Tag: Scottish Government

Test and Protect advice leaflet to be sent to Scottish households

Households are to be sent information explaining how the Test and Protect system works and setting out what to do if someone develops coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms.

NHS Test and Protect is being delivered by NHS Scotland to reduce the risk of the virus spreading. People with symptoms are urged to get tested straight away, with positive cases then referred to contact tracers.

The advice is being issued as the country moves into phase 2 of the Scottish Government’s exit strategy routemap with more restrictions being lifted and the new message to ‘Stay safe. Protect others. Save lives’.

The information will also be available online in 16 languages, large print and audio files.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport Jeane Freeman said: “NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect plays a vital and central role in protecting all of us and will ensure we move through the phases of our exit strategy. It is a collective effort to help us protect others and save lives.

“We will continue to lift restrictions if we break the chain of transmission and supress the spread of the virus. We need everyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 to isolate and book a test immediately and to work with NHS Scotland contact tracers to identify who they may have had close contact with.

“Please keep the leaflet handy so you know exactly what to do if you need to self-isolate and how to access any support you need.

“NHS Test and Protect is central to keeping this virus under control but so too is physical distancing, wearing a face covering, avoiding crowds and good hand and cough hygiene. Together all of this will help us stay safe, protect others and save lives.”

Test and Protect was rolled out across Scotland on 28 May 2020.

People with any of the following symptoms should book a test at nhsinform.scot/test-and-protect or call 0800 028 2816 if they are unable to access the online service:

  • a high temperature or fever
  • a new continuous cough
  • a loss of, or change in sense of smell or taste

The leaflet will be available online from 22 June 2020.

More health services to restart

Patients will be able to access more health care in the coming weeks and months as NHS Scotland prepares to safely, carefully and in a series of stages, resume some services that had to be paused to ensure COVID-19 capacity and prevent further spread of the virus.

As Scotland moves into Phase 2 of the route map for transitioning through and out of the crisis, health boards will use the NHS Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design framework to safely and incrementally prioritise services whilst ensuring that staff and patients are safe.

As services resume, the patient experience will look and feel different, and may often take longer because of the demands of ensuring safety, such as the need to reduce numbers in waiting rooms, additional cleaning and the extensive use of PPE.

From Wednesday 1 July, NHS Golden Jubilee plans to resume elective ophthalmology, orthopaedics, cardiac surgery and cardiology based on clinical priority. The Board have continued to provide urgent cancer, heart and lung services, including transplants, throughout the period.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic NHS Scotland has remained open continuing  to provide emergency, urgent, cancer and maternity care, support for social care and maintained COVID-19 capacity and resilience.

“Thanks to the efforts of our health care staff and to all of us for continuing to follow public health advice, we have been able to protect our health service and provide the urgent care required to combat the virus.

“The Scottish Government is working with Health Boards to ensure the safe resumption of paused NHS services.

“We are doing this incrementally to ensure we prioritise patient and staff safety, whilst retaining capacity to treat COVID-19 in our health service, but good progress is being made.

“Patients should not expect to see all NHS services resumed immediately as it will take time ensure physical distancing and other safety measures are in place to protect patients and staff.

“The NHS does not exist in isolation. The ongoing development of these plans needs to be founded on a whole health and care system approach, which involves primary and community care, and engagement with clinical partners, service delivery partners, local authorities and patients.

“As we go forward, our Test and Protect strategy will also be crucial to help break the chains of transmission as lockdown restrictions slowly change. I want to reassure you that we are taking these precautions so that we can safely offer the right care, at the right time, in the right place.”

National Clinical Director Jason Leitch said: “The reality is coronavirus is likely to be with us for some time to come and as we move to restart paused services, we have had to review how we deliver those services to ensure patients both get the treatment they require but also that staff and patients are safe.

“This work takes time and in some cases will mean that how patients access services will look and feel different.

“We would ask the public to keep using NHS Inform as their first source for reliable health information. Community pharmacies remain a widely available resource for minor ailments and General Practice teams are fully available.”

Measures that will come into force in Phase 2 include:

  • Urgent referrals and triage of routine services in key specialties such as Cardiology, Urology, and Trauma and Orthopaedics, will be resumed gradually during phase 2, with patients prioritised by clinical need and in line with guidance to ensure the safety of all patients and staff.
  • Health boards will reintroduce any suspended GP services in a planned and phased way throughout phase 2. The majority of GP practices have introduced a telephone triage system and patients will be navigated to the most appropriate pathway to meet their needs, supporting them to see the right person at the right time.  Patients access to Primary Care Out of Hours Services will continue by contacting NHS 24 on 111.  There will be a greater use of telephone and video consultations and so patients are likely to have a different experience than they had before COVID-19.
  • From Monday 22 June, all dental practices will be able to open and treat patients in need of urgent dental care. The capacity of the urgent dental care centres, established at the start of lockdown, will be increased and will continue to see those patients who require certain treatments involving aerosol generating procedures.
  • From Monday 29 June, health boards will be able to gradually resume some screening services including endoscopies and other diagnostic tests prioritised by clinical need and in line with guidance to ensure the safety of all patients.
  • From Monday 29 June, all community optometry practices will be able to resume seeing patients face-to-face who have emergency and essential eye problems, as well as continuing to manage as many of these patients remotely as possible. The Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centres, which have managed patients with emergency eye problems who needed to be seen face-to-face during lockdown and Phase 1, will close.
  • From Monday 6 July, health boards will reintroduce some chronic disease management, which could include pain services, diabetic services on an incremental basis.

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First Minister: ‘virus in Scotland is firmly in retreat’

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Friday 19 June:

Everyone, thank you very much for joining us. I am joined today by the Economy Secretary, Fiona Hyslop and our National Clinical Director, Jason Leitch.

Let me give you the usual update on the COVID-19 statistics.

An additional 27 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – that takes the total now in Scotland  to 18,104.

A total of 904 patients are currently in hospital with the virus either confirmed or suspected.

That is 25 fewer than yesterday and it includes a reduction of 19 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 19 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That is 4 fewer than yesterday.

Since 5 March, a total of 3,961 patients who had tested positive and been in hospital have been discharged from hospital

And in the last 24 hours, 6 deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having COVID-19 – the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, is 2,470.

My deepest condolences are with the families behind these statistics and indeed to everyone who is grieving a loved one because of this illness.

And my thanks go to everyone across our health and care services who continue to care for those affected.

Yesterday I confirmed that we would move into Phase 2 of our exit from lockdown which is good and positive news

That was made possible by the significant progress we have all made over the past three months and I want today again to thank everybody across the country for that.

The virus of course hasn’t gone away that is something we need to continue to keep in our minds but there’s no doubt that the virus in Scotland is firmly in retreat.

That’s why the changes to the rules and the guidance that I announced yesterday, though significant, were also careful because we have to keep the virus in retreat. We have today published the supporting evidence, which informed those decisions that we took and we confirmed yesterday.

Now, I don’t intend to repeat everything I said yesterday, but let me quickly recap on some of the main changes.

The Cabinet Secretary will talk in a moment about the measures that directly affect businesses – and the reopening of our economy.

For my part today, I want to focus on the changes relating to social interaction and leisure.

Ahead of the weekend, just to remind you the new rules for staying safe.

And that’s what we are now asking you to prioritise.

You will see on the lectern in front of me that Stay Home has been replaced with Stay Safe, and now we asking you to focus on Staying Safe, Protecting Others, Saving Lives.

That’s what we are asking you to do. And as we start to go out and about more, we need people to pay more attention to the basic steps we can all take to stay safe.

From today, you can meet with up to two households outdoors – rather than just one.

However, it should be no more than two at a time, and no more than two in a day.  And we are still advising that there should be no more than eight people in any group.

The risk of mixed household gatherings indoors is still too great.   So these meetings still have to take place outdoors.  However, if you are meeting in the garden of another household, we’ve changed the guidance so that you can go indoors to use a toilet.

If you do that – of course – you should avoid touching surfaces, and immediately and thoroughly clean those you do touch. That’s essential in preventing the spread of the virus from one household to another.

We’re continuing at the moment to ask people to stay within or close to their local area.  That means – for leisure and recreation purposes – you should be travelling no more than around five miles or so.  Although let me stress that limit does not apply to meeting with family and friends.

Those are some of the more general measures which apply from today.  But I also want to highlight two sets of changes we’ve made, for specific groups. 

The first relates to people who are shielding.  The guidance for those individuals remains very different to the general population.  And we’re continuing to advise shielding people, to be very cautious because you are most at risk from this virus. 

However, we’ve also announced some careful changes, which will hopefully improve your quality of life.

We’ve said that – unless you live in a nursing or residential care home – you are now able to go outdoors for exercise – for example for a walk or cycle.

You can take part in non-contact outdoor activities – such as golf.

And you can meet outdoors with people from one other household – but in groups of no more than eight.

You should stay at least two metres away from other people at all times, even if you live with the person you’re out with. Do not go inside someone else’s house, or allow someone from another household to go inside yours – even to use the toilet.

And when you go outdoors, see if you can choose times and areas that are quiet and that is all for your own safety but I hope these changes do help to make things better for you because this lockdown has been difficult for everyone we know it has been particular hard for those in the shielding category

The other set of changes I want to briefly highlight are those for people who either live alone, or live only with children, under the age of 18.

