public health – Page 30 – The NEN

Public urged to sign-up to world-first COVID-19 antiviral study

The public are being urged to sign-up to a world-leading study for antivirals if they test positive for COVID-19

Recruitment drive backed by charities including Kidney Care UK, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Diabetes UK and the British Liver Trust as antivirals help protect most vulnerable from hospital
At least 6,000 more participants needed as soon as possible so the life-saving treatments can be rolled out more widely
People can sign up here: www.panoramictrial.org

Adults over the age of 50 or with an underlying health condition who test positive for COVID-19 are being urged to sign up for a world-first COVID-19 study which is providing life-saving antivirals to thousands of people.

The UK government and leading charities, including Kidney Care UK, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Diabetes UK and the British Liver Trust, are calling on at least 6,000 more participants to come forward for these cutting-edge treatments through the PANORAMIC study.

This is so that expert scientists can understand more about how to deploy these treatments in the NHS more widely later in the year – including who would benefit most from receiving antiviral treatments for COVID-19.

Antivirals are medicines which can be swallowed as a tablet to help treat people with COVID-19 infections to reduce the risk of hospitalisations and death. Molnupiravir, which is currently being deployed through the study, has shown to reduce this for at risk, non-hospitalised adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 by 30% – potentially saving thousands of lives once the drugs are available to the NHS.

Anyone over the age of 50 or between 18 to 49 with an underlying health condition can sign up to the study as soon as they receive a positive PCR or lateral flow test result. They need to be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms that began in the last five days to be eligible to enrol.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “The vaccines are critical as a first line of defence, but antivirals form a vital part of our approach as we learn to live with COVID by preventing the most vulnerable from being hospitalised.

“If you’re eligible, please step forward for the PANORAMIC trial and play your part in a vital mission – helping us to learn more about medicines which could save thousands of lives.”

The UK-wide study, run by the University of Oxford and supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), launched at the start of December 2021 and currently has around 4,600 trial participants signed up, but needs thousands more to sign up as soon as possible to gather the data necessary.

This will ensure medical experts can learn more about the potential benefits these treatments bring to vaccinated patients, and will help the NHS to develop plans for rolling out the antivirals to further patients later this year.

It is open to anyone living in the UK who meets the following criteria:

Have received a positive PCR or lateral flow test for COVID-19 and feel unwell with symptoms of COVID-19 that started in the last five days; and
are aged 50 and over, or 18 to 49 years old with an underlying medical condition that can increase the risk of developing severe COVID-19.

While vaccines remain the most important first line of defence against the virus, antivirals are used after someone contracts the virus to slow it down, make symptoms less severe and complications less common.

The antiviral, molnupiravir, that is part of the PANORAMIC trial, was granted approval for use by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) in November 2021, and so far no unexpected safety findings have been reported in clinical trials.

The UK government, through the Antivirals Taskforce, has procured 4.98 million courses of antivirals – including 2.23 million courses of molnupiravir and 2.75 million courses of PF-07321332/ritonavir.

Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, said: “If you’re eligible for PANORAMIC please give some serious consideration to taking part.

“This will help us decide how to use COVID-19 antiviral drugs for many years to come.”

Eddie Gray, Chair of the Antivirals Taskforce, said: “Antivirals are a hugely important addition to our response to COVID-19 and we have secured access to two important products for NHS patients.

“Getting people enrolled onto this study is vital, not just in protecting the most vulnerable now, but in ensuring we can deploy these medicines more widely as soon as possible.”

Pippa Erskine, double lung transplant recipient who lives with Cystic Fibrosis, accessed antivirals after testing positive for COVID-19 at the start of January. Pippa said: “Even after three vaccines, testing positive for COVID-19 after avoiding the virus for more than 18 months was worrying.

“Knowing antivirals would help ease my symptoms and help prevent potential complications was a huge relief.

“With restrictions easing, it’s so important that those vulnerable to COVID-19 have the best possible chance of staying protected against the virus and, most importantly, staying out of hospital. Antivirals are essential to this.

“I’d urge anyone eligible for the trial to put themselves forward to help make antivirals more widely available, and to protect themselves and others.”

Mr Harkishan Mistry, age 58, is General Secretary of Bradford Hindu Council said: “After testing positive for COVID-19 last Monday on a lateral flow, a friend recommended I look into the antivirals trial.

