Advice on safe and enjoyable Halloween celebrations
Families and children are being urged to avoid guising this Halloween to minimise the risk of spreading Coronavirus (COVID-19).Deputy First Minister John Swinney says the move is necessary to ensure people stay within the current restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings.
Advice on the Parent Club website suggests ways for families to have a safe Halloween at home including ideas around party games, fancy dress and storytelling.
For Bonfire Night, the advice includes guidelines around group sizes, distancing and FACTS precautions to reduce the temptation for people to hold gatherings and firework displays in their back gardens.
Mr Swinney said: “Under the current restrictions it is not possible to meet up indoors or in large groups outdoors, so the safest thing to do this year is to stay at home.
“I know guising is a big part of Halloween and children will be sad to miss out, but as door-to-door guising brings an additional and avoidable risk of spreading the virus, our clear advice for families is to avoid it.
“Children can still get dressed up and share jokes with their families, and our Parent Club guidance has lots of fun and creative ideas for families to enjoy a safe celebration at home.
“On Bonfire Night it is vital the public adhere to the rules on meeting up with other households to help stop the spread of the virus. We know that some people may consider using fireworks in their back gardens If you do plan on using fireworks this Bonfire Night, please do so responsibly and safely.
“Adapting alternative celebrations and sticking to the rules in place can go a huge way to ensuring everyone’s safety.”
Flagship venues are to receive funding as part of the ongoing emergency coronavirus (COVID-19) support for cultural and heritage organisations.The news comes as Scotland is allocated £97 million from the UK Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.
Capital Theatres – which operates the Festival Theatre, the King’s Theatre and The Studio in Edinburgh – will receive £500,000 in addition to £250,000 already awarded through the Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund to help weather the effects of the pandemic.
The Burrell Renaissance Project in Glasgow has been awarded £750,000 to help cover increased project costs caused by the COVID-19 crisis and V&A Dundee will receive £1 million of support.
The funding is part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to support culture and heritage sectors as they recover from the impacts of COVID-19. So far almost £98 million of emergency funding has been allocated.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Culture is vitally important to all of our lives, and the Scottish Government is determined to do everything within our powers to see the sector through this crisis. This includes providing financial support to our flagship cultural venues, as well as the work already underway to help smaller organisations and individuals within the culture sector.
“This latest funding announcement brings the Scottish Government’s total COVID-19 support package for our culture and heritage sectors to just under £98 million. We know further support will still be needed, and the major issues presented by the pandemic are not going away, which is why we will continue to work in partnership with the sector to support them to not only survive the pandemic but to thrive in future.”
CEO of Capital Theatres Fiona Gibson said: “Today’s emergency funding announcement from the Scottish Government for Capital Theatres is greatly appreciated. It is the short-term financial lifeline that we have campaigned tirelessly for in recent months.
“We would very much like to thank the Scottish Government for their support and recognition, acknowledging the crucial contribution our theatres provide to the local, national and cultural sector economies. This will enable us to continue supporting our core staff, freelancers and communities alike.”
Scottish Government emergency COVID-19 funding for cultural and heritage sectors also includes:
£12.5 million for Performing Arts Events Venues Relief Fund
£2.2 million for Grassroots Music Venues
£4 million for Museums Recovery and Resilience Fund
£10 million for the Events sector
£3.8 million for National Trust for Scotland to protect jobs
£15 million for a Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund
£5 million to address hardship faced by creative freelancers
£5 million to support artists developing new creative work that will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s recovery from COVID-19
£3.5 million for independent cinemas
£3 million for youth arts, including the Youth Music Initiative
£21.3 million for Historic Environment Scotland
£5.9 million to support heritage organisations through committed grants
£270,000 for the New Lanark Trust World Heritage site
£4 million for historic environment recovery
£1 million for Scotland’s Science Centres
And in England, 35 of the country’s leading cultural organisations and venues will be the first to receive grants between £1 and £3 million from the UK Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced this morning.
£75 million will protect some of the nation’s most significant stages, from the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe and the internationally renowned Sadler’s Wells to major theatres like the Old Vic, Sheffield Crucible, Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal Plymouth.
These famous organisations have been essential stepping stones for some of the UK’s brightest stars including Adrian Lester, Abi Morgan, Mark Rylance and David Tennant.
More than £500 million has now been allocated from the Culture Recovery Fund to nearly 2,500 cultural organisations and venues of all sizes, including cinemas, heritage sites, museums, circuses, festivals and comedy clubs across the country, to help them plan for reopening and restarting performances and programmes.
