Tag: public health

First Minister: ‘Progress remains very fragile’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh:

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us for today’s briefing.

I want to start as I always do with an update on some of the key statistics, in relation to COVID-19 in Scotland.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, I can confirm that there have been 10,521 positive cases confirmed, which is an increase of 197 from yesterday.

A total of 1,762 patients are currently in hospital with either confirmed or suspected COVID-19, that is an increase of 27 from yesterday.

A total of 134 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That is an increase of one since yesterday.

I should say at this point that despite these occasional fluctuations, overall these statistics for hospital and intensive care admissions still give us cause for cautious optimism.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 2,380 patients who had tested positive for the virus have been now able to leave hospital, and I wish them well.

On a much sadder note, I have to report that in the last 24 hours, 13 deaths have been registered of patients who had been confirmed through a test as having the virus, and that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement to 1,262.

It is worth highlighting again, indeed it’s important that I do so, that although people can now register deaths on Sundays, we do know that from recent weeks that the figures that we report on Mondays, of deaths which were registered on a Sunday, tend to be relatively low. That means the figure I report tomorrow maybe significantly larger than today’s.

And of course, once again, I want to stress and indeed reflect on the fact that the numbers I read out here every day are not just statistics.

They are individuals whose loss is a source of grief and distress to family and friends. So once again, I want to send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus.

I also want to thank as I always do, our health and care workers, who continue to do extraordinary work in the most difficult of circumstances.

And again, place on record my thanks to essential workers the length and breadth of the country, whose dedication each and every day is helping to keep vital services running.

Tomorrow, on international workers’ memorial day, the Scottish Government will join a minute’s silence at 11am to honour those frontline workers.

Particularly, though of course not exclusively, health and care workers,  who have sadly lost their lives while working to tackle this pandemic.

I invite all of you at home, and those taking part in essential work across the country, to join us at that time tomorrow.

The silence will provide an opportunity to pay tribute to those who have died as a result of their work to serve, care for and save others.

It will be a further reminder that, of all the duties government bears during a situation like this, the most vital is our obligation to help to keep care and health workers safe.

I want to stress again today that I and the Scottish Government are acutely aware of that responsibility, and will work each and every day to do everything we can to fulfil that obligation.

I have two things I want to comment on this morning. The first is to reflect a little bit more on some of the statistics I have just reported.

I know that it might not feel this way, since the numbers that I am reporting each day, particularly those on the number of people who are dying, are always far higher than we want them to be – but it is nevertheless the case that we are now seeing some real signs of progress.

The number of people in intensive care has fallen by around a third in the last fortnight, from the figure I would have reported to you two weeks ago today.

The number of people in hospital, which was rising sharply in the first 10 days of this month, has also now broadly stabilised and the trend there may also now be a downward one.

Our NHS, while working incredibly hard and in the most difficult of circumstances, has not been overwhelmed, which just a few weeks ago we really feared that it might be.

Of course, we are not yet seeing a definite fall in the number of people who are dying each day from the virus.

However, as we have always said, because of the way the illness progresses, that will be the last daily number that we do start to see declining, and we hope to see that in the next couple of weeks.

But we do have evidence that the actions that all of us, all of you watching at home are taking, are making a real and a positive difference.

Your efforts are working, so again today I want to thank you for that.

However, and I realise that this is a less welcome and much more difficult point for me to make, this progress remains very fragile and now is a time for all of us to exercise careful caution. It is certainly not a time to throw caution to the wind.

The margins we think we are working within, in respect to the reproduction number – that crucial R number that I spoke about last week, are very narrow.

At this stage, even a slight easing up in the restrictions in place now, could send the reproduction rate back towards or above one, and the virus would then start to spread very quickly again.

Within days of that, all the indicators that are suggesting progress now, would start to go in the wrong direction again.

That would mean more cases, more hospital and intensive care admissions and sadly, more deaths.

So for all our sakes, and to protect the progress that together we’ve made, all of the restrictions currently in place need to remain in place, for now.

The job is not done yet – we need you to stay the course for a bit longer.

Of course, we are now thinking about the ways in which we can begin to ease the lockdown a bit when it is safer to do so, although we can’t yet put dates on any of that.

And as I said last week, lifting lockdown will not be a flick of a switch moment. We will instead be considering gradual and careful variations.