“As I’m over 50 and was experiencing symptoms such as sore throat, headache, and achiness, I was eligible and was selected to receive the antiviral treatment by Monday afternoon.

“The whole process was so simple – a courier delivered the capsules the next morning and I began taking the course straight away. While I’m still testing positive and remain in isolation, my symptoms eased daily and I feel much better.

“I’d really recommend anyone who’s eligible for the trial to sign up – why would you not if we can help others and ease pressure on the NHS.”

Hazel, a pharmacist from Whitley Bay, got COVID-19 early in January and so signed up to the trial immediately to help find antiviral medicines to treat the virus.

Hazel said: “I enrolled online when I got COVID-19 and the process was really simple. I got a call from a nurse right away who took me through everything and since then I’ve just had to keep a short online daily diary which takes less than a minute to do.

“The process really couldn’t be simpler, and it’s so exciting to be part of this world leading effort to find a treatment for COVID-19.

“Both as someone who got COVID-19 and as a pharmacist, I know the damage this virus can do and would urge anyone eligible to visit the website and really consider getting involved as it could save lives.”

Fiona Loud, Policy Director at Kidney Care UK, said: “We welcome the development and provision of antiviral treatments for people who are vulnerable to COVID-19.

“This trial is one of the ways to make them more widely available so we would like to encourage everyone who is eligible, including those with kidney disease, to take part in this study.

“While we continue to encourage people to take up the offer of vaccinations, antiviral treatments are going to be a vital tool to give more protection to people who are most at risk from COVID-19, including those with kidney disease.”

Vanessa Hebditch, Director of Policy at the British Liver Trust, said: “The introduction of new treatments for COVID-19 for the most vulnerable is an important and welcome development in the tackling of the pandemic.

“People with liver disease and liver transplant recipients are among the highest risk from COVID-19 and have less immunity from vaccines so treatments are vital to reduce their risk of hospitalisation should they catch the virus.

“We urge people living with a liver condition to consider signing up for trial to protect themselves and ensure that more people can access these treatments.”

David Ramsden, chief executive of Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said: “It is vital for that we continue to focus on the development and evaluation of new treatments for COVID-19.

“This is a really important study and we would encourage all eligible people with cystic fibrosis to get involved.”

MSPs launch inquiry into how Scots access healthcare services

An inquiry into the different ways patients access healthcare services in Scotland has been launched by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee.

Traditionally, when a person seeks healthcare their first point of contact is usually with a general practitioner (a GP or family doctor) but the inquiry is focused on other routes to accessing healthcare that exist in the community, referred to as ‘alternative pathways’.

The aim of the inquiry is to explore how and to what extent these alternative pathways are being used to access primary care, and to identify key issues and opportunities for improvement.

Alternative pathways to healthcare in the community include:

Seeing a different health practitioner, such as a physiotherapist, nurse, pharmacist, speech therapist, or podiatrist who works in the GP practice or in the local community.
Being directed to other types of support to improve health and wellbeing – such as walking groups, community groups, advice, or volunteering (referred to as ‘social prescribing’).
Using telephone helplines websites to access additional information, advice and online therapies.

The Committee is seeking to find out the current level of awareness amongst health practitioners and patients of alternative pathways to healthcare other than seeing a GP and how this might be improved in the future.

They are keen to find out what capacity other primary healthcare professionals have to take on more patients, the role of social prescribing in alternative pathways and how technology can improve services.

Speaking as the inquiry launched, Gillian Martin MSP, Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, said: “The traditional model of primary care where you went to see a GP for any and all health issues is placing ever increasing pressure on GP services.

“This isn’t a sustainable situation for general practices – but it’s also not good for patients struggling to get a GP appointment when there may be alternative and better routes they could go down to get the healthcare they need.

“Through our detailed work on this inquiry, the Committee is keen to explore what opportunities exist to make more and better use of these alternative routes to healthcare.

“We want to find out what role they have to play in creating a modern, flexible, community-based healthcare system which allows patients to access the right professional, at the right time.”

If you are a medical professional or organisation who would like to respond to the inquiry you can do so here: https://yourviews.parliament.scot/health/alternativepathways

Members of the public can give us their views here: https://yourviews.parliament.scot/health/alternativepathways-survey

The call for views will close on 22 February 2022.

Bringing the vaccine to homeless and vulnerable communities

Glasgow’s homeless and at risk communities get boosted against COVID

Some of Glasgow’s most vulnerable communities have been getting boosted at the Lodging House Mission in the city centre.