The certainty and security provided by these grants will also help to support organisations as they plan for the future and create opportunities for freelancers.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “As part of our unprecedented £1.57 billion rescue fund, today we’re saving British cultural icons with large grants of up to £3 million – from Shakespeare’s Globe to the Sheffield Crucible.
“These places and organisations are irreplaceable parts of our heritage and what make us the cultural superpower we are. This vital funding will secure their future and protect jobs right away.”
All four nations are benefiting from the UK Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, with £188 million barnetted to the Devolved Administrations to run their own process – £97 million for Scotland (see above), £59 million for Wales and £33 million for Northern Ireland.
This funding will enable them to increase the support already available to the arts and cultural sectors in each nation.
Five level plan to vary rules for rapid but proportionate response to COVID-19.
A five-level framework which will allow for a refreshed strategic approach to suppressing Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreaks across Scotland has been published.
The framework indicates different levels of protection that might be needed based on different levels of transmission for the virus. It will allow for rapid but proportionate responses on both a local and national basis using a transparent range of measures and options.
The framework will comprise five protection levels. ‘Level 0’ is effectively the same level of protection as the Route Map Phase 3 measures Scotland reached in August and will act as a baseline, with four levels above that designed to apply increasing protection from the virus in areas according to prevalence, the risk to communities and the need to protect the NHS.
Levels 1, 2 and 3 will be broadly equivalent to the UK Government levels to offer some uniformity with measures south of the border. Levels will be reviewed on a regular basis.
Ongoing financial support is set out in the framework and will be available to businesses which are required to close or which can remain open but will be directly affected by restrictions. The Scottish Government will work with local authorities to ensure grants are made available quickly and efficiently.
In the coming days the Scottish Government will engage with local government, stakeholders, economic groups and other partners, prior to a final version of the strategic framework being debated in parliament next Tuesday (27 October).
Further details on which local authority areas of Scotland will fall under which levels will be announced following discussions with directors of public health and local authorities, taking on board recommendations from the national incident management team, before coming into force on 2 November.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It has become increasingly clear that we need to update our approach to tackling Coronavirus to adapt to this latest phase of the pandemic. The draft strategic framework we are publishing sets out how we intend to do that.
“It tries to balance different types of harms. But it is worth stressing that if we allow the virus to run out of control then that will exacerbate every other harm.
“In the coming days, we will listen to views from stakeholders on any suggested changes they might have, or how they would like to see it implemented. Although the framework we have published is new, the principles behind it will be familiar.
“I know that when people hear the daily figures it’s easy to feel as though the hard sacrifices we are all living with are not making a difference. But by taking these difficult steps we will help suppress the virus, and that is why I am asking everyone to stick with it.”
The Scottish Government will provide £2 million of funding to mitigate the financial challenges facing the residential outdoor education sector as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
The package will include funding to help centres provide safe, impactful outdoor learning experiences to support young people’s education and wellbeing through this challenging period.
Science Minister Richard Lochhead has written to MSPs to outline the package of support. He said: “I met representatives from the sector recently to discuss their concerns and request for funding. I am acutely aware of the challenges the sector has had to face in the wake of the restrictions imposed to supress the spread of COVID-19.
“Outdoor learning is an important aspect of Scotland’s curriculum. It can play a vital role in supporting children’s wellbeing and attainment and we are fully committed to supporting outdoor education providers. I hope this funding, along with third sector and youth work funding streams which are already available, alleviates some of the pressures facing the sector during these challenging times and allows them to offer meaningful experiences to young people.
“Funding on its own will not address all of the challenges that are faced at the current time. We will continue to engage with local authorities to support the important role that outdoor education centres and their staff can play during the period when overnight residential stays are not permitted for public health reasons.”
Discussions on administration of the package of support continue. Details of how to apply will be made available as soon as possible.
Alongside the new fund, the Scottish Government will produce a package of communication and support materials to local authorities and schools in order to publicise the opportunities for outdoor learning experiences in their area.
Guidance for schools and local authorities on the positive contribution made by outdoor education centres, developed by the Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education, was published in August 2020.
Guidance for school visits and trips to outdoor education centres is here
Guidance on the educational value of outdoor education centres (published August 2020, funded by Scottish Government) is here
Pupils in Scotland have higher than average awareness of global issues, according to an international survey.
Data from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) on ‘global competence’ – the ability to examine global and intercultural issues and understand and appreciate different perspectives – also found pupils in Scotland have very positive attitudes towards immigrants and respect for people from other parts of the world.
The 2018 assessment included a test which measured pupils’ knowledge and understanding of global issues and the world views of others. Only two countries out of 27 who took part scored higher than Scotland.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “One of the core aims of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) is that Scotland’s young people become responsible citizens, with knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland’s place in it. This survey shows CfE is working – our pupils are highly aware of issues beyond our borders and they are respectful of people from other parts of the world.
