Tag: shielding

Workers asked to shield should not have to choose between their life and livelihood

On Monday Boris Johnson, in response to mounting evidence and calls to take urgent steps to protect the public, announced a new lockdown, the third we’ve had to date. The government must ensure that those asked to shield are able to do so (writes TUC’s Quinn Roache).

New strains of coronavirus are spreading like wildfire. 

The new strain of the virus is 50% to 70% more transmissible and levels of infections are increasing to record levels, leading to huge strains on hospitals across the country.  

Disabled people make up the majority of those who have died from Covid-19 – government statistics show that disabled people accounted for 3 in 5 covid-19 deaths. This is why it is imperative that, going into this new lockdown, disabled people who are told to shield can do so effectively.    

Impact 

This new lockdown is having a tangible impact on everyone. It impacts on many workers physical and mental health as well as livelihoods and income.  

This is particularly true of those who’ve been asked to shield. A group the government have termed ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’, which means they have a higher risk of severe illness if infected.  

Evidence suggests that in England this group is almost 4% of the population, or 1 in 25 people, and that they are disproportionately more likely to be disabled. 

Disabled workers previously asked to shield told the TUC they felt forgotten and overlooked. They told us that the first lockdown left them isolated, without access to basic needs like food and a negative impact on both their physical and mental health1.  

The government must do better this time.  

Government advice to those who should shield 

Their guidance is that those advised to shield should no longer attend work, school, college or university.  

And that they should limit the time they spend outside their home, only going out for medical appointments, exercise or if it is essential. 

Shield confirmation 

Many people asked to shield will have done so already and they and their employers will have a good understanding of how to proceed throughout this lockdown.  

However, it is important for employers and workers to understand the changing nature of the shielding group.  

Since the start of the pandemic, workers will have come on and off the shielding list as their health conditions have changed. For example, those who were newly diagnosed with cancer and are undergoing active chemotherapy would have only just be put on the shielding list.  

To avoid any confusion, everyone who needs to shield will be sent a letter by the government to confirm their shield status. However, receiving confirmation you should shield has not been a seamless process in the past. 

In the first lockdown many people who were at very high risk from the virus were not on the list of those who should shield and, as a result, did not receive a letter advising them to do so.  

Government guidance says, a GP or hospital clinician can add individuals to the Shielded Patient List if, based on their clinical judgement, they deem to them be at higher risk of serious illness if they catch the virus.  

Workers who do not receive a letter telling them shield but who think they should be on the list should speak to their clinician or GP.  

Furlough 

It is vital that workers advised to shield should stay at home to protect their health, however, being told to shield and being able to afford to do so are two different things.  

We’ve been told that although employers have access to the furlough scheme not all of them are using it so often those most at risk from the virus, are not being furloughed.  

Employers should ensure that shielding workers who cannot work from home are offered an alternative role they can fulfil from home. Failing that, shielding workers should be furloughed.  

Workers told to shield from any sector, public, private or the charity/third sector, who can not work from home but cannot return to the workplace must be furloughed. And to ensure this group’s health, the job retention scheme should be open to workers who live with someone told to shield and who cannot work from home.  

Nobody should be losing pay as a result of an existing health condition and NHS advice to shield. No one should have to choose between their life and livelihood.  

This is why the government, upon the urging of unions, has extended the job retention scheme to the end of April 2021 and which means furloughed workers will continue to receive up to 80% of their salary up to £2,500 which employers can claim back from the government. Employers can, and we believe should where they can afford it, top up wages to 100 per cent. 

The government must also make sure benefits like statutory sick pay and universal credit pay the real living wage. It must repair the UK’s safety net as far too many people, around 14 million, were already living in poverty before the virus struck. Disabled people are disproportionality effected by this as nearly half of all people living in poverty in the UK are disabled themselves or live with someone who is.   

People who lose their jobs must get the support they need to make ends meet and to get back on their feet.  

Without fixing these benefits, many risk being plunged into poverty.  

TUC recommendations 

The TUC is calling on all employers to: 

  • ensure that shielding workers who cannot work from home are offered an alternative role they can fulfil from home. Failing that, shielding workers should be furloughed. 

The TUC is calling on the government to: 

  • raise the basic level of Universal Credit for the duration of the outbreak to 80% of the real living wage – or £260 a week  
  • raise sick pay from £94 a week to the equivalent of a week’s pay at the Real Living Wage – around £320 a week. 

Anxiety advice for people who have been shielding

Tips to help people in the Lothians who have been shielding cope with next steps out of lockdown have been highlighted, following shielding guidance being paused.