Advanced Nurse Practitioners have been providing jags from the charity’s premises in the city centre, where they provide care and support to homeless, vulnerable and socially excluded people.

Glasgow City’s Health and Social Care Partnership’s Complex Needs Service – previously known as Homeless Health Service – support around 450 people at any one time. The people they see often have addiction issues, mental health issues and often really poor physical health.

At the first clinic last week, 36 jags were administered – and the team hope more people will attend the clinic as more people hear about the weekly clinic. The team has already visited around 50 locations across the city where homeless people are located, putting more than 900 jags into arms.

Kirsty Paterson, the senior advanced nurse practitioner who co-ordinates and delivers the vaccine programme, said: “We’re very pleased to be able to do this work and to help some of Glasgow’s most vulnerable communities to get their vaccines and boosters.

“Once word spread that we were here at the Lodging House we were surprised, but really pleased to see a queue outside the door. The response has been fantastic.”

Lisa Ross, Service Manager at the service, said: “Some of the people we work with have very complex health and care needs. A severe COVID infection could be fatal.

“Throughout the pandemic, our team has been reaching out to vulnerable communities, going where they are and providing a service which helps to save lives. We’re grateful to the Lodging House Mission for their help in the vaccination efforts and we’ll continue to do everything we can in the fight against this virus.”

June Macleod, Manager at the Lodging House Mission said: “We’re delighted to have the vaccination clinic on site. A lot of our guys have underlying health issues and don’t engage and don’t often keep appointments, so bringing the vaccinations to them is a big help.

“The team have been fantastic and we’re really excited to see who might come to the next clinic, we know there’s been a real buzz as words spreads. It’s been great working alongside our colleagues from the health board in the fight against COVID helping to keep vulnerable people and our communities safe.”

The vaccination clinic will continue to operate every Tuesday at the Lodging House Mission’s premises on East Campbell Street.

For more information of the Lodging House, visit: https://www.lhm-glasgow.org.uk/

Scots to become Distance Aware

Voluntary scheme to encourage people to give space

Free badges and lanyards will be available to people who wish to show others they would welcome additional space and extra care while out in public.

The Distance Aware scheme is a voluntary initiative to help those on the Highest Risk List or anyone who feels worried about mixing with others as we adapt to living with COVID-19.

The Scottish Government has joined the scheme set up by the Bevan Commission and adapted it following research which showed that almost three quarters (73%) of people on the Highest Risk List said they would like to signal to others to give them extra space.

From 26 January, the badges and lanyards with the easily-recognisable shield symbol will be available free from all community and mobile libraries in Scotland. Badges will also be free from Asda stores. They can be ordered from the Scottish Government website for a small postal fee.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “We are beginning to adapt to living with COVID-19 but we know that, for some people who have been at higher risk or feel anxious about going out in public, this is a big step.

“This scheme not only provides vital reassurance to anyone who chooses to wear a badge or lanyard, but also encourages us all to be more aware and considerate of those around us – as we simply don’t know their circumstances or concerns.

“I hope this will help people feel more confident and comfortable to go about their daily lives. The shield symbol can be worn by anyone.”

British Red Cross Scotland Director of Independent Living and Crisis Response Marie Hayes said: “We fully support the aims of the Distance Aware campaign and will be proud to highlight the scheme to callers contacting our Connecting With You service. Many people are experiencing loneliness, and are fearful of going out of their own homes as a result of the pandemic.

“We believe Distance Aware can help overcome this and help them to re-engage with social activities. This could be invaluable in helping to tackle loneliness.”

Asda Senior Director for Scotland Brian Boyle said: “We are delighted to work with the Scottish Government to implement this scheme in Scotland. There has been interest in the free Distance Aware badges, particularly from our more vulnerable customers.

“As people become aware of the badge and its meaning, the more effective it will be in helping people to feel safer and less worried when they are out and about.”

From 26 January, find details of the Distance Aware scheme here.

Tories sweep away Covid regulations in England

Plan B measures will be removed following millions getting the booster, which gives strong protection against Omicron

People will no longer be advised to work from home, face coverings will no longer be mandatory in indoor venues, and organisations will be able to choose whether to require NHS Covid Passes
Vaccination remains our best defence against COVID-19 and people are urged to Get Boosted Now

The UK government has announced that England will fully return to Plan A on Thursday 27 January thanks to the success of the booster programme, with ministers urging anyone who has still not had a top-up jab to come forward and Get Boosted Now.