It important and necessary to do that work now, and we are doing that work now, and as I said last week, I think it is really important to engage you in that work in an open and transparent way.

So I can confirm that in the coming days, I will say more about the different options under consideration, and how we are going about assessing those.

But let me stress again that the current restrictions are still in place. We have to stick with them for now, in order to be able to relax things in future.

As well as the impact on all of us as individuals, I absolutely understand the anxieties of business, and I am acutely aware of the social and health impacts of economic damage.

But let me make this point – a premature easing up on restrictions, if it led to the virus running out of control again, would not help your business or the economy. In fact, it would make the economic damage even worse.

That’s why I am asking businesses as well as individuals to continue to do the right things, as indeed the vast majority of you have been doing already, for which you have my deep gratitude.

So if you are a business on the list of those required by law to close, then obviously you should remain closed.

But if you are not in that category but chose to close voluntarily at the start of the lockdown, and are now thinking of reopening – our view is that you should not contemplate doing so, unless you can comply fully with existing guidance, and are able to change your working practices to ensure safe social distancing at all times.

The precautionary principle that I have spoken about before still applies, for the protection of your workers and for your customers.

And for all of us, not just businesses. If you are now going out and about a little bit more than you were at the start of the lockdown, then you really shouldn’t be.

Because you might be putting yourselves, and your loved ones at risk.

Fundamentally, the basic restrictions of lockdown continue to apply.

You should only leave home for essential purposes like buying food or medicine, or exercising.

If you do leave the house, you should stay two metres apart from other people, and not meet up with people from other households.

And you should wash your hands thoroughly and regularly.

As I say every day, I know that all of this is difficult, and I know that it gets more difficult with every day that passes but it remains essential.

As I’ve said many times, and again today, any easing up right now would risk us seeing the virus surge upwards again.

So please, please stick with it, so we can continue to make progress together, and accelerate hopefully, the stage at which we can begin a process of restoring some normality to our lives.

The other issue I want to very briefly update on relates to skills.

Skills Development Scotland have updated their ‘My World of Work’ website to help people find free courses.

This new service has been developed with the support of the Open University in Scotland, and it highlights free courses run by 12 providers in areas like digital technology, business studies, and languages.

In the coming weeks and months, we will expand the range of courses available, by working with colleges and universities.

We are also working with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations, who are all developing similar initiatives, in order to highlight the courses they offer.

I‘m aware that doing courses like this may not be an option for everyone. If you have caring responsibilities, or if you have volunteered to help others, time to study might be pretty limited.

But for some people, maybe especially, though not exclusively, people who are currently furloughed, or have been made unemployed, it could make sense to develop new skills during this period.

We hope that this initiative will help people to do that, safely and free of charge.

It’s a good example of the importance of digital public services, and I’m grateful to Skills Development Scotland for establishing this site so quickly.

The courses are open to anyone. So if you are interested then go to myworkofwork.co.uk where you will find the free courses under the ‘Learn and train’ section of the main menu.

That concludes my update for today.  Before I pass on to the Chief Medical Officer, and then the Health Secretary, I simply want to end by thanking again each and every one of you for doing the right thing, and staying at home.

I know it’s difficult, but it is as I hope I’ve demonstrated today, also making a difference.

The steps we are all taking are helping to slow the spread of the virus, as we wanted to do.

They are helping to protect the NHS as we wanted to do, and they are, notwithstanding the figures I have to report to you every day, helping to save lives.

So please stick with them, and thank you for doing so.

Remembering the workers who lost their lives to Covid-19 at work

Today is International Workers’ Memorial Day, when trade unions around the world remember workers who lost their lives and commit to keep the living safe.

This is the story of Peter, Mary, Cheryl, Zeeshan and Emeka – five UK workers who were taken by Covid-19.

Today is International Workers’ Memorial Day, when trade unions around the world remember workers who lost their lives and commit to keep the living safe.

This year we especially remember the frontline workers who lost their lives to Covid-19 while looking after our loved ones and keeping our country running.

We will be forever in debt to the workers who have died during this pandemic – our nurses, doctors, care staff and other essential workers.

Remember the dead, fight for the living.

Minute’s silence

At 11am today – Tuesday 28th April – take part in the minute’s silence.

It will be a moment to pay tribute to the sacrifice made of so many workers during the pandemic, to remember those who’ve sadly lost their lives, and to thank all those who continue to do vital work at great risk.