As part of the Clear Your Head campaign, the Scottish Government’s Principal Medical Officer acknowledged the challenges facing those who have lived with the most severe restrictions over the last four months, offering practical advice to help deal with feelings of fear and uncertainty.

These include:

·       Build things back up gradually, doing a little more every few days.

·       Try to maintain a healthy lifestyle and routine.

·       Focus on the things you can control such as complying with physical distancing and wearing face coverings.

·       Return to the things that you enjoy as soon as possible.

·       Don’t let a bad day or experience set you back – try again, maybe in a few days.

In addition, the Clear Your Head website – clearyourhead.scot – provides a range of tips and sources of advice to help people look after their mental health over the coming weeks and months as they adapt and adjust.

Principal Medical Officer for Mental Health Dr Alastair Cook said: “Whilst some of those who have been shielding may be looking forward to a return work, activity and increased social contact, many will have experienced a loss of confidence arising from the natural fear and anxiety the pandemic has generated. 

“Feelings of anxiety are normal and to be expected, but there are things you can do that will help. 

“Build things back up slowly and focus on the things you are in control of. Try not to get anxious or frustrated by others that do things differently, as your frustration will impact on you more than it does them. Sometimes things won’t go to plan and you may experience more anxiety in a situation than expected. This is normal and it’s important not to blame yourself for a setback or let it stop you trying to return to activity.

“Take things a day at a time and remember that help is available if you need it. Be kind to yourself, and reach out if you need to talk to someone about how you’re feeling.”

For practical tips, visit clearyourhead.scot.

First Minister: relief at last for shielders

First Minister’s coronavirus update from St Andrew’s House on Thursday 23 July 2020:

Good afternoon everyone, thank you for joining us today as usual. Let me start as I always do with the update on the Covid-19 statistics.

An additional 16 positive cases were confirmed yesterday. That represents 0.4% of people who were newly tested yesterday, and it takes the total number of cases in Scotland to 18,500.

It’s worth highlighting that we have changed the reporting of figures on the Scottish Government’s website from today so that the figures for new cases – including that percentage of positive tests – are now shown more prominently on the main Covid page. That website is updated at 2 o’clock every day.

The health board breakdown of today’s cases will be available at 2 o’clock but the provisional information I have is that 4 of today’s cases are in Lanarkshire.

And, more specifically in relation to the outbreak at the Sitel call centre in Lanarkshire, I can confirm that as of this morning, there are a total of 24 positive cases associated with that outbreak which is an increase of 4 since yesterday.

That includes 17 people employed at the site, which is 2 more than yesterday, and 7 contacts, which is also 2 more than yesterday.

Now, given that the virus can have a long incubation period, intensive work is still ongoing in order to ensure that all possible chains of transmission from this outbreak are being closed down. And I am very grateful to everyone who is working very had as part of that effort.

I can also report today that a total of 287 patients confirmed as having the virus are currently in hospital which is 8 fewer than yesterday.

And as of last night, there were just 2 people with confirmed COVID in intensive care in Scotland, which is 1 fewer than yesterday.

And finally, on the statistics, I am very glad to say that once again, during the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients confirmed through a test as having the virus. The total number of deaths, under this measure, therefore remains 2,491.

This is obviously very welcome news. It means that no deaths have been reported in Scotland under this measurement during the entirety of the past week – and that just one death in Scotland has been reported over the past 15 days.

Now, it is exactly four months today since the country went into lockdown, so there is no doubt that these figures show the incredible progress that has been made in that time.

But that progress has been hard won and it has been a very painful journey over these past four months in particular for those who have lost someone to this virus. The number of deaths is still a reminder of the impact of the virus and therefore I want to extend my condolences again today to everyone who is grieving somebody that they loved.

In addition, I want to thank again our health and care workers for all of the work that you continue to do through this really challenging time for everyone.

Now, I have one very important issue I want to talk about today – which is changes in our advice to people who are shielding.

It’s now almost four months since we asked those considered to be at the greatest risk from this virus, to shield.

At that time, there was a very high risk that you might be exposed to the virus, and therefore shielding was necessary to keep you safe.

Together with local government and the third sector, we have been able to put in place support for you while you have been shielding– for example access to free food deliveries if necessary.

But I know that shielding has been incredibly difficult – it has separated you from your family and loved ones, it has restricted you in virtually every aspect of your normal lives, and there are very obvious and very real potential harms to your mental health from extended isolation.