On 8 December, the Prime Minister announced a move to Plan B following the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The measures introduced helped to control the spread of COVID-19, bought time to assess the variant and allowed the NHS to rapidly expand the booster programme to strengthen defences.

While vaccinations remain a priority, the success of the vaccination programme so far means we are now able to cautiously return to Plan A in England.

This means immediately (from yesterday, Wednesday 19 January):

The UK government is no longer asking people in England to work from home if they can. People should speak to their employers about arrangements for returning to the office, and should follow the Working Safely guidance.

From today (Thursday 20 January):

Face coverings will no longer be advised in classrooms for both staff and pupils.

From next Thursday (27 January):

Venues and events will no longer be required by law to use the NHS Covid Pass. The NHS Covid Pass can still be used on a voluntary basis as was previously the case in Plan A.
Face coverings are no longer required by law in any setting. Public health guidance will remain in place, suggesting individuals should continue to wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces, where you may come into contact with people you do not normally meet.
The Department for Education will remove national guidance on the use of face coverings in communal areas, with local Directors of Public Health able to recommend the use of face coverings in education settings across their area only where the department and public health experts judge the measure to be proportionate due to specific health concerns. This is a temporary measure and Directors of Public Health continue to advise individual settings experiencing outbreaks.
Any local introduction of face coverings must be subject to routine review and removed at the earliest opportunity.

Throughout the pandemic, the UK government says it has maintained a balanced approach to COVID-19 measures, considering the freedoms of individuals together with the public health concerns of COVID-19.

Although the government is able to remove blanket restrictions, prevalence of COVID-19 is still high with over 16,000 people in hospital in England with the infection. As such individuals, employers and local leaders are urged to act cautiously and consider the risk of COVID-19 when moving back to Plan A. The guidance on gov.uk will be updated accordingly.

Due to the success of the booster programme, with over 30.5 million boosters given in England, the situation continues to improve.

The latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that getting a booster is 89% effective in preventing hospitalisation from COVID-19 from two weeks after it is administered and is 65 to 75% effective against symptomatic infection from Omicron.

Vaccinations remain our best defence against COVID-19 and in December the Prime Minister launched a national appeal to Get Boosted Now. The government met its target of offering every eligible adult a booster jab by Christmas and now more than 4 in 5 (81%) of eligible adults in England have had their booster.

Over 90% of people aged 12 and above have had their first dose and over 83% have had their second. The government recently provided an extra £22.5 million to councils for Community Vaccine Champions to help drive uptake in harder-to-reach communities.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Today marks the start of the next chapter in this country’s fight against COVID-19.

“Our plan was to use the time that Plan B gave us to give ourselves extra power in our fight against Omicron. That plan has worked, and the data shows that Omicron is in retreat.

“But it’s not the end of the road and we shouldn’t see this as the finish line. The best step that we can all take is to get vaccinated. It was the jabs that have got us this far, and the jabs can keep us here too”.

The vaccine programme is being bolstered by the development of world-leading antiviral treatments. In December, the Prime Minister confirmed a new national PANORAMIC study where 10,000 UK patients at risk of serious illness from COVID-19 will be given molnupiravir to treat their symptoms at home.

Testing also remains a vital tool in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and has allowed the government to take a proportionate approach to restoring individual freedoms.

Thanks to the accessibility of lateral flow tests (LFT), people self-isolating with COVID-19 can now end their isolation after five full days, provided they test negative on day 5 and 6. Contacts who are fully vaccinated can also avoid isolation by testing daily with LFTs and most of those who test positive on a LFT no longer have to confirm their case with a PCR test.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “Face-to-face education for all students has consistently been my priority, and that is why I am removing face coverings from classrooms – as promised – on the earliest possible date, making sure there is as little disruption to students’ learning as possible.

“National guidance to wear face coverings in communal areas will also be removed in line with the national move out of Plan B.

“Although we can take this action because we know the risk from Omicron is lower, the virus is still with us and proportionate protective measures remain vital to protect education. My message remains the same as ever – testing and vaccinations are our best weapons against the virus – keep testing, and get your vaccination as soon as possible.”

Chief Medical Advisor for the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Susan Hopkins said: “The recent decline in community case rates and individuals requiring hospitalisation is encouraging and it’s thanks to the public, who have taken up vaccination and followed the Plan B measures closely, that we’ve got to this point.