“Since this data was collected, a wide-ranging action plan has been published to make it easier for schools to cover important global issues such as climate change and a sustainable economy. This continuing work will help teachers equip our young people with the skills and knowledge to be active global citizens so they can contribute to sustainability goals, flourish in the global economy and contribute to the international community.”
The survey showed:
Scotland’s average score in the global competence assessment was 534. It was one of five countries to score at least 50 points above the average
Two countries (Singapore and Canada) achieved an average score higher than Scotland, two countries/economies were similar (Hong Kong and Taiwan), and 22 countries were lower
Twelve per cent of students in Scotland were at Level 5, the highest level in the assessment, compared to 4.3% of students across all countries. Only two countries had a higher proportion of students assessed at Level 5
Based on responses to a Global Competence questionnaire, students in Scotland had an above average respect for people from other countries, including respecting their values and opinions
Students in Scotland were among the 10 countries/economies (out of 66) with the most positive attitudes towards immigrants
Sex worker charity Umbrella Lane has been advocating in the media and the community to fight The Equally Safe Consultation put forward by Ash Denham and published by the Scottish Government.
Having worked to build trust and support sex workers in Scotland since 2015, Umbrella Lane has seen the lack of awareness about the realities of Sex Work and the stigma Workers face.
Therefore, taking a holistic approach, Umbrella Lane have decided to take the voices of their community to the streets of Glasgow on the 23rd October and Edinburgh on the 24thOctober to raise awareness around #TakingBackOurVoice campaign.
The campaign aims to humanise the people affected by the consultation and will highlight the devastating effects the consultation will have on the safety, health and human rights of the Sex Worker community, should it be passed.
While the Equally Safe Consultation is based on misinformation and over generalisations; Umbrella Lane and Sex Workers have fact on our side, with numerous studies showing the dangerous effects of criminalisation, and the benefits of full decriminalisation as a solution.
Join Umbrella Lane to hear what sex workers have to say about the consultation and how you can support us in submitting a response.
*We will be wearing face masks and practicing mandatory social distancing, track and trace is recommended for participating in the event.*
Statement given by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Wednesday 21 October 2020:
Good afternoon, thank you for joining us. I will start with the usual daily report on the COVID statistics. The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 1,739.
That represents 19.8% of people newly tested, and 9.7% of the total number of tests carried out.
The total number of cases in Scotland since the start of the pandemic therefore now stands at 50,903.
Of yesterday’s cases 605 were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 520 in Lanarkshire, 250 in Lothian and 105 in Ayrshire and Arran.
The remaining cases were spread across nine other health board areas.
Now I would remind you that an element of today’s cases will be catch up on the past few days given the backlog in testing that we’ve had over the weakened, and that I have spoken about earlier in the week.
I can also confirm that 873 people are currently in hospital which is an increase of 49 from yesterday.
And 73 people are in intensive care, that is three more than the figure yesterday, although again, for them who follow these figures very closely,
Let me point out that yesterday’s figure was revised in the course of the day from 69 to 70. So today’s 73 is an increase of three.
I very much regret though, to report that in the past 24 hours, 28 additional deaths have been registered of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days.
That is the highest number of deaths we’ve reported in the daily figures since the 21st May. And it takes the total number of deaths, under this measurement, to 2,653.
National Records of Scotland has also just published its weekly update, which you will recall includes cases where COVID is a suspected or contributory cause of death.
Today’s update shows that by Sunday just passed, the total number of registered deaths linked to COVID, under that wider definition, was 4,376.
75 of those deaths were registered last week, that is 50 more than in the week before – and that is the highest weekly total since early June. 58 of the 75 deaths took place in hospitals, 12 in care homes, and five at home or in other non-institutional settings.
Every single death, of course, represents the loss of somebody who was special and loved and I want, again today, to send my deepest condolences to all those families and networks of friends across the country who have been impacted in this most extreme and cruel way by the impact of this virus.
I want, though, to just give a point of context though, and it doesn’t in anyway take away from the very upsetting nature of the statistics I have just reported to you.
Today’s figures on hospital and ICU admissions and the figures I’ve just reported on deaths are obviously clearly concerning – and we take them very seriously as we consider our response and our next steps in the fight against the virus – however, as Jason will touch on briefly as well, these figures, it must be remembered, relate to people who could have been infected with the virus perhaps two to three weeks ago.
So they should not be taken as an indication that the current restrictions we are all living under are not having any impact.
I’ll say a little bit more about the early indications that the impact that is having later on.