For all of those reasons, we’ve always been clear that we won’t ask you to shield longer than you have to.

The infection rate now is much lower than it was in March. And just to give some illustration of that, when the shielding advice started, more than 20% of Covid tests were proving positive, and 150 new cases a day were being reported. Less than a week after shielding started, we were reporting more than 300 new cases a day. Tpoday of course I have reported 16 new cases and that is 0.4% of people testing newly positive

So, as these figures today show, we are now in a very different position to the one we that faced back in March. And as a result – and as we have previously indicated – some further key changes to our advice will take effect from tomorrow for people who are shielding.

Now the information I am about to give you I know can perhaps be a bit difficult to follow as I am saying it. All of the changes I am about to mention are listed in our routemap for shielders which you can find on the Scottish government’s website.

From tomorrow (Friday), you will, if you are shielding, be able to meet indoors with up to 8 people from up to 2 other households, as long as physical distancing is in place.

You will also be able to meet outdoors in groups of up to 15 people from a maximum of 4 other households.

You can also use public transport – including taxis – while wearing a face covering.

You can go to outdoor spaces in pubs and restaurants.

You can go to into indoor shops, pharmacies and indoor markets. You can attend hairdressers and barbers and you can visit museums, galleries, libraries and cinemas.

And children who live with someone who is shielding, can attend formal childcare providers.

Now, all of these changes that I have just mentioned, which you can find more detail on on the website, these will take effect from tomorrow. But our clinical advisers, – who have been closely examining all of the evidence – have also advised us that as things stand right now, assuming no significant deterioration in the position, as things stand right now we will be able to pause the shielding advice all together from 1 Aug.

From that day, the advice for people shielding will then be the same as for those who are simply at heightened risk from Covid – older people, people who receive the flu jab because of a health condition, and people who are pregnant.

This means from the end of next week, you will be advised to follow the guidance for the general population, although we will ask you to be especially careful about hand hygiene and physical distancing.

That will also mean that that children who have been shielding will be able to return to school in August.

And if you have been staying away from your workplace because you have been shielding, you will also be able to return.

However your employer must ensure that you can do so safely.

And of course our advice – not simply for shielding people, but for everyone – remains very strongly that you should continue to work from home whenever that is possible.

I know these changes will be welcome to many of you but they will also, for many of you, create a great deal of anxiety because you have been living in such a restricted way for so long and you will worry about going back to normal and that is completely understandable.

So we are not asking you to stop being careful – and we do not want you to feel under pressure to do anything that you think is unsafe. In fact, we want to do everything we can to help you to feel as safe as possible.

Last month, I indicated that we were looking to develop a range of information and tools to help each of you to make informed decisions about how to stay safe.

We are providing a range of advice on returning to employment and schools. The guidance for schools will be published on 30 July.

For those of you in employment, we have developed a risk assessment tool. That will be available from Monday. It will help your employer understand the adjustments they need to make to help you feel safe.

We are also providing information on what activities are safer, or less risky, than others, and how to undertake them safely. We’ve developed advice on risk factors- and practical information on how to stay safe during everyday activities like going to the shops, visiting friends and family, or using public transport.

You also told us in feedback that you would find it helpful to know what the infection rates are at any given time in your local areas. So we are developing a Covid forecasting service for people who have been shielding. That will allow you to sign up to an SMS update that tells you about your risk of being exposed to Covid in your local area.

And although the food box scheme is ending, you will continue to access priority supermarket delivery slots if you need them, and if you have registered for this service by the end of this month. You will also still be able to go to your Local Authority for support for food provision.

And we will be keeping open our Shielding SMS text messaging service, and our national helpline.

Finally, we are continuing our work to keep you safe after 1 August.

We are strengthening the evidence base about who may need to shield again in the future should we see a resurgence of the virus.

We are continuing our surveys and research to understand your experiences and to offer support that has value to you.

And we will set out the kind of steps we might need to take should there be a spike of infections in the future.

We are changing our guidance now because the infection rate is low now.

But we will continue to monitor this, and if things take a significant turn for the worse – whether nationally or in your local area – we will take the steps we need to in order to keep you as safe as possible. In particular we will contact you and we will give you clear advice on what to do if we are asking you to do anything different.

Before I end, I want to thank everyone who has been shielding. You’ve had to remain in your house and largely apart from all other people, even people in your own household, for months now.

That has been incredibly tough, and it is easy for me to say that when the reality is I actually find it hard to fully imagine just how difficult that must have been. But by doing so, you have protected yourselves, you’ve reassured your loved ones, and helped our health and care services. So a sincere and heartfelt thank you from me to each of you for that.  