The initiative is supported by the government, and reps may wish to request employers mark it, by asking the workforce to cease work for one minute at 11am.

Help spread the word about the minute’s silence, by encouraging as many friends and colleagues to take part, whether in their workplace of at home.

You can quickly spread the word by posting this tweet, sharing this Facebook status or asking your contacts on WhatsApp to join you in taking part in the silence.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “For every minute this pandemic continues, people are making extraordinary sacrifices to keep us safe and run our vital services.

“The least we can all do is spare a moment to pay our respects and show our gratitude to all the key workers who have lost their lives.”

The silence is also an opportunity to think about all those workers who are continuing to keep the country safe and functioning, says UNISON.

Society of Occupational Medicine calls for a goal of zero workplace deaths due to COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) is today renewing its call for the UK government to prevent any further work-related deaths.

Scores of UK healthcare workers have already died from COVID-19 infections and their deaths will be marked today at 11am with a moment’s silence. But at SOM, we do not believe that work-related fatalities due to COVID-19 exposure are inevitable. In fact, we believe a goal of zero work-caused fatalities is achievable.

Today is the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, an initiative supported by the United Nations. SOM backs the aim of raising awareness on the adoption of safe practices in workplaces and the role that occupational safety and health (OSH) services play.

As politicians discuss the end of the lockdown and people plan their return to work, we believe it is essential that all employers conduct risk assessments to ensure the safety of all employees.

With the proper application of safe systems of work and the use of a hierarchy of control, no worker should die of work-acquired COVID-19.

Concern has been raised about the shortcomings of and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), but PPE should be considered the lowest form of protection. Employers must consider a range of controllable factors in the work environment and this includes the use of design, engineering and administrative controls.

SOM is calling for robust and increasing access to occupational health (OH). The need for advice from occupational health doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists, hygienists, ergonomists etc. is required. The need to protect our workers has never been greater and is the core role of OSH.

SOM is also supporting a multidisciplinary drive across sectors to raise awareness, share knowledge and engage employees in solutions. It is encouraging workplaces to design-in exposure prevention measures as advised by the Health and Safety Executive – helping employees take the opportunity to better understand the risks and demonstrate good practice in their work.

Dr Will Ponsonby, Society of Occupational Medicine President said: “The UK could and should have aimed for a target of zero work-caused fatalities in this pandemic. The need to protect our workers has never been greater, and that goal must be put in place as the foundation for all future planning.”

Heart Research UK: Healthy Heart Tips

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK

Physical activity for adults while staying at home

At a time when gyms are closed and the population is being asked to stay at home, finding ways to keep active can be challenging. Regular physical activity is strongly associated with a reduced risk of chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as improving mental health.

Even small increases in physical activity can positively impact on health. Heart Research UK have some tips to help you meet the recommended amount of physical activity while staying at home.

How much physical activity is recommended?

The Government recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity each week.

It is also recommended that adults engage in strengthening activities on two days each week, such as lifting weights or press ups. If you are not yet in the habit of doing this amount of physical activity, you can start small and build up to the recommended amount over time.

Moderate Intensity Activities

(150 minutes weekly)

Your heart will beat faster, you will breathe harder, you will get warmer and you can probably maintain a conversation

E.g. Brisk Walking or cycling

Vigorous Intensity Activities

(75 minutes weekly)

Your heart will beat rapidly, you will breathe much harder, you will get warmer and it will be difficult to have a conversation

E.g. Running or football

Replace your daily commute with physical activity

If you are working at home, you may be saving time that would normally be spent on commuting to and from work. Why not put this time to good use by scheduling in some physical activity. For example, you could go for a brisk walk, jog or cycle outdoors or walk briskly around the house, including going up and down flights of stairs.

Find a range of exercises you can do inside your home

Find exercises that you can do in short bursts of ten minutes or more, at regular intervals throughout the day. For example, you could try some gentle weight-lifting, using cans of baked beans. The NHS provide tips for exercising without gym equipment on their Website

Don’t be a couch potato

Rather than spending your evenings sitting on the sofa without moving much, why not try a few gentle exercises, such as leg raises, while watching your favourite TV show.

Examples of some exercises you can do from your sofa can be found on the NHS website, and you can find lots more healthy tips, advice and recipes at heartresearch.org.uk.