“However we should not be complacent. The pandemic is not over yet and we will need to remain cautious to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.

“I encourage everyone to get the vaccine as soon as they can, to continue testing regularly with LFTs – particularly before periods of high risk and before seeing anyone who is vulnerable – and to take a PCR test if they have symptoms.”

Government will set out a long term strategy for living with COVID-19 in due course.

UK’s biggest dispensing robot helps to keep medication moving

Getting the right medicine to the right patient at the right time

Working with the UK’s largest dispensing robot, a team of unsung heroes have been making sure that patients across Greater Glasgow and Clyde get the medicines they need throughout the pandemic.

The team at the Pharmacy Distribution Centre in Glasgow process around 100,000 pharmacy items each week and, with the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out, that effort has expanded to include sending some 72,000 vaccines to clinics every week.

However, their herculean effort is aided by some Amazon-style technology and a huge, robot storage and distribution machine which automates around 80% of the pharmacy work.

The machine is believed to be the biggest of its kind, operating in the UK. At any one time, the Pharmacy Distribution Centre will carry some 10,000 lines of medicines. Work to distribute the vaccines remains a manual endeavour, with the team employed on that working in an adjacent site.

Claire Aliyar, Chief Pharmacy Technician at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, explained: “The team have been working really hard throughout the pandemic – especially at the very beginning, because it just happened so fast. We tried to get as much stock in as we possibly could before it all started and we did manage to get some, but it was going out as soon as it came in.”

The team provide medicines for hospital wards, other acute settings, care homes and prison medical units. This includes major sites such as the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Glasgow Royal Infirmary, the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley and the Inverclyde Royal Infirmary in Greenock.

Orders are placed online and the entire, high-tech production line works 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The team’s aim is to ensure that every patient gets the medicine they need, when they need it – with the robot dispensing medicines from amoxicillin to paracetamol (and everything in between) into blue boxes which are then tagged with the ward or location which has ordered them by a member of the team. The boxes are then packed into a fleet of vans ready to be shipped across the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.

Technology is an important part of the process, and a few weeks before the first lockdown the team took delivery of a smaller robot, one which is refrigerated and can look after medicines that require being stored at cold temperatures. No other UK health board or trust currently has the same technology. The tech also helps to reduce to almost zero the number of errors that can occur in dispensing.

While the machines do much of the heavy lifting, a team of technicians and operatives ensure that the entire process runs smoothly, as was evidenced with the start of the pandemic.

When COVID arrived, the demand ramped up. Claire added: “The team were fabulous, they increased their working hours and came in for extra days. They just rolled up their sleeves, all with the same purpose – to get medicines out for the patients at their time of need.”

The team were then asked to set up a vaccine distribution centre from scratch.

Claire explained: “We did a small proportion of NHSGGC’s vaccine programme before, but nothing on the scale we needed. It became huge, a massive part of our workload and we took the new warehouse space from scratch and now we’re supplying more than 70,000 doses each week – more than 2.1 million doses to date.”

Ahead of the Omicron wave, the team worked to anticipate demand. Claire said: “The more prepared we are, the less pressure there is in the wards and departments.

“It’s been a huge success. I’ve never worked with a team like this – we all look out for each other whether we’re having a good or a bad day. We’ll always be here for each other and the patients, making sure their medication gets to them when they need it.”

Gail Caldwell, Director of Pharmacy for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, added: “Medicines are the most common healthcare intervention and never has this been more important than during the pandemic.

“The pharmacy team at the Pharmacy Distribution Centre have worked tirelessly throughout to ensure NHSGGC had adequate supplies of critical medicines.”

RCEM response to worst Scottish weekly performance figures ever

The latest weekly update of Emergency Department performance figures for Scotland show:

There were 21,163 attendances at A&E services in NHS Scotland.
67.4% of attendances at A&E services were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer or discharge within 4 hours.
2,079 patients spent more than 8 hours in an A&E department.
690 patients spent more than 12 hours in an A&E department.

This data shows the worst weekly four-hour performance since records began. The highest number of (weekly) eight hour waits since records began, and the highest number of (weekly) 12-hour waits since records began.

More than one in eight patients were delayed in an Emergency Department by eight hours or more.

Responding to this data, Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College Emergency Medicine, Scotland, said: “This data is deeply concerning and distressing. More than one in eight patients have been delayed by eight hours or more; this is shocking.