From today, people in those circumstances are able to form an ‘extended household group’ with one other household.

Within that extended household, people will be able to meet indoors, without physical distancing, and if you want to, you will be able to stay at each other’s houses overnight.

However, you must if you are in one of these household group, continue to see any other households outdoors only, and stay two metres apart from them.

There are also other conditions, which are necessary to make sure this change can work without significantly increasing the risk of the virus passing from one household to another.

An extended household must not include anyone who is shielding because the risk to the shielding population is still too high. No one in an extended household group should form a similar arrangement with any other household. And if one member of the extended household group gets the virus, all of the group will have to isolate – whether or not they are living in the same house.

So within these conditions, there is a positive change that I hope will help with some of the loneliness and isolation that has been a real cruel feature of the past few weeks.

It won’t benefit everyone this change right now but it will benefit a significant number.

For example, it will allow a grandparent who lives on their own to form a group with another household in their family and see grandchildren – and I’m sure many are taking advantage of this already.  It will allow a single parent and their children to join with another household for support.  And it will allow a non-cohabiting couple, where at least one of them lives alone, to be reunited indoors without the need for physical distancing.

I hope very much we might be able to expand this ‘extended household group’ idea in the not too distant future so it benefits more people and I will keep you updated on that.

All of these changes which I’ve outlined are now in effect.  And if you need more information on them, because as we ease lockdown things get more complicated. So if you want more information and detail please go to the Scottish Government’s website where you will find the guidance and the explanation about what you can do safely.

As I said yesterday it is not possible will the best will in the world for us to provide specific guidance for every single individual circumstances so my advice to you to continue to err on the side of caution, and don’t do it.

One of the consequences of easing restrictions, as I’ve just said, is that the things we’re asking you to do will inevitably become more complex.  So while we still – of course – want people to stay at home as much as possible, we know that the message we’re giving to you needs to adapt, to reflect the phase we’re now in.

That’s why – as I’ve just said – we are now asking you to ‘stay safe, protect others and save lives’.

And that means it is even more important now that people know – and remember – the different things we need you to do.  And so we are launching a new public awareness campaign called FACTS.

Each letter of that word FACTS should serve to remind us all of the key measures we need to comply with. Let me quickly run through them. And those measures are:

  • Face coverings in enclosed spaces
  • Avoid crowded places
  • Clean hands and surfaces regularly
  • Two metre distancing; and
  • Self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms.

Remember these FACTS and that will help all of us to stay safe and protect each other as well.

Complying with all of that, will be critical in making sure we keep the virus under control  as we start to move back to normal, and that will be important in laying the groundwork and the foundation for further changes that we are going to make in the weeks to come.

I’m going to end with this point.

I’m very aware that as we start to see this virus receding – and as we ease some restrictions – there’s a natural desire to go even faster.

But we cannot afford at this stage to be complacent.  This virus is still out there, it has not gone away.  And as we gradually remove the restrictions that have kept it under control, there’s a real risk is it could start to circulate again. That’s why we need to proceed with purpose – but also with caution. And we all need to continue to play our part, in suppressing this virus.

In these days and weeks to come, the things we do as an individual will have an impact on all of us and they will determine whether we keep this virus under control. So if we all keep doing the right thing I am more optimistic than I’ve been in a long time that we are now firmly on track to getting normality back into our lives and no doubt that is thanks to your sacrifices and your efforts.

So, thank you again very much indeed.

Phase 2: ‘We must still exercise care and caution’

Further changes to lockdown restrictions in Scotland have been announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The easing of some lockdown measures are the latest steps on the road to the ‘new normal’ – but the First Minister warned that Scots continue to exercise ‘care and caution’.

Those shielding are now able to go outdoors for exercise, and from today (Friday, 19 June) those shielding can take part in non-contact outdoor activities and can meet one other household, in groups of no more than eight outdoors. Physical distancing and strict hygiene measures must still be followed, even if you live with those people.

Also from today, anyone living alone or only with children under 18 can form an ‘extended household group’ with one other household. This does not apply to households with people who are shielding.

Extended household groups can meet indoors with overnight stays permitted and without physical distancing, but any other household meetings must remain strictly outdoors and at a two metre distance. Members of an extended household group should not form a similar arrangement with any other household.

From Monday, 29 June some indoor workplaces can re-open, including factories, labs and warehouses, subject to strict physical distancing, hygiene and health and safety guidance, but non-essential offices and call centres should remain closed.

All retail premises with outdoor entrances and exits can also re-open from 29 June. Ahead of that date local authorities and retailers are urged to plan for the responsible use of public space, such as removing unnecessary street furniture, designing systems to manage queuing and pedestrian thoroughfares, and implementing adequate measures to support physical distancing.