If it was urgent before COVID-19, it is urgent now

A message from Dr Scott Davidson, Deputy Medical Director for Acute and Dr Kerri Neylon, Deputy Medical Director for Primary Care at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde:

We understand the COVID-19 pandemic may have made people anxious about accessing healthcare services in the same manner they would previously have done. 

However, we would like to reassure everybody that we have both the capacity, and the patient pathways in place to ensure anyone requiring urgent hospital care, COVID-19 or non-COVID-19, is appropriately and safely assessed.

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 that are deteriorating including persistent fever, worsening cough or breathlessness then please call NHS24 on 111.  This may involve being assessed at one of our established COVID-19 Community Assessment Centres.

For all other health issues please do not delay in contacting your GP as you normally would. It is incredibly important that if you do have symptoms that are of significant concern and may reflect an underlying serious illness such as cancer, that you are assessed as quickly as is possible.

Our GPs are all open and you will initially be assessed over the phone by a clinician who you can talk to about your symptoms. If required, a follow up video consultation or face-to-face appointment will take place at your practice.

For patients suspected of having cancer, please rest assured if you are referred on to the hospital that our hospital based specialty teams will arrange assessment for you as quickly as is possible.

We have all had to make changes to the way we work due to COVID-19 and it may be that you are offered a telephone or video (attend anywhere) appointment with your consultant, rather than visiting the outpatient clinic. You may be offered a test such as a specialized scan as a first assessment, with appropriate advice, reassurance, or, a follow up appointment and plan for further investigations, if required.

Please be reassured that every precaution has been taken to shield you from COVID-19. If you do require to visit a hospital site, our staff will work with you to provide specific times to attend via safe pathways separate from other patients. If transport is required, we can provide that as well.

All our staff are trained in the correct procedures and will be wearing appropriate PPE to ensure that neither you, nor anyone else is put at risk.

Your safety and wellbeing are our utmost priorities, and the sooner you are able to be assessed, the sooner we can put you on the appropriate care pathway.

Remember, if it was urgent before COVID-19, it is urgent now

Environment Secretary’s statement on coronavirus: Sunday 26 April

UK Environment Secretary George Eustace spoke at the daily government press conference on 26 April 2020 to give the latest update on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s Downing Street Press Conference. I’m pleased to be joined today by Stephen Powis, the National Medical Director of NHS England.

Before I update you on the latest developments in the food supply chain, let me first give you an update on the latest data from the COBR coronavirus data file. Through the government’s ongoing monitoring and testing programme, as of today:

  • 669,850 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the UK, including 29,058 tests carried out yesterday;
  • 152,840 people have tested positive, that’s an increase of 4,463 cases since yesterday;
  • 15,953 people are currently in hospital with the coronavirus in the UK, down from 16,411 on 25 April.

And sadly, of those hospitalised with the virus, 20,732 have now died. That is an increase of 413 fatalities since yesterday.

We express our deepest condolences to the families and friends of these victims.

At the beginning of the outbreak of this virus we saw significant problems in panic buying. That episode quickly subsided and food availability now is back to normal levels and has been for several weeks. All supermarkets have introduced social distancing measures to protect both their staff and their customers and it is essential that shoppers respect these measures.

The food supply chain has also seen a significant reduction in staff absence over recent weeks. As staff who had been self-isolating through suspected coronavirus symptoms have returned to work.

So absence levels are down from a peak of typically 20% in food businesses three weeks ago to less than 10% at the end of last week and in some cases individual companies reporting absences as low as 6%.

We have put in place measures to support the clinically vulnerable. So far 500,000 food parcels have been delivered to the shielded group, that is those who cannot leave home at all due to a clinical condition that they have.

In addition, the major supermarkets have agreed to prioritise delivery slots for those in this shielded group. So far over 300,000 such deliveries have been made, enabling people to shop normally and choose the goods that they want to buy.

We recognise that there are others who are not clinically vulnerable and therefore are not in that shielded group but who may also be in need of help.

Perhaps through having a disability or another type of medical condition, or indeed, being unable to draw on family and neighbours to help them. We have been working with local authorities to ensure that those people can be allocated a volunteer shopper to help them get their food needs. Charities such as Age UK and others can now also make also direct referrals on the Good Samaritan App to locate volunteers for those in need.

