a test result before you start self-isolating.

That is a really important point to make sure that we are doing everything we can to break the chains of transmission.

My second theme today, as you would expect, relates to the new regulations which come into force later today and tomorrow.

The regulations applying to hospitality will take effect at 6pm this evening – those relating to other premises like snooker and bingo halls take effect tomorrow. They will all  be in force until Sunday 25th October – in other words, across two weeks and three weekends.

First – and with the exception of five central belt health board areas that I will come onto shortly where tighter restrictions will apply – pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes will only be able to operate indoors on a very restricted basis.

They can only open indoors from 6 am to 6 pm, for the service of food and non-alcoholic drinks.

They can however continue to serve alcohol outdoors up to the existing curfew time of 10 pm.

In addition, hotel restaurants will be able to serve residents indoors beyond 6 pm, but will not be able to serve alcohol.

In all cafes, restaurants and bars that will remain open, the existing rules on meetings will continue to apply – so that means no more than 6 people can meet, and they should come from no more than 2 households.

However there is an exemption to these rules – and this exemption applies in all parts of Scotland – for weddings that have already been booked and of course for funerals. The current rules for these will continue to apply.

As I indicated earlier this week, we are introducing stricter restrictions in five health board regions: Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Lothian and Forth Valley.

I think you probably only need to look at today’s figures to get a sense of why we have taken that difficult decision. I mentioned that there are 440 new cases in Glasgow today, 306 in Lanarkshire, 192 in Lothian.

Numbers in Forth Valley and Ayrshire and Arran are lower – at 53 new cases in Forth Valley and 84 in Ayrshire and Arran – but they are still very high for the population of those areas.

And given that people live and work across all five areas, there can be a ripple effect between them, which is a further reason that tighter restrictions apply to all five of these health boards.

So in these areas, all licensed bars and restaurants will be required to close indoors and outdoors from 6pm this evening, though takeaways will be permitted. There is again an exception for hotels serving food and non-alcoholic drinks to residents.

Now I want to address a frustration about what I understand some see as a lack of clarity over the exemption for cafes – which are being allowed to stay open even in the central belt during the day as long as they don’t serve alcohol.

The reason for this café exemption is quite simple, it is to give people – particularly those who might be living alone and also working from home – somewhere they can still meet a friend for a coffee and a chat. And we judge that as important to help reduce the loneliness and isolation that comes with some of these restrictions that are in place right now.

But, and this is the other side of this balance, we are deliberately trying to reduce the volume of places that people come together so that we can stop the virus spreading, so we’ve got to draw any exemption really tightly.

That’s why we are not allowing premises like restaurants to decide to just stop serving alcohol, become cafes and therefore stay open – that would undermine the purpose of these restrictions.

But we did realise there was a potential anomaly for existing cafes that have an alcohol licence even though serving alcohol is very incidental to their business. What I announced the other day would have forced these cafes to close. In some areas – particularly rural areas – they might be the only cafe in a village.

So we decided to try to resolve this in a very targeted way. And in the 24 hours that we have been doing so, I readily accept that that has resulted in a lack of clarity.

But sometimes that’s the price we have to pay right now for trying to be as flexible as possible. It would have been easier and would have given much greater clarity just to stick to the position yesterday that cafes with a licence had to close.

But we decided to try to strike a different balance.

I can confirm that the Regulations being published today, I think they have just been published before the briefing started, have a definition of cafe which applies regardless of whether or not they have a licence. And that definition is –

“An establishment whose primary business activity, in the ordinary course of its business, is the sale of non alcoholic drinks, snacks or light meals.”

Now that is a definition based on what a cafe already does. It doesn’t allow a restaurant to now turn itself into a cafe.

I think business owners will know whether their establishment fits that definition or not. But any doubts or questions that any have should be discussed with local environmental health authorities.

I know how tough this is and I can’t tell you how sorry I am to be standing here in a position where we are requiring some businesses to close again. I am desperately sorry for that, and I know how desperately difficult this is for people trying to make a living, keep businesses they have worked to build up going and of course take care of their staff.

But government – all governments – are trying to strike right now almost impossible balances between lives and jobs.

And speaking for the Scottish Government, we are trying to do that as best we can. As I’ve said all along we will not always get it perfectly right but we are trying our best to get through this as well as we can.

Let me turn now to the other central belt restrictions that will be in place for the next two weeks.

Snooker and pool halls, indoor bowling alleys, casinos and bingo halls will close in those areas for two weeks, from tomorrow.