It remains government advice to wear a face covering in enclosed areas where physical distancing is difficult, such as shops, and from Monday, 22 June, it will become mandatory to wear a face covering on all public transport.

There was disappointment for those who were looking forward to a long-awaited drink in a beer garden this weekend. Drinkers learned they must wait a wee while longer.

A date for the re-opening of outdoor hospitality cannot be safely set at this stage. A further update will be provided on 2 July. Further advice from the Scientific Advisory Group has been commissioned based on emerging evidence suggesting communal spaces such as hospitality can present a higher risk of transmission.

Physical distancing guidance remains to stay two metres apart from people outside your household. Advice has also been commissioned on circumstances and settings, including schools and transport, where with additional mitigation it may be possible to balance the risk of a shorter distance.

Announcing the measures, the First Minister said: “Thank you for the personal sacrifices you’re making to tackle this pandemic. You’ve demonstrated remarkable dedication to our national wellbeing – that effort should never be underestimated, and my thanks can never be overstated.

“Because of your actions, we can now – gradually and carefully – change some restrictions.

“In deciding when to implement each measure in our staged approach, we have to think about how a decision in one area affects life in other areas. Our test and protect system is important to our gradual return to living more freely while suppressing the virus, and early indications suggest it’s already working well.

“I know for those shielding, the requirement to stay indoors at all times, without meeting up with anyone, has been incredibly tough. I hope that this change to our advice can provide a real improvement to your quality of life, without significantly increasing the risks you face.

“Our extended household groups will allow a grandparent who lives on their own to form a group with another household in their family, a single parent and their children to join with another household for support, and it will allow a non-cohabiting couple, where at least one of them lives alone, to be reunited. It will, I hope, help to ease some of the isolation which is one of the cruellest consequences of tackling this virus.

“I appreciate today’s announcement will be hard for the hospitality industry but I want to give an assurance that we will continue to support preparations for re-opening.

“Ultimately, this is a social bargain. The prize for going a bit more carefully now is a recovery that is much more sustainable and will, I hope, allow more normality to be restored to our everyday lives while suppressing the virus.”

Route map Phase 2 changes

From Friday 19 June:
• Those advised to shield will be able to take part in non-contact activities such as golf, angling, kayaking, and meet members of another household outdoors, up to a suggested maximum of eight in the group. Most importantly in both instances, strict physical distancing of two meters must be followed at all times, and they should wash their hands for at least 20 seconds when they return home
• A household not shielding can meet two other households, outside, up to a suggested maximum of eight people in the group
• Those visiting another household in a private garden will be permitted to use the household toilet, with increased hygiene measures urged. This does not include a household of someone who is shielding
• Single person households, including single parents households with children under the age of 18, will be able to form an extended household with another
• People should continue to stay in their local area as much as possible and should not travel more than around five miles for leisure or recreation

From Monday 22 June
• Construction sector to implement remaining stages of their own phased return
• Dental practices open to see patients with urgent care needs
• Resumption of professional sport, following public health advice
• Places of worship open for individual prayer and contemplation
• Limited College and University staff return for essential preparations for re-opening in Phase 3
• Mandatory face coverings on public transport (please see Transport Scotland for more detail)
• Accommodation can be provided for workers whose workplaces are open in the relevant phase and who need to stay away from home for work

From Monday 29 June
• Indoor non-office workplaces (including factories, warehouses and labs) can resume once relevant guidance is implemented. This does not include non-essential office, call-centre, culture, leisure and hospitality premises
• Restrictions of house moves relaxed
• Public gardens and zoos can open but should remain limited to local access only in this phase
• Outdoor sports courts reopen
• Playgrounds can reopen
• Registration offices can open for priority tasks
• Marriages and civil partnerships allowed with minimal attendees outside
• Street-access retail can re-open once guidance is implemented. Interiors of shopping malls/centres remain closed for non-essential shops until Phase 3
• Reintroduction of some chronic disease management
• Phased resumption of some screening services
• Phased safe resumption of essential optometry and ophthalmology services
• Outdoor markets can reopen once guidance is implemented

Scaling up throughout Phase 2
• Public transport will increase services. Capacity will remain constrained due to physical distancing requirements – and active travel remains the preferred mode of travel.
• Increase in health care provisions for pent up demand, urgent referrals and triage of routine services
• Planning with COSLA and partners to support and, if needed, review social care and care home services
• Priority referrals to secondary care
• Public services will continue to resume and scale up, including services such as visiting support to Housing First Tenants and the resumption of area-based energy efficiency schemes

Phase 2 route map

Phase 2 guidance

Further guidance will be published before the current shielding period is due to end on 31 July.