Many supermarkets have taken steps to increase the number of delivery slots that they have. At the beginning of this virus outbreak there were typically 2.1 million delivery slots in the entire supermarket chain.

That has now increased to 2.6 million, and over the next couple of weeks we anticipate that that will grow further to 2.9 million. So supermarkets have taken steps to increase their capacity but while this capacity has expanded, it will still not be enough to meet all of the demand that is out there.

Some supermarkets have already chosen to prioritise some vulnerable customers with a proportion of the delivers slots that they have and others have offered to work with us and also local authorities to help establish a referral system so that when somebody is in desperate need, a local authority is able to make a referral to make sure that they can get a priority slot.

As we look forward more generally towards the next stage in our battle against this virus, there are encouraging signs of progress, but before we consider it safe to adjust any of the current social distancing measures, we must be satisfied that we have met the five tests set out last week by the First Secretary.

Those tests mean that the NHS can continue to cope;

  • that the daily death rate falls sustainably and consistently;
  • that the rate of infection is decreasing; and operational challenges have been met;
  • and, most important of all, that there is no risk of a second peak.

For now, the most important thing we can all do to stop the spread of the coronavirus is to stay at home, to protect the NHS and save lives.

I want to pay tribute to all those who are working throughout the food supply chain from farmers, manufacturers and retailers. The response of this industry to ensure that we have the food that we need has been truly phenomenal.

Thank you.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update Scotland: Sunday 26th April

Statement given by the Health Secretary Jeane Freeman at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh, on Sunday 26 April:

Good afternoon. Thanks once again to all of you for taking part in this media conference.

I want to start with an update on some of the key statistics in relation to COVID-19 in Scotland.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 10,324 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 273 from yesterday’s figures.

As always, let me be clear that these numbers will be an underestimate.

A total of 1,735 patients are in hospital with COVID-19 – this is a decrease of 13 from yesterday.

And a total of 133 people were last night in intensive care with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. This is a decrease of seven since yesterday.

It is with sadness that I report that 18 further deaths have been registered, of people who had tested positive for COVID-19. That takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measure, to 1,249.

As I have said previously at these Sunday briefings, these figures should be treated with some caution. Although deaths can be registered at weekends, registration numbers are usually relatively low. This should be taken into account when looking at today’s figures.

And of course, the number of deaths that is reported every day is so much more than a statistic. Each death represents an individual whose loss will be a source of grief and sorrow to many, and I want to extend my deepest condolences to all of those who have lost loved ones.

As Health Secretary, I also want to thank once again those who are working in our health and care sector, for the incredible work that you are doing.

Those thanks are due to everyone – the doctors and the nurses, the paramedics, the care home staff, the porters, the cooks, the healthcare assistants, the cleaners and many, many more.

Your work is crucial to the health and wellbeing of our country. You will have the same worries and anxieties as the rest of us but you go to work each day, putting that aside to care for others. All of us are truly grateful to you for everything that you are doing

I have two issues I want to update you on today. The first is about people volunteering to join or re-join the NHS and care workforce.

It is now almost four weeks since – as part of our ‘Scotland Cares’ campaign – we established a web portal for students, and former NHS and care workers, to apply to work in the NHS or the care sector, as they respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

In total, more than 22,000 people have now volunteered.

The volunteers include experienced former staff, doctors, nurses, social care professionals and nursing, medicine, midwifery, and Allied Health professional students who are either now graduated or coming towards the completion of their training.

We are working with NHS Education for Scotland, our health boards and the Scottish Social Services Council to ensure that volunteers can start work as quickly as possible – while still following the correct induction and training processes.

A number of volunteers have been placed with NHS boards, and more than 3,000 are completing their pre-employment checks – which are being fast-tracked – just prior to being deployed.

The Scottish Social Services Council has placed almost 150 people into work in the care sector, and a further 200 are ready and available for deployment.

Not everyone who has applied to help us will be needed immediately.

But please bear with us – your volunteering and your offer to bring your skills and your talents really does matter, and we will need you, as we go through this pandemic.

Having such a large number of volunteers really matters – it provides us with important flexibility, as we look at staffing needs through the different stages of this pandemic.

I am immensely grateful to everyone who has offered to support our NHS and care services in this way.