The health service is in the middle of a serious crisis. Staff are working exceptionally hard but are burnt out and overwhelmed and face moral injury on every shift.

Patient safety is frequently compromised. We know long waiting times increase the risk of death and patient harm. The exit block that exists in our Emergency Departments which prevents patients moving in a safe, timely manner to an appropriate ward is worsening, causing even more harm to our patients.

“It is a critical time for the health service, and we must see a vision for the future. The government must acknowledge the shortfall in staff and beds as the root of this crisis, and this must lead to a commitment to publish a long-term workforce plan that includes measures to retain existing staff who may be thinking of leaving our NHS following this exceptionally challenging period.

“The government must also commit to opening 1,000 more acute beds across Boards in Scotland, which will promote timely patient flow through the hospital. Lastly, a key cause of exit block are the patients who remain in hospital when they no longer require ongoing Hospital care.

“The ongoing crisis in social care means patients are unable to be discharged home following the completion of their treatment. It is vital social care is resourced and adequately staffed to support the most vulnerable patients in their return to the community.”

Vaccinations for children with specific medical conditions

Invitations being sent from this week

Children aged five to 11 years old who have specific medical conditions which place them at greater risk from COVID-19 will be invited for their first vaccination from this week onwards.

Parents do not need to book an appointment for them online as they will be contacted directly by Health Boards.

Those five to 11 year olds who are household contacts of people with immune suppression will be invited to receive their vaccination in due course.

Letters will also be sent to young people aged 12-15 who are at particular clinical risk from COVID-19 inviting them for a booster jag, 12 weeks after their last primary dose.

Meanwhile, second doses are now available for all 12 to 15 year olds who had their first dose at least twelve weeks previously. This cohort can book an appointment online at NHS Inform or go to a drop-in centre. Parents and carers are welcome to accompany them..

Any 16 or 17 year old can book a booster online for 12 weeks after their second dose. They can also visit any drop-in centre.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The vaccination programme continues to be a huge success and we are so grateful to all those who have taken up the offer of a vaccination and of course, every single person involved in the delivery of our national programme.

“In this next part of the programme we continue to deliver boosters and take forward the latest advice from the JCVI regarding younger cohorts. They and their parents can find out more about the vaccination that is recommended for each age group at NHS Inform.

“We urge all those who are eligible for any dose to take up the offer to protect them, those around them and of course our NHS at this particularly busy time.”

Omicron measures to be lifted

Public asked to remain cautious while case numbers are still high

Additional measures aimed at stemming the spread of the Omicron variant whilst the vaccination booster programme took effect will be lifted next week.

From 5am on Monday 24 January, restrictions including one metre physical distancing in hospitality and leisure settings and table service in hospitality venues will not be required and attendance limits at indoor events will be removed. Non-professional indoor contact sports will also resume.

Nightclubs can reopen and whilst the Covid certification scheme will not be extended at this stage, regulations will be updated to ensure venues cannot avoid the scheme by putting tables on dancefloors whilst still allowing dancing.

People will continue to be asked to work from home whenever possible, with employers asked to facilitate this. However, the Government will engage with businesses now about a return to a more hybrid approach from the start of February if case numbers continue to decline.

The guidance to keep social interaction at home and in indoor public places to a maximum of three households is also being lifted but given case numbers remain high, the public are being asked to be cautious and to limit contacts where possible, in addition to taking lateral flow tests before meeting people from other households.

Further baseline measures including a requirement to collect customer details in hospitality settings, the use of face coverings in public places and on public transport in addition to the current Covid certification scheme will remain in place to limit the spread of Omicron and reduce pressure on essential services.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Because of the vaccination programme, and the efforts we have all made to curb transmission, our position is not as difficult as feared back in December. That is why we were able to lift the limits on outdoor events yesterday and why we are lifting other restrictions from next Monday.

“We are still in a very challenging position and the NHS remains under significant pressure, with the number of Covid cases still exceptionally high. Although we can be cautiously optimistic about our current position, we all still need to play our part in helping to slow the spread of the virus.

“The key ways in which all of us can do that include getting vaccinated as soon as you can, limiting and prioritising contacts that matter the most to you and taking lateral flow tests when you are planning to see other people.

“All of this makes a difference and is the reason why we have been able to start lifting restrictions and can look ahead to a much better spring and summer.”

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update: First Minister’s statement – 18 January 2022