Contact sports for people aged 18 and over will also be suspended – with an exception for professional sports.

Indoor group exercise activities will not be allowed, although the current rules will remain in place for under-18s, and gyms and pools can remain open for individual exercise.

And outdoor live events will not be permitted in these five areas for the next two weeks.

And in general, we are advising people who live in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Lothian and Forth Valley not to travel outside the health board area that they live in, if they do not need to. Similarly, people in other parts of Scotland should not travel to those areas if they do not need to.

That said, we are not imposing mandatory travel restrictions at this stage. And we are not asking people to cancel any half-term breaks that they might have. But we are asking people, if you don’t need to travel – don’t do it at this stage.

Finally, if you live in these five health board areas please limit public transport to essential purposes only, for example, going to school or to work, if you are not able to work from home.

Now, I know that businesses who are affected by these temporary restrictions rightly want to know details of the compensation package that we are developing to support them for the next two week period.

We intended to publish details on the allocation of our £40 million support fund this morning. But we are now expecting an announcement from the Chancellor later today on furlough which might have an impact on our proposals, I hope they will have a positive impact on our proposals – so we will publish details after we have clarity on that. I would call on the UK government to ensure that whatever it announces today on furlough applies in Scotland from tonight.

However, I do now want to outline the three strands of the additional Scottish Government package:

  1. Support for employment – this was intended to top up the existing furlough scheme. However, it is this aspect that might be impacted – we hope positively – by the Chancellor’s announcement later today.
  2. We will give a cash grant over and above any employment support for each business that is being required to close or reduce their operations. This is likely to be at the same level as the support provided in Aberdeen when we had the local lockdown there – and that was, depending on rateable value, grants of £1000 or £1500.
  3. We will make available a discretionary fund for local authorities to distribute to businesses that are in need of support but might not fall into the categories that I have already covered.

As I say, we will publish details of that once we have clarity of the first strand which we hope to get from the Chancellor later on.  The restrictions which are coming into force today are significant, there is no way in which I can suggest otherwise. But the case numbers we have seen in recent weeks – including, increasingly, the figures now for people being hospitalised – show why these restrictions are necessary.

We have to stop the virus from spreading further. And having already restricted meetings between households in each other’s homes, the most important additional step we can take is to restrict people meeting up in places like bars and restaurants.

These measures still allow for some social contact in cafes as I have already outlined. And they do not prevent people from taking the half term holidays that they had already  booked, or from going ahead with weddings which have already been planned. We have tried to minimize the impact on your lives as much as possible while still doing as much as we need to do to get this virus under control.

But for a period, and this is why for a period of just over two weeks, we will remove some of the major opportunities the virus has to spread. And we do believe this can have and will have a significant impact on transmission.

And so I know these steps are unwelcome – and believe me when I say they have been imposed with the greatest reluctance – I would urge all of you to stick with them. The only alternative to restrictions like this right now is a continuing surge in COVID, which would take more lives and probably in turn require even tighter restrictions in the weeks and months to come.

Now in addition to the temporary restrictions which come into place this weekend, and this is the point I will end on – I would urge everyone to continue to stick with the existing rules and guidance.

None of us should be visiting each other’s homes at the moment – except for specific purposes like childcare. That is a really tough restriction but it is perhaps the most important way we have of stopping this virus jumping from household to household.

When we do meet – outdoors, or in cafes – the maximum group size is 6, from a maximum of two households.

In addition, only car-share if it is essential.

Work from home if you can.

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

And finally, please remember FACTS – FACTS comprises the basic rules that if we all follow take away the opportunities for the virus to spread. So:

  • Face coverings
  • Avoid crowded places.
  • Clean hands and hard surfaces
  • Two metres distance from people in other households.
  • and Self isolate, and get tested, if you have symptoms.

I know this is tough, I really do know this is tough and none of what the government is doing right now is being done lightly. I do not want to be standing here imposing restrictions that limit the freedoms we all love and take for granted but this is, as it was at the very start of this pandemic, about saving lives and keeping each other as safe and as well as we possibly can.

We will get through this, it will pass, that much I do know, but I know it will pass easier and possibly more quickly if we pull together, stick together and look out for each other by doing all of these really important things. So my deep gratitude to all of you for that. Jason is now going to say a word of two before he and I turn to questions as usual.