The second point I want to update you on is support for those who are shielding. That term, as you know, refers to approximately 160,000 people in Scotland, who are at the highest clinical risk from COVID-19, and who are therefore being asked to isolate themselves completely.

A text message service has been in place for almost a month now, so that people who are shielding can ask for support and receive information.

So far, more than 78,000 people have registered for the text service. I would encourage everyone who is shielding to register.

Even if you don’t need additional help at the moment, as many people don’t, registering will be useful if you ever do need that further help.

You should have received information on how to do that – letters to people who are shielding started to go out on 26th March. But I will also read out the number of our national helpline in a minute or so.

One of the services which you can request by text is free delivery of food packages. More than 80,000 food packages have been delivered so far.

In addition, six supermarkets are offering priority deliveries for people who are shielding.

Over 33,000 people have expressed an interest in these priority slots, and we have passed their information on to the participating supermarkets.

Supermarkets have also identified and contacted existing customers who are eligible for priority slots and many have already received deliveries.

And people who were not existing customers of any of the participating supermarkets, received texts last week with details of how to register.

If you don’t have a mobile phone, you can get access to these services through your local authority. Our national helpline will direct you to the local authority that applies to you.

It is a good way of finding information more generally about the support, which is available. The national helpline number is 0800 111 4000, and the line is open between 9am and 5pm every weekday.

I know for many of the people who are shielding, this is a worrying time, and also a very difficult time. Staying at home all the time is necessary for your own protection – but I know that it is even harder than the restrictions which are in place for everyone else.

We are determined to ensure that support is available for you throughout this time – so please, make use of that support if you need to.

Before I hand over to Fiona McQueen, our Chief Nursing Officer, and to Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director, I want to emphasise once again the importance of sticking to our public health guidance.

Stay at home – unless it is for essential purposes such as exercising once a day, or buying food or medicine.

When you do go out, stay two metres away from other people, and don’t meet up with people in other households.

And wash your hands thoroughly and regularly.

These restrictions are tough – and I know they get tougher as the weeks go by, and especially when the weather stays warm. But they continue to be essential. They are the way in which all of us can slow the spread of the virus, protect our NHS, and save lives.

So thank you once again to everyone who is doing the right thing and staying at home. You are making a difference, and you are saving lives, and I thank you very much indeed.

World Health Organisation: “We will only halt COVID-19 through solidarity”

Heads of state and global health leaders have made an unprecedented commitment to work together to accelerate the development and production of new vaccines, tests and treatments for COVID-19 and assure equitable access worldwide.

The COVID-19 pandemic has already affected more than 2.4 million people, killing up to 200,000 – including more than 20,000 in the UK. It is taking a huge toll on families, societies, health systems and economies around the world, and for as long as this virus threatens any country, the entire world is at risk.

There is an urgent need, therefore, while following existing measures to keep people physically distanced and to test and track all contacts of people who test positive, for innovative COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.

“We will only halt COVID-19 through solidarity,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Countries, health partners, manufacturers and the private sector must act together and ensure that the fruits of science and research can benefit everybody.”

Work has already started. Since January, WHO has been working with researchers from hundreds of institutions to develop and test vaccines, standardize assays and standardize regulatory approaches on innovative trial designs and define criteria to prioritize vaccine candidates.

The Organization has prequalified diagnostics that are being used all over the world, and more are in the pipeline. And it is coordinating a global trial to assess the safety and efficacy of four therapeutics against COVID-19.

The challenge is to speed up and harmonize processes to ensure that once products are deemed safe and effective, they can be brought to the billions of people in the world who need them.

Past experience, in the early days of HIV treatment, for example, and in the deployment of vaccines against the H1N1 outbreak in 2009, shows that even when tools are available, they have not been equally available to all.

On Friday, leaders came together at a virtual event, co-hosted by the World Health Organization, the President of France, the President of the European Commission, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The event was joined by the UN Secretary General, the AU Commission Chairperson, the G20 President, heads of state of France, South Africa, Germany, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Italy, Rwanda, Norway, Spain, Malaysia and the UK (represented by First Secretary of State Dominic Raab) – but one notable absentee was President of the United States of America, Donald Trump.

Health leaders from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), GAVI-the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, UNITAID, the Wellcome Trust, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (IFRC), the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (IFPMA), the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers’ Network (DCVMN), and the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (IGBA) committed to come together, guided by a common vision of a planet protected from human suffering and the devastating social and economic consequences of COVID-19, to launch this groundbreaking collaboration. They are joined by two Special Envoys:  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Gavi Board Chair and Sir Andrew Witty, former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline.