My main update for today though concerns the temporary restrictions on hospitality which we introduced two weeks ago, and which legally took effect on Friday 9th October.
As I said yesterday, we will publish, and I can tell you now that we will do this on Friday, a new strategic framework for managing the virus, and indeed living with the virus through the winter and into the early parts of next year.
That strategic framework will include different levels of restrictions that can be applied, either nationally or regionally, depending on the level of infection across the country or in different parts of the country.
Subject to parliamentary approval of the broad framework, it is intended that the levels will be applied from the 2nd November and reviewed regularly thereafter.
The detail of what level will initially apply to each part of the country will be assessed in the coming days and set out in advance of 2nd November.
It is important for me to be clear at this stage that given the nature of what we are dealing with, and given some of the numbers I’ve just reported, all be it with the caveats attached to them that I did.
We can’t rule out that this new approach will entail further extension of existing restrictions, or perhaps even tougher restrictions for all or parts of the country, if we think that is necessary to safeguard health and life.
But that will depend on up to date assessments of the impact of our current restrictions, and it’s also important to be very clear that all of our decisions will be balanced by an assessment of the wider harms that COVID and the measures we are taking to tackle it are having, and that includes the wider harms to health and wellbeing and to jobs and livelihoods.
The timescale for introducing the new levels system leaves us with a short term decision about the current temporary restrictions on hospitality. These are currently due to expire on Monday coming, the 26th October.
However, following a meeting of the Cabinet this morning, I can confirm that we have decided to extend these measures for a further week.
This is first and foremost a public health decision. Although we have grounds for cautious optimism that the restrictions are having an effect, the clinical advice to Cabinet is that it would not be safe to lift them as early as Monday.
But, secondly, the extension allows us to transition more smoothly to the new levels system that we hope that will be introduced on 2nd November.
So I can confirm that the current temporary restrictions will now apply until 6am on Monday 2nd November. And that of course includes the tighter restrictions that are currently in place across the Central Belt.
Let me run through what those restrictions are.
But before I do so, let me take the opportunity to remind everyone that the rule against visiting other people’s houses also remains in place for now.
Because that is best way of limiting transmission from one household to another.
Let me run through the wider restrictions.
Firstly – and with the exception of the five Central Belt health board areas that I’ll come onto in a moment – the restrictions mean that pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes can only operate indoors from 6 am to 6 pm.
These premises cannot serve alcohol indoors at any time, although they can serve alcohol outdoors up until 10 pm.
In addition, hotel restaurants can serve residents indoors beyond 6pm, but not with alcohol.
We also introduced much tighter restrictions in the five health board regions where case numbers have been especially high those are Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Lothian and Forth Valley.
In these areas, all licensed bars and restaurants must remain closed indoors and outdoors, although takeaways are permitted.
And again there is an exception for hotels serving food and non-alcoholic drinks to guests. And cafes – whether licensed or unlicensed – can stay open until 6 pm to prevent social isolation. But they must not serve alcohol.
In addition in these areas, snooker and pool halls, indoor bowling alleys, casinos and bingo halls will remain closed for an additional week.
Contact sports for people aged 18 and over will also remain suspended – with an exception for professional sports.
Indoor group exercise activities will not be allowed for people aged 18 and over for that further week – although gyms and pools can remain open for individual exercise.
And outdoor live events are not permitted in those five regions.
Finally, we continue to advise people very strongly who live in these Central Belt areas, not to travel outside the health board area that they live in, if they do not need to do so.
Similarly, people in other parts of Scotland should not travel to those areas unless it is absolutely necessary.
I know all of this is really unwelcome and these restrictions are harsh. They are harsh financially for many individuals and businesses, and they are harsh emotionally for all of us.
So I want to stress again, firstly that none of these decisions are being taken lightly. This is all about trying to save lives and minimise the health damage that this virus we know is capable of doing.
But I also want to stress that we do believe that these restrictions do make a difference, and indeed we believe they may already be making a difference.
Even allowing for today’s figures, though it is and I must insert this note of caution, it is too early to be certain about any of this this.
But even allowing for today’s figures we think that we may be starting to see a reduction in the rate at which new cases are increasing.
So the early data underlines the importance of all of us sticking with the restrictions that are in place.
Now given that today’s Cabinet decision today requires many business to stay closed or continue to restrict their trading, I also want to confirm today that we will extend the support, the financial support available to them, to cover the additional week.
Full details of that support and how it applies to different sizes of business will be published online. But there will be extensions to both the Business Support Grants that we offer, and the support we are providing at this stage for the job furlough scheme.
All businesses will receive, proportionally, the same level of support over the extension 7 days – for each day of closure – as they did in the first 16 days of restrictions.