And I also want to say a few words to people who are not shielding.

Many of you have been actively involved in support for people who have been shielding: whether that is as family, friends, carers, volunteers, council workers, delivery drivers, health and social care professionals, supermarkets, wholesalers, and a whole host of other people so my thanks to all of you for that too.

Secondly – if you are an employer or a school – we need you to work closely with people who have been shielding, in order to take the necessary steps to keep them safe but also to assure them you will keep them safe.

Please do that, reach out to people who have been shielding to understand their needs, and provide that help.

And for all of us, we should understand the worries and concerns of people who have been shielding.

Many people who are shielding will still be nervous about returning to work, or returning to shops and restaurants, or socialising a bit more. All of us should understand that and be as supportive as we can be.

And finally, this is my final point, shielding and shielding people demonstrate again, and perhaps more powerfully than anything does, how all of us are dependent right now on each other’s actions.

The reason that we can pause shielding, hopefully at the end of next week, is because all of us have stuck to the guidance so far. All of us need to continue to do that, in order that we continue collectively to protect those most at risk.

And that basic idea – that all of us, more than ever, are depending on each other, is the note that I will end on.

We can only reopen services, start to reopen the economy again because infection rates are low. We will only be able to keep all these things open if infection rates stay low.

The virus as we know is still out there, it is still highly infectious and it is still highly dangerous.

So all of us have a part to play in keeping it under control. So let me end with the usual advice that I am going to continue to say as often as I need to in order that everybody understands that if we all stick to this we can keep this virus under control.

That is the FACTS message.

  • Face coverings in shops, public transport or any enclosed spaces where physical distancing is difficult
  •  Avoid crowded places, whether that’s indoors or outdoors
  • Clean your hands and clean hard surfaces regularly.
  • Two metre distancing – that remains the important advice
  • and self isolate, and book a test, if you have any symptoms.

If we all follow this advice rigorously and rigidly then the progress we have made over these past painful four months will be progress that we can continue to see.

So my thanks to all of you for doing that, in particular today, my thanks to all of you who have been shielding.

First Minister: “We are making so much good progress”

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Thursday 16  July):

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us again today. I’m joined today by the Deputy First Minister and by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nicola Steedman.

I’ll start with the usual update on the Covid-19 statistics.

An additional 11 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – which takes the total now in Scotland to 18,384. 

A total of 630 patients are currently in hospital with the virus – either confirmed or suspected. That is 19 more than yesterday but it includes a reduction of 9 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 6 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That is the same number overall as yesterday but an increase of 1 in the number of confirmed cases.

Since 5 March, a total of 4,138 patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 have been able to leave hospital.

During the last 24 hours, 1 death was registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having Covid-19.  The total number of deaths, under this particular measure, is now 2,491.

Now even one death is of course one too many, but for us to have had just one registered death of a confirmed case in eight days is a sign of the progress we have made.

That said, the total number of deaths is a painful reminder of the heavy toll that this virus has taken, so once again my thoughts are with everyone who has lost a loved one.

We will also today publish updated information about the prevalence of the virus in Scotland.

Our modelling suggests that the R number – the average number of people infected by one other infectious person – remains below 1. And the number of people in Scotland with the virus continues to fall. Our central estimate for last week is that 700 people in Scotland were infectious.

Again, these figures are a sign of the considerable progress that has been made. And so as I always do I want to thank everybody who has contributed to that, including every single member of the public across the country, but in particular our health and care workers for the remarkable job that you do in very difficult circumstances.

There are three issues that I want to cover today.

The first is childcare- an issue which is hugely important for families across the country, and which is also hugely important for the economy – today’s job figures published this morning highlight again the economic impact of the pandemic, and the importance of government and everybody working hard to counter that in the weeks and months ahead.

As you know, childcare services were able to reopen fully yesterday, and so John Swinney will talk a bit more about the childcare which is available now, and which will be available in the months ahead.

Before that, however, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who works in childcare for all of your efforts to enable children to return safely. It is hugely appreciated by all of us.

I also want to thank parents and carers. I can only imagine how much disruption the closure of childcare settings has caused for you over these past few months. But I want to thank you for understanding why it has been necessary, and for managing throughout this period – sometimes, I know, in very difficult circumstances indeed.

And finally – in the unlikely event that any of you are watching to this briefing! – I want to say again thank you to all of the children across the country who have been affected by the closure of childcare facilities and of schools.