First Minister’s message to Scotland’s students: It’s not your fault

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, yesterday (Friday 25 September):

Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us. Before I start this morning I want to acknowledge the dreadful news from Croydon in South London, of a police officer being shot dead.

The circumstances are obviously subject to investigation but I want to take the opportunity to convey my deepest condolences to all of the officer’s loved ones.

This is a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers police officers confront every single day on our behalf – and of the enormous debt of gratitude we owe them as a result of that.

And – especially with the Chief Constable of Police Scotland standing next to me – it is important for me to acknowledge that every day, but particularly in the wake of such upsetting and tragic news.

Let me now turn to the usual run-through of statistics for Covid today.

The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 558.

This represents 9.5% of people newly tested and takes the total number of cases to 26,518.

The full regional breakdown will be published later, but I can confirm that 255 of the cases are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 119 in Lothian and 61 in Lanarkshire. 

The remaining 123 cases are across nine other health boards.

Now, today’s figures are impacted by a number of university outbreaks – and I’ll say more about that later.

But notwithstanding this I also want to stress that no one should be under the impression that the Covid threat right now is just a university problem and that there’s no need for the rest of us to take this seriously.

Transmission of Covid is increasing generally across the country – and the increase in cases started before the return of universities. So the numbers right now are impacted by universities but it doesn’t change the fact that this is a risk that all of us need to take seriously and we all need to follow the advice.

I can also confirm that 89 people are in hospital – that is an increase of four from yesterday.

11 people are in intensive care, which is one more than yesterday.

And in the past 24 hours, no deaths have been registered of a patient who first tested positive over the previous 28 days.

I want to just insert one note of caution around that. National Records of Scotland who report those figures to us suffered a power outage this morning so it is possible that we will have to modify that figure later on but based on the information I have just now no deaths were registered over the past 24 hours.

That means that the total number of deaths, under the measure used in our daily figures, remains 2,510.

That total serves once again as a reminder once again of the overall impact of this virus. As usual I want to pass on my condolences to everybody who has lost a loved one.

I’m joined today by the Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, and our Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nicola Steedman.  In a few minutes, the Chief Constable will talk about new restrictions that are now in place – and how they’ll be enforced.  Dr Steedman will also talk about the importance of people going for their flu jabs in the days and weeks ahead.

The main thing I want to do today is to speak to Scotland’s students – and to set out what we are asking you to do right now, to help control the spread of coronavirus.

First, though, I want to draw your attention to an announcement that was made last night.

The Scottish Government has added four additional countries to the list of those that are subject to quarantine restrictions.  Those countries are Denmark, Iceland, Slovakia and Curacao.

It means that from tomorrow, people travelling to Scotland from these places must self-isolate for 14 days, upon their return.

This is another 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. In fact, please think carefully about unnecessary travel anywhere right now. That advice applies – not just now – but also to any plans you might have for the October school break.

Let me turn now to the main issue I want to address today. I want to send a message directly to university students – and indeed to parents, many of whom will be worried about their children at universities just now.

I’m not a parent but I am the devoted auntie of a boy who has just started university and is living away from home for the first time so I do have some insight into the anxiety that people are feeling right now.

The government is having to make some really tough decisions right now but none of us are immune from the impact of those decisions and we understand how difficult they are for people because we have families as well.  

First thing I want to say direct to students is I’m so sorry that this time in your lives is being made so tough. I feel for all of you – but especially those of you just starting university and living away from home for the first time.

This is an exciting time in your lives but I can remember from my own experience, that this is also a time of adjustment and probably a bit of homesickness too. That would be the case without Covid, but I’m sure it’s much more difficult given the circumstance you are having to deal with right now.

And I want to also be clear, because I know some of you feel like you are somehow being blamed, you don’t deserve to be facing this – no one does – and it’s not your fault.

But – and this is just as important – this won’t last forever. And the quicker we get Covid back under control, the sooner you will get to enjoy a more normal student life.

So – I know it’s difficult – but please do what’s being asked of you just now.

Because although Covid is nobody’s fault – we all have to play our part in tackling it. And there is nobody across the country that is not touched by that, there are many families who haven’t seen loved ones in care homes for a considerable period of time, there are families across the country that are not able to spend time with each other right now. Everybody is feeling the effects of this but we all have to play a part to get through what we are facing.

There’s been a lot of discussion about the Universities Scotland advice that issued last night. So let me boil it down to the basics of what it is we are asking students to do.

Firstly if you live in student or shared accommodation, please don’t have parties and don’t socialise in your accommodation with people who are not in your household group.