 

Marcus Rashford forces holiday hunger rethink

Following a successful campaign by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, the UK government yesterday announced a “Covid summer school fund” is being set up to help feed children during the holidays in England.

The Scottish Government had earlier announced that their own free school meals scheme will also be extended over the summer.

Welcoming the announcement, FareShare CEO Lindsay Boswell, said:  “We’re enormously grateful to Marcus Rashford for his unstinting support of FareShare – helping us get food onto the plates of over 3m vulnerable children.

“His tireless campaigning work to ensure that no child in this country should go hungry over the school summer holidays has delivered fantastic results. A move to continue funding free school meals over the summer months will be a huge relief to struggling families across the UK, many of whom have faced unimaginable strain during this crisis.

“Our network of charities are already seeing a huge increase in demand for food, and we are supplying more charities supporting children and families than ever before – so this is very welcome news.

“However, we know that even with the voucher scheme in place, the need for food will still be there, particularly as, in the event of a recession, charities and community groups providing food will need to support many more people facing financial hardship and food insecurity.

“That’s why we are calling on the public and the food industry to get behind our appeal to help to deliver more healthy, nutritious food to the food banks, community groups, activity schemes and schools supporting the UK’s most vulnerable children – not just over the summer holidays but in the months and years to come.”

The UK Government’s u-turn has been universally welcomed.

Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said: “This is a welcome U-turn from the government and a victory for the 1.3 million children who were at risk of going hungry this summer.

“It is thanks to the amazing work of Marcus Rashford and campaigners that the Government has had no choice but to reverse their decision.

“The Government must now confirm that this new money will be for the direct provision of free school meals to all eligible children.”

Children eligible for free school meals will be among those who continue to be supported over the summer through a package of £27.6 million of additional funding announced by the Scottish Government yesterday.

The funding will ensure councils are able to continue the provision of free school meals during the summer holidays and other food provision to help low income families during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The latest data from local authorities shows that around 175,000 children and young people are currently receiving free school meals – or vouchers or cash payments to buy meals.

The number of children receiving free school food has risen by 53,000 since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the impact of the pandemic on family incomes and financial circumstances.

The extra funding will also enable councils to continue to support a range of people who may be facing new or continuing barriers to accessing food including due to reduced income caused if they are asked to self-isolate through contact tracing – until the end of September.

This funding is in addition to the overall package of £30 million allocated to councils in March to provide free school meals and offer food provision to key groups during lockdown.

Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills John Swinney said: “These are challenging times for families and economic uncertainty has added even more pressure on parents already dealing with the stress of this dire COVID-19 crisis.

“We want to ensure families are given the same support through the summer holidays as we provide in term time in recognition of this unprecedented situation. That is why free school meals provision is essential to support families, children and young people who need some extra help at this difficult time.

“This significant additional funding will allow councils to plan for the summer and to continue the existing provision, whether that be offering nutritious free meals for children or through more direct means allowing families to get food for their families. Councils will have the flexibility to ensure they are able to use this additional funding to put in place provision that meets local needs and circumstances.

“£15 million of this funding is being made available to ensure we continue supporting the range of households who have been or may experience difficulty in accessing or affording food during the pandemic.

“We know that people are under pressure just now as they cope with the impact of COVID-19 and this funding shows we are doing all we can to help them at this difficult time. This funding is additional to the £350 million we have already made available.”

Since 24 March councils have provided the Scottish Government with data on the number of children receiving a free school meal through the provision of vouchers, direct payments, home deliveries and provision in educational or early years settings.

Individuals who are unable to access or afford food and cannot get the help they need from family, friends or neighbours are encouraged to call the national assistance helpline.

The free helpline number is 0800 111 4000, or can be contacted via a textphone on 0800 111 4114. The helpline is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm.

Callers will be put through to speak to someone at their local council. They’ll be able to advise on what types of help are available. This might include:

  • food, if you’re not able to get the day-to-day food you need
  • medication, if you’re not able to pick up the prescriptions you need
  • access to local social work services
  • emotional support
  • contact with local volunteer groups

 

 

First Minister focuses on return to education

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, yesterday (Tuesday 15 June):

Good afternoon, and thank you very much for joining us again today. I’ll start – as always – with an update on the key statistics in relation to COVID-19.

29 new positive cases were confirmed in Scotland yesterday. Now I’m going to say more about the total number of positive cases in a moment, because from today we are incorporating new data into that total.

A total of 870 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That represents a total decrease of 94 from yesterday, but an increase of 3 in the number of confirmed cases in hospital.

A total of 18 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That is also an increase of 3 since yesterday.

And I can confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,909 patients who had tested positive and needed to go to hospital with the virus have been able to leave hospital.

In the last 24 hours, zero deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having COVID-19 – so the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, therefore remains at 2,448.