And, for this limited period, as I say, we are also extending the Scottish Governments furlough support scheme for an extra week as well.
Now later in the week, when we publish the new Strategic Approach to managing COVID, we will also set out our planned levels of support for the future in the event of further restrictions.
It is important to be clear at this stage, and this is a point that I will speak more about in days to come, but I want to be clear about it now.
That while the level of support we set out in the strategic framework will be the maximum level of support that the Scottish Government is able to provide within the resources available to us at this time, it is the minimum that we think is necessary.
In common with other devolved administrations and indeed many councils now across England, we will continue to pursue urgent discussions with the Treasury about the provision of adequate support and funding to support businesses and individuals through the kinds of restrictions that are likely to be necessary in the period ahead.
Now I’ve spent, for good reason, a bit of time talking about the extension to the temporary restrictions, but I want to draw my remarks to a close by just giving my usual reminder of the general rules and guidelines that we are asking everybody to follow right now.
Again let me remind people living in Lothian, Lanarkshire, Forth Valley, Ayrshire and Arran and Greater Glasgow and Clyde not to travel outside their own health board area unless they really need to do so.
Let me remind everybody, all of us across the country that we should not visit other people’s homes right now except for very specific purposes. If you are providing childcare or looking after a vulnerable person.
And when we do meet people from other households – outdoors, or in indoor public places that are open, for example cafés, we shouldn’t be meeting in groups of more than 6, and those 6 people should not be from more than two households.
Please don’t share cars with other people outside your household if you can avoid it.
Work from home if you can and download the Protect Scotland app, if you haven’t already done so.
And finally;
remember to wear Face coverings when you are out and about
remember to Avoid crowded places.
remember Clean your hands and hard surfaces
remember keep Two metres away people in other households.
and remember Self isolate, and get tested, if you have any of the symptoms of COVID.
Thank you all for the sacrifices you continue to make.
It will make a difference, I know it is hard but we must stick with it in order to continue that process of getting COIVID under control.
Extra week of closures and new tiered restrictions could be end of Scotland’s pubs as we know them: CAMRA
Responding to the First Minister’s announcement for further restrictions for pubs, CAMRA’s Director for Scotland Joe Crawford said: “The First Minister’s announcement of an extra week of pub closures and the prospect of further lockdowns and restrictions from 2nd November has come as a hammer blow to pubs and breweries across the country.
“These businesses feel like they are being offered up as a sacrificial lamb without sufficient evidence that pubs – who have done everything they have been asked to track and trace customers and make their venues COVID-secure – are responsible for transmission of the virus.
“The Scottish Government must urgently review and improve their support package to make sure all our pubs and breweries get the financial compensation and support they need to get through this extended closure period – and, crucially, also during the tiered restrictions that will follow.
“In addition, ministers need to give breweries and pubs enough notice about their plans so people can plan and re-stock for opening their doors again.
“Without a longer-term support package to make up for lost trade and reduced consumer confidence I fear that this could be the end for the beer and pub sector as we know it.”
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association has expressed “extreme disappointment” at the decision by the Scottish Government to extend current restrictions on hospitality across Scotland ahead of the “tier” approach to local lockdowns that is expected to be introduced next month.
Paul Waterson, media spokesman for the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA), said: “We expected this so we are not surprised. However, yet again there has been no consultation with the industry and as we said earlier this month, we believe these measures to be cataclysmic for hospitality operators.
“Hundreds of businesses are facing permanent closure and with that thousands of jobs will be lost – the damage could be irreparable.”
A recent survey highlighted that nearly 40% of hospitality businesses were considering closure or business exit. In September, an SLTA survey of 600 on-trade premises highlighted that within the pub and bar sector, 12,500 jobs could go.
Mr Waterson added: “We estimate that two-thirds of hospitality businesses could be mothballed or go under in the coming months. Over 50% of jobs in the pub and bar sector could also be lost which will have a particularly deep impact on the employment of young people as over 40% of staff employed are under the age of 25.”
Reiterating that responsible operators continue to run safe, carefully monitored establishments, he said: “Our industry is in serious trouble and it is only going to get worse. The £40 million financial support package is nowhere near enough to save jobs and prevent operators from going under. And once again we do not have details of other financial help promised by the Scottish Government.
“Once again it is the licensed trade that is suffering and the current measures affect not just our industry but the wider economy.”
Statement given by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Monday 19 October):
Good afternoon, thanks for joining us again today. I will give you the usual report on the COVID statistics first of all. I can report that the total number of positive cases yesterday was 993.