They pledged to work towards equitable global access based on an unprecedented level of partnership. They agreed to create a strong unified voice, to build on past experience and to be accountable to the world, to communities and to one another.

“Our shared commitment is to ensure all people have access to all the tools to prevent, detect, treat and defeat COVID-19,” said Dr Tedros. “No country and no organization can do this alone. The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator brings together the combined power of several organizations to work with speed and scale.”

Health leaders called on the global community and political leaders to support this landmark collaboration and for donors to provide the necessary resources to accelerate achievement of its objectives, capitalizing on the opportunity provided by a forthcoming pledging initiative that starts on 4 May 2020.

This initiative, spearheaded by the European Union, aims to mobilize the significant resources needed to accelerate the work towards protecting the world from COVID-19.

Mobile Testing Units are on their way

Mobile testing units, operated by the Armed Forces, will travel around the UK to increase access to coronavirus testing.

  • Units will respond to areas of highest demand, travelling to test frontline workers and the most vulnerable at sites including care homes, police stations and prisons
  • The new units will work alongside the country’s drive-through test sites, sending patient samples to the network of Lighthouse Labs, to rapidly increase the number of tests done each day.

Essential workers and the most vulnerable will receive increased access to coronavirus tests after the government unveiled a network of mobile testing units to travel where there is significant demand, including care homes, police stations and prisons.

The number of new mobile units is being scaled up after a successful pilot last week, which saw Department of Health and Social Care vehicles refitted to fully functioning testing sites, following a design developed by the Royal Engineers of the British Army. Today, there are 8 existing mobile units carrying out tests across the country, including in Salisbury, Southport and Teesside.

Mobile facilities can be set up in under 20 minutes, allowing the testing of hundreds of people each day and are now travelling to those most in need and hard to reach. Specially trained Armed Forces personnel will collect swabs at the mobile sites, before they are sent to mega-labs for processing. Those tested will receive results within 48 hours.

Rapid expansion of a network of mobile test units is now underway, with new units being fielded in the coming weeks and at least 96 ready to be deployed by the start of May.

This follows the announcement last week that other frontline workers would join the priority list for coronavirus testing, alongside the existing commitment to make sure patients and NHS staff are tested for the virus.

New mobile sites will travel to frontline workers in places including:

  • care homes
  • police stations
  • prisons
  • benefits centres
  • fire and rescue services

Testing Minister Lord Bethell said: “Everyone who needs a coronavirus test should be able to have access to one. New mobile testing units will travel the country to provide vital frontline workers with tests so those testing negative to safely return to work.

“We have built up capacity in the system with new testing facilities backed by Britain’s world-class scientists and industry partners. This means more workers can know if they have coronavirus if they have been demonstrating symptoms.

“Testing is key in our battle against coronavirus. We now have the ability to provide more people with the certainty they need to get back to the front line when it is safe to do so.”

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Our Armed Forces will help deliver testing to where it’s most needed, using a network of up to 96 mobile units that will be rolled out in the coming weeks.

“They will make sure our care sector get the testing required to remain in the frontline of the fight against this pandemic.”

National Testing Coordinator John Newton said: “Across the country we are creating new infrastructure to rapidly increase our capacity to test for coronavirus. New mobile testing units will help us achieve our goal of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day, providing tests to vital frontline workers wherever they need them.

“In a matter of weeks we have worked with Britain’s leading scientists, academics and industry partners to build scores of new testing facilities and Britain’s largest network of diagnostic labs in history. Each day we are delivering more coronavirus tests, and allowing more frontline staff testing negative for the virus to safely return to work.”

The government’s objective is to deploy 96 mobile testing units during the month of May – 92 will be staffed by the Armed Forces and a further 4, located in Northern Ireland, will be operated by civilian contractors. Five will be deployed in Scotland next week, with a further eight to follow.