I hope that in the last few days you’ve been able to play with your friends a bit more; and I hope that you are looking forward to going back to nursery or, in a few weeks’ time, going back to school.

But I know how difficult it has been for you to stay indoors for much of the time over the past few months, and I know that not being able to see your friends hasn’t been much fun at all, but you have all been brilliant, and I want you to know that everyone is really proud of you.

The second issue I want to cover is shielding.

The statistics now show that the prevalence of the virus in Scotland is low, and is, at this stage, getting lower. That means that we can update our advice to people who are shielding, in line with the routemap that we set out for you last week.

From tomorrow (Friday), therefore, we advise that you can if you wish stay in any holiday accommodation, including hotels and bed and breakfasts. You can also visit outdoor markets and public gardens.

And in a change that I hope will be particularly welcome, non-cohabiting couples can meet without physical distancing, even if one or both of you is shielding, and even if neither of you lives on your own. 

We hope to be able to pause the need for shielding altogether at the end of this month – although even if we do that we will still encourage those in the shielding group to take extra care in things such as physical distancing and hygiene.

I know that the prospect of returning to something more like your normal lives will be welcome for many of you, if not all of you, but I appreciate that it is also likely to be quite daunting.

The Scottish Government will provide more information for you nearer the time, and we will do everything we can to support you in this transition.

In addition the Economy Secretary has asked the UK Government to ensure ongoing financial support for anyone who has been shielding, and who may not be able to go back to work, or to work from home.

In addition, I think that those of us who aren’t shielding should also think about how we can help all of you during this transition.

Wearing masks in shops and on public transport, making sure we all keep 2 metres away from others wherever possible, that’s the best way we can all help to give shielding people the confidence to go out and about safely.

And if you’re an employer, please be sensitive to the concerns of any employees who may be shielding.

If it turns out that we are able to confirm next week that shielding will be paused from 31 July, please reach out to people who might be going back to work; have honest conversations about how you can support them; and try to think creatively about how you can make your workplace safer for them.

As I’ve said before, the relaxation of shielding measures is good news, but it will be prompting some understandable stress and anxiety. All of us can take sometimes small steps, that might make a big difference for people who are shielding.

The final issue I want to cover relates to mental health. Most of the focus on Covid so far – for very obvious reasons – has been on its physical impact.

However, we are also increasingly thinking about the mental health of people who have had Covid.

There are now, for example, more than 500 people who have been discharged from intensive care or high dependency units in Scotland.

Being in intensive care is obviously a traumatic experience – and many Covid patients have had to go through that, without any prospect of being visited by friends and family at any time while they have been in hospital.

So although we know that most people will make a full recovery, with the help of their loved ones – some people we know will need additional support.  

Scotland already has a very effective programme, which is used by several health boards, for helping patients who have been in intensive care.

The Inspire programme uses specialists from different disciplines; it puts former intensive care patients in touch with other people who have had the same experiences; and it encourages them to join community organisations or other groups which can help them through.

And so we plan to learn from that in supporting Covid patients.

I am delighted to confirm today that Dr Nadine Cossette – a psychiatrist with NHS Lothian – has agreed to lead on this work. It is an important way of ensuring that people who have had Covid get the long-term help that they need to recover.

Before I hand over to John Swinney and then to Dr Steedman, I want to stress again today that as the figures demonstrate, we have now got to a position – it’s been hard earned, and it has not been easy – but we’ve now got to a position where, at this stage, there are very low levels of the virus in Scotland.

However, as you hear me say every single day, the only way to ensure that things remain that way, is to continue to stick to the rules. 

Every single one of us have a duty – and I think it is a duty that all of us have as citizens – to remember that the decisions we take as individuals right now have an impact on the collective wellbeing of us all. That is more important now as we emerge from lockdown than it has been at any point over the last four months.

So I want once again to remind you all of Facts – the five key, vitally important things all of us should remember in absolutely everything we do.

  • Face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces. They are mandatory in shops and on public transport, but our advice is in any enclosed space where physical distancing might be more difficult, wear a face covering.
  • Avoid crowded places. Not just crowded places indoors – that is especially important – but even outdoors, avoid crowded places.
  • Clean your hands regularly and thoroughly and if you’re touching hard surfaces clean them too.
  • Two metre distancing remains the general rule and the strong advice we give to everyone.
  • and Self isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms. Remember, if you have a new cough, if you have a fever, if you suffer a loss of or a change in your sense of taste or smell, don’t wait to see if you feel better. Act immediately. Self-isolate and go to the NHS inform website, and book a test. It is by doing that, that you give our test and protect system the opportunity to break the chains of transmission.