That represents 17.1% of people who were newly tested and 6.4% of the total number of tests that we carried out and I am going to come on later to say a little bit more about these different measurements.
The total number of cases now stands at 47,708. 362 of today’s cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 294 in Lanarkshire, 122 in Lothian and 57 in Ayrshire and Arran.
The remaining cases are spread across the other seven mainland health board areas.
754 people are currently in hospital which is an increase of 40 from yesterday and 61 people are intensive care, that’s two fewer than yesterday.
Now for the eagle-eyed amongst you who follow these figures very closely day-to-day and might have spotted that yesterday’s hospital and ICU figures and today’s don’t exactly tally,
I can tell you there has been a small revision made to the figures reported by Ayrshire and Arran yesterday and that will be shown in the publication that will appear on the website later.
I also regret to say that in the last 24 hours 1 additional death has been registered of a patient who had tested positive over the previous 28 days.
We also reported 15 deaths on Saturday. So since I last stood here to give the daily update on Friday, 16 additional deaths have been registered. And the total number of deaths, under the daily measurement is now 2,610.
That figure is a reminder of the heartbreak that this virus is capable of causing and once again I want to pass on my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.
Now I have got a few things I want to briefly update on today. I am going to highlight two points about the daily figures that I have just reported and at the end of my remarks I will look forward to the week ahead and some of the decisions that lie ahead of us.
But briefly first of all, let me just look back. It seems clear from anecdotal reports that people overwhelmingly stuck to the rules over this weekend, including the rules on household gatherings.
And that’s really important – stopping households meeting up indoors is, as you know, crucial to slowing the spread of Covid.
But I am aware that it is also really tough, and it gets tougher with every week that passes.
I just wanted to take the opportunity today to say thank you to everyone who has played a part by following the rules and guidelines. You are making a difference and please be assured of that.
Let me now cover a couple of issues relating to the daily statistics. We reported only 316 new cases yesterday and as you can see that’s far lower than the numbers we have been reporting on previous days.
Now, we are still exploring this with the UK Government but we think this might be because from Friday onwards, quite a large number of tests were diverted from the Lighthouse laboratory in Glasgow, to be processed in other laboratories in the Lighthouse network.
Our understanding – although we do not control this process – is that this was to ensure that the Lighthouse lab in Glasgow didn’t handle more tests, from across the UK, than it had the capacity to deal with promptly.
We also understand that the tests diverted included those of people with symptoms, who had gone to drive-through or walk-in testing centres.
And it stands to reason these people are more likely to test positive than asymptomatic people who are being tested as part of routine care home testing, for example. And that might help to explain why yesterday’s number of positive cases was probably artificially low.
The rerouting of cases was due to stop yesterday and my expectation is that any new cases which we would have expected to see yesterday, will be included in the figures for today and tomorrow, although we continue, as I said earlier, to explore whether there might be any other issues at play here.
Of course this is one reason why – when we consider the number of positive cases – we always look at the trends over a number of days, rather at any single day at a time.
And of course our Test and Protect teams will be working to identify contacts of positive cases as soon as the information about them comes into our case management system.
And I would remind anyone who may be waiting for a test result, that you should of course be continuing to self-isolate while you wait for that. That is a really important part of our collective effort to control the virus.
Now, the other point about our statistics that I want to cover, relates to the percentage of people who test positive for Covid.
And I’m afraid that – as occasionally happens – I’m going to discuss an issue now which is quite technical, but which is important, so please bear with me as I always like to try and give you an understanding of what lies behind our statistics and the reasons for any change in how we are calculating any aspect of them.
For some time now, as you know, I have reported here a daily figure for the proportion of people who test positive for Covid – that’s an important metric that allows us, amongst other metrics, to determine whether the virus is spreading more rapidly or going into decline.
To arrive at that figure what we have done so far is measure the number of people
testing positive, as a percentage of the total number of people being tested, who had never been tested before. That’s why you hear me say every day that it is a percentage of people newly tested.
That ensures that we don’t count people who are tested twice in a very short period of time – for example if a test result needs checked, or perhaps some days tested both on admission to hospital and then a few days later.
Now the current measure has been helpful so far in assessing how the virus is spreading.
All of you will have seen in recent weeks in the percentage of positive cases that we have reported the rise in that has been consistent with the rise in case numbers, in hospital admissions and increasingly, unfortunately, in people dying.
However the way in which we currently calculate this becomes less reliable over time as more and more people in the population have been tested.
We are now more than 7 months into the pandemic and already more than 1/7 of the population of Scotland has already been tested for Covid. Under our existing measure, none of those people will ever count again as a newly tested person – someone who has not been tested before although if they test positive their positive result will be counted.