I know the impact of this on students is a bit harder because of your shared living arrangements but this advice is actually no different to what we are asking of the population as a whole – to stay out of each other’s houses – and it’s because we know the virus can spread easily when different households mix together indoors in domestic environments.

And secondly, but just for this weekend, we are asking students to please stay away from pubs, restaurants and cafes.

The reason for this is that there are a number of campus outbreaks across Scotland and we want to do everything we can to stop them spreading further. And staying away from hospitality this weekend is one of the ways in which students can help.

The incubation period of this virus means that the exposure people have had in the last few days means that we will see campus cases continue to rise in the days to come. But if we take steps now to limit the interaction over the next few days we can help stem that flow and make sure outbreaks don’t spread any further. So that’s the reason for that advice this weekend.

After this weekend, we’ll ask the same of you as of everyone else. Try to limit your social interactions in pubs and hospitality but when you do go, you should be in groups of no more than six from a maximum of two households.

We are also asking students to download the Protect Scotland app.  It isn’t mandatory – but it is strongly encouraged, and your university can ask you to do so – because, particularly when you may not know everyone you are meeting, it is an effective way of alerting people that they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid. In the last two weeks, more than 800 people have been notified by the app to isolate.

And lastly if you are asked to self-isolate as a student because you have tested positive or are a contact of someone who has, please follow the advice. It is really important.

In all of this, your university has a big responsibility to look after your welfare and make sure you are okay. I have spoken personally this morning to university principals, to stress their responsibilities to you – and I know this is something that they take seriously but it is also something  parents will want to be assured of too.

Student services already have special arrangements in place, including 24-hour helplines, support for food deliveries, and additional mental health counsellors, for those who might need that support.  

I am grateful to all of those – including the many student volunteers – who are helping to provide practical and emotional support in this way.

One final point I want to address today but we’ll say more about this over the weekend. We are aware that for some students who have been asked to self-isolate, they might be finding that situation so difficult that they want to go back to their family home to complete the period of self-isolation.  

Now I’m going to be frank. That is a difficult balancing act because if you go home after you have been asked to self-isolate that will have implications for your family who may also have to self-isolate if oyu test positive. But I wanted to let you know today that we are looking at what might be possible there and it is our aim to issue some further guidance on that over the weekend.

The key point to stress is that help is there for you if you need it just now so if you need it please ask for it. 

The final thing I want to say to students today is thank you. Thank you to all of you, just like everybody else across the country you are bearing a burden that I desperately wish you didn’t have to be bearing right now but you are being part of our collective effort to beat Covid back. And for that you have my thanks and deep appreciation.

Now, I’ve focussed primarily today on what is being asked of students and I think it’s important that we do focus on that today.  But of course, all of us have a role in getting this virus back under control.

The regulations for the new household and hospitality restrictions come into force today.   And as I said earlier, the Chief Constable will say a few words about their enforcement, shortly.

For now, I want to remind everyone of what the restrictions are.

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

Outdoors or in public indoor spaces, we must not meet in groups of any more than six people from a maximum of two households. Children under 12 are not included in these limits outdoors so they can play with their friends and young people aged 12 to 17 are exempt from the two household limit they can meet outdoors in groups of up to six but all six people don’t have to be from just two households.

From today, all hospitality premises will close by 10 pm to try to reduce the amount of time people are spending in licensed premises.  Beyond that, we are asking people to limit visits to and social interactions in pubs and restaurants as far as possible.

These measures are tough, I know they are tough but they are necessary if we are to keep schools open, resume more non-Covid NHS services, keep care homes safe and protect jobs.

The danger – if we don’t act now – is that the virus will continue to spread, and even more severe or longer-lasting restrictions will be required later.

So please, follow the new rules – they will make a difference.

Limit your interactions with others.

Download the Protect Scotland app. 

And finally, remember FACTS –

  • Face coverings
  • Avoid crowded places.
  • Clean hands and hard surfaces
  • keep Two metres away from other households.
  • and Self isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms.

I don’t underestimate how difficult this is for everybody and it is more difficult six months in than it was even when we were under strict lockdown back earlier in the year but this is essential.

I we all pull together and do the right things for ourselves and each other we will get through it more quickly than we will otherwise.

My deep thanks to everybody for all of the sacrifices that you are making and perhaps particularly today because of the issues that I have been talking about my special thanks to students at our universities.

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.