I would however stress – as I did last Monday – that although this is clearly hugely welcome and very encouraging, it is nevertheless common for fewer deaths to be reported at weekends and unfortunately I do expect that we will almost certainly report further COVID-19 deaths in the days ahead.

And as always, I want to emphasis that when we do report these figures, they are not simply statistics – they represent individuals whose loss is a source of grief to many. So once again, I want to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this illness.

I also want to express my thanks – as I always – to our health and care workers, and indeed to all key workers across the country. The Scottish Government and indeed I think people the length and breadth of the country are grateful to you for the work you are doing.

I’m going to focus on education in my remarks today, but before I do that, I want to highlight some new data which we are publishing for the first time today.

Up until now, we have only been able to publish testing results that come from NHS Scotland laboratories.

We have been able to report the total number of tests carried out by facilities run by the UK Government – for example drive-through centres and mobile testing units – but we have not yet been able to publish the breakdown of positive and negative results. Though I should say for the avoidance of doubt, the individuals tested have of course been notified directly of their results.

Public Health Scotland has been working with the UK Government to rectify this issue, and from today, we are able to provide daily figures for all tests in Scotland.

For example, we can see that of those people tested in the 24 hours up to 8 o’clock this morning, 29 positive cases were confirmed. Of those positive cases, 9 were from tests conducted at UK Government facilities, and 20 were from NHS Scotland facilities.

So In total, there have been 18,030 confirmed positive cases in Scotland since the beginning of this outbreak. 15,687 of these confirmed cases were tested in NHS Scotland laboratories and a further 2,343 were test through UK facilities.

Now I know that some people compare each days figures with the previous day’s very carefully. If you have been doing that, you will have expected the NHS lab number I’ve just given to be 88 cases higher than it is.

The reason it’s not is that where a person has been tested more than once – first at a UK facility and then in an NHS Scotland facility – we have removed them from the NHS figure to avoid double counting of testing.

It is also important to stress that including this data from UK facilities does not change the total number of lab confirmed COVID-19 deaths that we have been reporting throughout.

From Thursday onwards, we will be able to provide a more detailed breakdown of test results – by date and by region – on the Scottish Government’s website and I hope that this information will be helpful in giving a full picture of the progress that has been made on testing over the last three months.

Now as I indicated the main issue I want to talk about today is school education. And I want to address parents and young people very directly today. I know you are deeply anxious – as I am – about the impact of this crisis on schooling.

So I want to be very clear today about the some of the principles that we are working on and the Scottish Government’s expectations – and as we look forward to the new school year. I hope to leave you in no doubt about the priority I and the whole government attaches to making sure our young people do not lose out on education or have their life chances damaged as a result of this crisis that we are all living through right now.

So, firstly, I want to be clear that it is our expectation that, by the time schools return on 11 August – and obviously within necessary safety guidelines – councils will have put in place arrangements that maximise the time that young people spend in a school environment having face to face learning.

In this immediate period that we are in right now, the Scottish Government will be scrutinising council plans closely – and where we conclude that all possible steps have not been taken to maximise face to face teaching and learning, we will ask councils to reconsider and revise their plans.

Innovation and creativity will be required here – but let me also be clear that where there are genuine issues of resources, the Scottish Government will work with councils to address those and the quality of your children’s education will be the absolute priority in those discussions.

And then from the 11 August starting point, our aim will be to return to normal schooling as quickly as we possibly can – recognising that of course that along the way we need to build the confidence of parents, young people and teachers that schools are safe.

And I want to be particularly clear on this point. While we of course have a duty to be open with parents that none of us right now have a crystal ball, and that the path the pandemic will take in the months ahead remains uncertain, it is absolutely not the case that we are ‘planning’ for blended learning, with children learning at home for part of the school week, to last a year – or anything like it.

On the contrary, we do not want blended learning to last a single moment longer than is absolutely necessary and so we will be working with councils to return schools to normal as quickly as we can.

We want young people to be back having face to face teaching for 100% of the school week as soon as it is feasible.

To that end, our regular three-weekly reviews of the Coronavirus regulations will now include specific consideration of the evidence and data relating to transmission of the virus within schools and amongst young people – and where that suggests that safety restrictions can be lifted or eased without putting pupils and teachers at undue risk, we will do so.

As part of these reviews, we will ask our International Council of Education Advisers to consider experiences in other countries.

We will also be working with councils to ensure ongoing and enhanced support for any time that young people do spend learning at home.

And let me be clear it is our firm intention, as things stand right now, that next year’s exam diet will go ahead.

We will also be considering carefully how we work to address and mitigate and make up over time any impact of this crisis period on young people’s learning.