Let me illustrate that with an example – if you had a fever in August, if you got a test then and you didn’t have Covid – and then you have a cough now, you get tested again, and it turns out you do have Covid – your positive test will be counted, but you will not count as a “newly tested person”, when we work out the percentage.
So, as you can see, over time as more and more people who have already been tested go for further tests – and remember almost 40,000 care home workers are tested every single week – what happens is that the percentage of positive test that we report is artificially high and gets more and more artificially high as time goes on.
So we have been discussing this issue in some detail with the UK’s Office for Statistics Regulation. We have taken their advice into account in deciding a new measure, and will continue to engage with them on future improvements.
Instead of relying only on people who have been newly tested, we will now calculate the percentage of positive tests, based on the total number of test results which have come in on that day.
Now that measure is simple to calculate. And it does come closer to matching the methodologies used by the World Health Organisation, for determining whether the virus is out of control.
It is worth stressing though that although it is a better measurement for this stage in the pandemic for the reasons I have tried to set out as clearly as possible , it’s still not perfect so we’ll continue to look at further improvements. And the imperfections are these – if you need to be tested more than once in the same day or the same week, all of those samples will now be counted.
And in addition, the new measure – to a much greater extent than the old measure – combines test results from different groups of people.
The majority of our tests are of people who have symptoms of Covid.
But we also test lots of asymptomatic people every week as well, principally people who work in care homes. And those tests are much less likely to be positive than tests of people with symptoms, so in a day-to-day basis that could lead to some fluctuations in the daily percentage.
But on a weekly or monthly basis that the trend in test positivity will be clear.
And our view is that the new measure will give us a better picture of the course of the virus over the weeks and months ahead. The old measure was the most accurate for the early phase of the pandemic, we think this one is more accurate for the next phase.
Now, as you have just gathered, that is quite a technical change, and thanks for bearing with me if you have managed to do so. But we also want to give you a bit of time to see the effects of the change in methodology. So, for that reason, and also to be completely transparent, to avoid any suspicion, what we are trying to do here is change methodology to result in a lower number, every day for at least the rest of this week I will am going to give you both our old and our new measurements when I give you the daily figures. Eventually though, I will start to report the figure under our new measurement only.
So to remind you of what I said earlier on, on the old measurement taking people just newly tested, our test positivity rate today was 17.1%, on our new measurement taking all tests it was 6.4%.
The final point I want to cover is to look to the week ahead as I indicated last week we will publish this week detail of our new strategic approach to tackling the virus. I hope to discuss the outlines of this tomorrow with leaders of the other parties in the Scottish Parliament.
And we will then publish a strategic framework at the end of the week, before debating it in parliament next week.
One of the things the framework will set out are the different tiers or levels of intervention and restrictions which may be applied in future – either locally or nationally across Scotland – depending on how the virus is spreading.
We will also indicate – based on the latest advice from the National Incident Management Team and our clinical advisers – what levels should apply to different parts of the country or potentially all of the country once the current temporary restrictions on hospitality come to an end on 26 October.
The framework will also summarise our work to improve the effectiveness of existing measures to curb Covid – for example how we will work to improve compliance with FACTS advice and all of the other guidelines; the review of our testing strategy and how we will continue to support Test and Protect; and also how we will provide support for businesses and individuals so that they can comply with all that they are being asked to do, either now or in the future.
Publication of the framework is an important step, as we look ahead to the winter and prepare to manage the virus over, what may well be and I would expect to be, a very challenging period.
We hope that the framework can command broad support both politically in parliament and across wider society.
But this is where I will end, it is worth stressing that – although the strategic framework will update our approach to tackling the virus – many of the basic elements of that approach will not change.
In particular, it will continue to be vital that to slow the spread of the virus, all of us as individuals stick to all of the essential rules and guidelines on hygiene, physical distancing and limiting contact with other households.
Let me just briefly remind everyone of what those current general rules and guidelines are.
As I said earlier, except for very specific purposes – such as childcare – none of us should be visiting each other’s homes right now.
When we do meet – outdoors, or indoor public places that are open like cafes – we shouldn’t meet in groups of any more than six people from a maximum of two households.
Only car-share if it is essential to do so
Work from home if you possibly can and again I would appeal to employers to facilitate that for your workers.
Download the Protect Scotland app, if you haven’t done so already.
And finally, remember FACTS.
Wear Face coverings, it is now the law, as of today, to wear them in communal areas in work places, like corridors
Avoid crowded places.
Clean your hands and hard surfaces
keep two metres distance from people in other households.
and Self isolate, and get tested, if you have symptoms.