Earlier this month the UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the UK government’s 5-pillar plan to rapidly scale up coronavirus testing across the UK. The new 5-pillar plan outlines the ambitions to:

  • pillar 1: scale up swab testing in PHE labs and NHS hospitals for those with a medical need and the most critical workers to 25,000 a day in England, with the aligned testing strategies of the NHS in the devolved administrations benefiting from PHE’s partnership with Roche through a central UK allocation mechanism
  • pillar 2: deliver increased commercial swab testing for critical key workers in the NHS across the UK, before then expanding to key workers in other sectors. There are now more than 30 drive-through sites collecting these samples across the UK
  • pillar 3: develop blood testing to help know if people across the UK have the right antibodies and so have high levels of immunity to coronavirus
  • pillar 4: conduct UK-wide surveillance testing to learn more about the spread of the disease and help develop new tests and treatments
  • pillar 5: create a new national effort for testing, to build a mass-testing capacity for the UK at a completely new scale

Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centres introduced

New centres to reduce the need to attend hospital

New measures have been introduced to help patients with emergency eye problems, reducing the need for them to attend hospital during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Backed by up to £3 million of Scottish Government funding, Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centres have been established in all health board areas.

New technology is also being trialled by NHS Grampian and NHS Forth Valley.

After a telephone consultation, some patients may be referred to optometrists within the treatment centres who can manage a wide range of conditions without further involvement from GPs or hospitals.

In Grampian and Forth Valley, live video and audio feeds between the centres and consultants in hospitals are also being used to enable more patients to be immediately diagnosed and treated.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “While services have changed dramatically over the last few weeks, my message is clear – if you are worried about your health in any way, please get in touch with your GP. The same applies to your vision – if you have experienced any problems with your sight, please contact your local high street optician as soon as possible.

“I would like to thank NHS Boards and the optometry and ophthalmology professions for their excellent collaboration in establishing, at pace, more than 50 Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centres across Scotland to manage patients without COVID-19 symptoms who need an emergency face-to-face consultation.

“I am pleased to see some NHS Boards are also using innovative new tele-ophthalmology technology. This means that more patients can be immediately diagnosed and treated in a community setting while gaining an expert opinion from the secondary care ophthalmology team.”

Patients without COVID-19 symptoms will be referred for an emergency face-to-face consultation after having a telephone triage or consultation with a community optometrist.

Only the Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centres will examine patients face-to-face. These premises have been provided with the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required to keep patients and practitioners safe. The centres have been established by each Board with guidance and support from Eyecare Scotland, the national clinical leads multi-professional group.

Routine eye care services were suspended on 23 March. Since then, community optometry practices have continued to provide emergency and essential eye care services to patients, enabled by a package of financial support measures from the Scottish Government.

This includes provision of monthly average practice income from NHS services and up to £3 million of funding for the provision of emergency and essential eye care services.

NHS Lothian has established an Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centre.

To access this service, patients must first phone their local optometry practice to be assessed over the phone. If a face-to-face appointment is necessary, then an appointment will be arranged for that patient. 

Further information, including an updated list of community optometry practices offering telephone assessments, can be found here: https://services.nhslothian.scot/EmergencyEyecareTreatmentCentre

Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Service: 

Annual diabetic retinopathy screening has been suspended until further notice because of COVID-19.  Look out for further updates.

PPE access extended to all social care providers

Everyone who provides social care will have access to appropriate PPE under new arrangements announced by the Scottish Health Secretary.

From Monday (27 April), local Hubs will distribute PPE supplies to the whole of the social care sector where normal supply routes have not been successful. These hubs will extend their provision to include all social care providers, and unpaid or family carers and personal assistants.

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, global supply chains have been put under immense pressure and that is why the Scottish Government has set up supplies of PPE to support the social care sector from the national stock.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “The Scottish Government values the importance of everyone who is providing social care and we want to ensure they have access to appropriate PPE.

“As we respond to the challenges from global scarcity of PPE, we have worked with partners to agree an improved model that will ensure all social care providers have access to supplies from national NHS stock.

“This has only been possible because of a shared aim to ensure the right PPE gets to the right people at the right time and to keep everyone safe.

“In the coming weeks, we will collectively monitor how this model is operating, identifying challenges quickly and taking action as we deal with the evolving nature of the pandemic.”

Health and Social Care spokesperson for COSLA, Councillor Stuart Currie said: “COSLA welcomes this announcement which will ensure PPE provision for unpaid and family carers and personal assistants. 

“Local Government has worked with partners across the sector to develop this model to ensure those who are supporting vulnerable people within their communities and all parts of the workforce have access to the PPE they need.”