Ensuring that our children and young people have the highest quality education – and that life chances are not negatively impacted by what we are all living through right now – is of absolutely critical importance.

I want to give you my personal assurance that it is central to my and to the whole Government’s thinking as we plan and steer the country through our emergence from lockdown.

Before I hand over to the Chief Medical Officer, I want to end by emphasising again our key public health guidance because sticking to this guidance right now remains the most important way of enabling us to make further progress out of lockdown – which I very much hope we will do later this week.

You should still be staying home most of the time, and you should still be meeting fewer people than normal.

When you do meet people from another household, please stay outdoors, and stay 2 metres apart from them.

Don’t meet with more than one other household at a time, don’t meet more than one a day – and keep to a maximum of eight people in a group.

Wash your hands often. Take hand sanitiser with you if you are away from home.

Wear a face covering when you are in shops or on public transport.

Avoid touching hard surfaces if you can and clean any that you do touch.

All of these measure – hand washing, surface cleaning and wearing face coverings – will all help us to reduce the risk as we start to return to more normal life.

Indeed – if anything – these measures become more important, not less important, as we move through this pandemic.

I’d ask all of you to bear that in mind.

And, just as importantly, if you have the symptoms of COVID-19 – a fever; a new cough; or a loss of, or change, in your sense of taste or smell – ask for a test immediately, and please follow the advice on self-isolation.

You can book a test at nhsinform.scot or by phoning NHS 24 on 0800 028 2816.

Sticking to these rules- as you can see from the numbers we are reporting each day – has had and is having an impact. By doing the right thing, we are suppressing the virus.

We are saving lives.

And we are creating the firm foundations on which we can take further steps out of lockdown.

So my sincere thanks, to all of you once again, for continuing to abide by these rules and by this guidance.

Help To Buy homes scheme extended

Continued support for house-building industry and buyers

More than 2,000 households will be able to buy a new build home as the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme is extended by a year to March 2022.

Supported by £55 million of funding for 2021/22, the extension will also help house-builders to ensure their economic recovery over the years ahead.

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “A strong and growing house-building industry is vital to Scotland’s future economic prosperity – and particularly as we plan our strategic economic recovery from COVID-19.

“This extension will provide us with the opportunity to reassess future priorities for the market, taking account of economic conditions following the pandemic, as well as providing a helping hand to those seeking to buy their own home.

“Since 2013, the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme has supported people with the purchase of over 17,000 new build homes and in particular supported young people aged 35 and under.

“Extending this scheme will help more people to buy a new-build property, particularly those who have suffered lower levels of income and have used up savings due to the impact of COVID-19 in recent months.”

The Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme focuses on more affordable housing with a maximum purchase price of £200,000 and with £15 million ring-fenced support for the purchase of homes sold by smaller developers, from a total budget of £55 million.

It bridges the gap between lower loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages now obtainable for new builds and the smaller deposits many households now have available to buy a new home.

Over the next two years the funding commitment for Help to Buy (Scotland) is:

  • 2020-21 £50 million
  • 2021-22 £55 million

79% of those supported by the scheme in 2018/19 were young people aged 35 and under.

An independent evaluation of the Scottish Government shared equity schemes, including Help to Buy has been published. This work was undertaken prior to the COVID-19 crisis.

Summer support for students

Earlier financial help for those facing hardship

Students facing hardship this summer due to COVID-19 can now receive financial support within a package of new measures.

The Scottish Government has brought forward early access to £11.4 million of discretionary funds – support for higher education students in financial difficulty – to be administered by colleges and universities.

Unlike continuing higher education students, most former further education students can receive benefits if they are unemployed. Colleges will now have flexibility to offer discretionary funds to bridge the timing gap between bursary payments ending in June and Universal Credit payments starting.

Scottish students studying in Europe as part of EU Portability or historically arranged schemes will be able to access a £100,000 emergency fund administered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

SAAS has also suspended all new debt recovery actions in respect to grants and bursaries until September for students whose circumstances have changed and may have to return overpayments. Students are encouraged to contact SAAS to discuss what help is available.

Minister for Further, Higher Education and Science Richard Lochhead said: “Given the economic impact of COVID-19, many continuing students who rely on seasonal and part-time jobs in the summer could find it difficult to cover their basic housing or cost of living costs.

“No student should face financial hardship as a result – so these new measures will support students until the start of the next academic year when bursary, grant and loan payments will begin again.

 “We are now bringing forward £11.4 million in support for higher education students in financial difficulty that was not due to be available until the new academic year. This builds on our £5 million support plan for FE and HE students announced in April.

“The UK Government package announced on 4 May for higher education providers and students was disappointing, and fell short of recognising the full scale of the challenge.”

SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement of extra financial help for students facing financial hardship over the summer months.  