These are the basic things, no matter the other rules in place at any given time, these are the basic things that if all of us do all of them all of the time then we give ourselves the best chance of keeping the spread of the virus under control
It’s the best way to look after ourselves, to look after our loved ones and our communities.
And ultimately it is the best way to protect our National Health Service and save lives.
Thank you again for listening today and thank you particularly for bearing with me through quite a long, laborious and technical update on how we will calculate the percentage of people testing positive.
A new £1 million ‘Scotland Loves Local’ fund will provide grants of between £500 and £5,000 to hundreds of projects to promote town centre and online businesses.
The funding aims to support small scale improvements that will help motivate people to shop, eat and relax within their community whilst ensuring public health safety.
Grants can be put towards providing safe shopping information for residents and tourists, the installation of public health infrastructure such as protective screens, physical distancing markers, hand sanitising equipment and PPE.
Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We know money spent locally is more likely to stay in the local economy and support local jobs. The Scotland Loves Local campaign encourages people to think how they can safely support this.
“This fund will help initiatives supporting businesses, such as projects to encourage safe shopping, business and leisure opportunities, promoting and advertising local providers of online shopping or enhancing visitor appeal.
“We all have a part to play in Scotland’s economic recovery and can do so, whilst we look out for one another and follow the FACTS guidance.”
Chief Officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership Phil Prentice said: “This is an exceptional opportunity for local communities – a chance to get the funding that will unlock some brilliant creativity.
“We’ve seen throughout the Scotland Loves Local campaign that people all over the country want to back their local towns and places – we’re looking forward to seeing some brilliant ideas take shape. Our campaign is highlighting that money spent locally stays local for longer. This new fund will be a real boost for communities across the country.”
The funding is being provided by the Scottish Government, and administered by Scotland’s Towns Partnership.
CRIMESTOPPERS have launched their annual campaign aiming to tackle firework misuse and deliberate fire-setting, and to encourage people to contact them 100% anonymously if they know or suspect someone is involved.
The campaign is supported by the Scottish Government’s Building Safer Communities team.
Firework misuse can have a massive impact on communities in Scotland, with some local areas experiencing ongoing and sustained anti-social behaviour and risk to life linked to fireworks.
In some communities people may be afraid to engage with those responsible for anti-social behaviour for fear of being targeted, which is why our anonymous service is so valuable.
The Crimestoppers campaign omplements two national Scottish Government campaigns, and provides extra support for areas in Edinburgh, Glasgow and West Lothian which have experienced higher levels of firework misuse. These communities have been involved in the preparation of the campaign.
National Manager for Crimestoppers in Scotland Angela Parker explained: “With no public displays this year, some communities could be at increased risk of serious firework misuse and deliberate fire-setting.
“Firework misuse puts people, property and pets at risk, so we have worked closely with a range of partners to devise a campaign that will enable local people to fully understand the law around misuse of fireworks, and the penalties.
“Last year, our charity in Scotland received 63 pieces of information that helped prevent attacks, fire-setting and serious misuse, so we know, together we can make Bonfire Night safer for everyone.”
Ash Denham MSP, Minister for Community Safety, said: “The Scottish Government’s ambition is for all of Scotland’s communities to be safe places for everyone to live, work and enjoy. We all have a part to play in making that vision a reality.
“Misuse of fireworks can be hugely damaging and distressing and will not be tolerated. I would encourage anyone who witnesses or has information about criminality relating to fireworks to report it so that action can be taken to prevent further harm to our communities.
“Crimestoppers’ unique reporting service allows people to provide information about crime entirely anonymously. By using this service people can help to prevent, detect and solve crime within their local community.”
The campaign is also complemented by a youth programme, Fearless.org, raising awareness among 11-18-year-olds about the risks, and encouraging anonymous reporting about planned attacks and deliberate fire-raising.
https://youtu.be/oK6J6-CpfhI
Underage sales of fireworks
We are also encouraging people to let us know about anyone who’s selling fireworks to underage people.
In Scotland, it is illegal to sell outdoor fireworks to anyone who is younger than 18 years old. And it is illegal to sell indoor fireworks (such as sparklers) to anyone who is younger than 16 years old.
Other contact numbers
In an emergency: contact Police or Fire on 999 Non-emergency: Police Scotland 101 Underage sales:Scotland Trading Standards Office (and for unsafe or unlicenced storage by shops and dangerous fireworks)
If you know or suspect who is misusing fireworks or causing deliberate fires in your area, or selling them illegally, you can contact Crimestoppers 100% anonymously.
Your computer’s IP addresses are never traced and no-one will ever know you contacted us. For telephone calls, we have have no caller line display, no 1471 facility and have never traced a call.