MSP Gordon MacDonald said: “Many students across Edinburgh will have expected to find paid work over the summer to cover their rent or save for the following term – but are now, through no fault of their own, unable to do so.  

“This Scottish Government support will be welcome news for those students who rely on part-time jobs over the summer months, who could find it difficult to cover their living costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“No student should face financial hardship as a result of this crisis – and these new measures will support students until the start of the next academic year when bursary, grant and loan payments will begin again.”

First Test and Protect data published

Breaking the chain of virus transmission

The first set of data from week one of the coronavirus (COVID-19) Test and Protect system has been published.

The data, which will be published weekly, shows:

  • the number of positive index cases from 28 May to 7 June
  • the number of index cases where contact tracing has been completed
  • the number of contact traces

Since Test and Protect was launched, 681 cases have tested positive with 741 contacts traced.

The level of data published will continue to improve once the data is robust and validated.

Cabinet Secretary for Health Jeane Freeman said: “Since 28 May, contact tracers across the country have followed up each new positive test to ensure those who may have come into contact with the virus take steps to isolate. By doing so, we can break the chains of transmission while slowly changing lockdown measures.

“The average number of people traced for each positive case reflects that we are still in phase 1 of lifting lockdown restrictions and people should not be mixing with large numbers of people outside of their own household.

“I would encourage anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 to come forward as early as possible and get a test immediately to help us supress the spread of the virus.

“Contact tracing is one part of our work to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Physical distancing and good hand and cough hygiene continues to play a vital role in helping to minimise the spread of infection.”

20-06-10-covid19-publication_summary

Test and Protect was rolled out across Scotland on 28 May 2020.

The Test and Protect data is published on Public Health Scotland’s website.

Drilling down the data: community funding maps

Interactive breakdown of emergency funding

A new collection of digital maps is to display the funding being given to support communities across Scotland affected by coronavirus (COVID-19).

The online dashboard enables users to view financial support by local authority across four main funds. An overview map also shows total and per capita funding in each area.

In March, Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell announced a £350 million package of emergency funding for communities to help tackle harms caused by the pandemic.

Speaking ahead of yesterday’s Holyrood debate on the next steps for communities, Ms Campbell said: “We are aware of the financial pressures many households are currently facing and these maps show the swift action and substantial financial support we have provided to help people at this difficult time.

“We have reached every local authority, delivering for communities across Scotland.

“Our £70 million Food Fund, for example, has made sure people in the shielding group can access the food they need while self-isolating. It has also funded essential free school meals for 175,000 children and young people and supported others at risk from the virus or struggling financially.

“Today I will outline our next steps to support communities across Scotland as we move towards recovery and renewal. When this crisis hit, we proved change could be made rapidly and we must build on that momentum to achieve our long-term goals of reducing poverty and inequality.”

Find out more about funding provided and access the Community Funding Mapping hub.

Helping communities affected by COVID-19

As part of its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Scottish Government announced an additional £350 million to help communities and local government respond to the crisis.

This includes:

  • a Food Fund to support those who would otherwise be unable to access food through the usual routes.
  • a Wellbeing Fund to support organisations providing important services to people most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
  • a Supporting Communities Fund for community anchor organisations to help support local responses to the pandemic.
  • a Third Sector Resilience Fund to support third sector organisations that deliver services and products but find themselves in financial difficulties directly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic

To provide emergency funding to key national partners who identified an urgent need for support, we established an Immediate Priorities Fund which was drawn from both the Food Fund and Wellbeing Fund.

Our mapping tool shows how funding has been allocated across these four funds. Funding is shown by local authority area for each fund, based on total amounts awarded. Other information, including number of awards, is also set out.

An overview map brings all this funding together, also showing the additional resource provided for the Scottish Welfare Fund and other ‘hardship funding’ monies for local authorities to spend on their own COVID-19 priorities. The overview map also shows funding by local authority level on a per capita basis.

Note: These dashboards are provided for general information purposes only and use data from various sources. Due to the nature of the data, and the ongoing status of these funds, we cannot guarantee that at any particular instance it is complete, accurate or up to date.

We recognise that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to tackling poverty and increasing social inclusion in our society.

So we have created a range of funding streams to help agencies and local communities tackle inequalities.

Empowering Communities Fund

The £20 million Empowering Communities Fund, established in 2015, enables communities to tackle poverty and inequality and take forward regeneration in their areas on their own terms. This helps communities find solutions that work for them and to deliver long-term improvements.

The Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund

This £15 million Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund has been awarded to third sector organisations that tackle inequalities and poverty, support parents and carers, improve learning and build skills.

It replaced the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund and Strategic Funding Partnerships and is designed to help children, families and communities across Scotland.