So if all of us remember these 5 basic measures, all of us can help to stay safe, protect others, and save lives.

https://youtu.be/Q4t7EjeBHdg

So my thanks, again, to everyone who is doing the right thing, and sticking with these rules. If we all keep doing it then we will continue to make the progress that we’ve seen in recent weeks.

Before I leave today there is one other issue that I want to update you on, which relates to a temporary change to the regularity of these daily briefings.

For the next two weeks we are going to be moving to three briefings a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays. That means there will be no tomorrow or on Monday – I will next see you here on Tuesday.

The reason for that is, when you watch these briefings you see those of us who stand at the podiums, but these briefings involve a lot of work on the part of people behind the camera. This allows us to give people a bit of a break over the next two weekends in the summer period.

We will return to five-day-a-week briefings at the start of August as we go into that period running up to the return of schools, when I am sure there will be a lot of questions, not just from the journalists but parents and young people will want to hear regular updates about our progress.

So we do intend to return to the five-day-a-week briefing, but we intend to give people a little bit of a break over the next two weekends, before we go into next, I’m sure, very busy period.

One other change is that of Tuesday next week when I return for the next briefing, we will be at the slightly earlier time of 12.15 every day and that is likely to be a permanent change. So try to remember, if you are planning on tuning in, to tune in 15 minutes early to get the update that we will give you.

Obviously for Mondays and Fridays over the next two weeks we will put out the daily update through the Scottish Government website.

My thanks to all of you for joining us today and as always for complying with the guidance that we ask you to comply with, and that’s the note that I will leave you on.

We are making so much good progress here and we must make sure it continues, so please remember Facts: Face coverings, avoid crowded places, clean your hands, clean hard surfaces, two metres distance, and self-isolate and get a test if you have symptoms.

I can’t stress this enough: if we all stick to these five basic measures, it is possible for us to keep this virus under control, and get that greater normality back into our lives, with perhaps the greatest prize of all – to have children and young people back in full-time education come the middle of August.

So thank you again very much, and I will see you again on Tuesday at 12.15pm.

First Minister: ‘We will not forget you’

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

Good afternoon. My update today will be a bit longer than normal as I have important information to convey, including on shielding.

But first I’ll give an update on the key statistics in relation to Covid-19.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,639 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 18 from yesterday.

A total of 1,042 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents a total increase of 40 from yesterday, including an increase of 9 in the number of confirmed cases in hospital.

A total of 24 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected cases of the virus. That is a decrease of 1 since yesterday.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,799 patients who had tested positive and required hospital treatment for the virus have been able to leave hospital.

And in the last 24 hours, 0 deaths were registered of patients confirmed through a test as having Covid-19 –the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, therefore remains at 2,415.

This is the second day in a row that no deaths have been registered in the preceding 24 hours. This is obviously very encouraging. I can’t tell how much I have longed to report such a development – and I know you will have longed to hear that. 

But even so, we must still exercise caution. We know from previous weeks that fewer deaths tend to be registered at weekends – so it is still highly likely that more Covid deaths will be recorded in the days ahead. But I very much hope we continue to see a steady decline.

As always, I want to stress that the figures I have been reporting over the last few weeks are not simply statistics. They represent individuals whose loss is a source of sorrow to many. My deepest condolences are with everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus.

I also want to express my thanks to our health and care workers for the incredible work that you continue to do in very testing circumstances.

And today I want to convey a special message – from my heart – to everyone watching. I want to take a moment to thank you for the sacrifices you have made in recent weeks.

I know how painful many of these sacrifices have been – not being able to see family, especially grandchildren, or attend funerals of loved ones, or celebrate special occasions.

These are times in our lives that we don’t get back.

And the experience – the worry and the loneliness – of these weeks will live with all of us forever. That is true for everyone – but it is and will continue to be especially so for those in the shielded category who I will address directly in a moment.

I want all of you – shielded or not – to know that I am acutely aware of this in every single decision I take. And there are no words that will ever adequately express the sorrow I feel for all you have gone through – or indeed the gratitude for the way you have borne it.

I also know that as you listen to me report statistics that are now going in a positive direction, you will be asking if these sacrifices remain necessary.

And as you witness some people, even just a minority, not abiding by the rules, I suspect you may be also asking ‘why should I bother?’ I understand all of that. I really do. And I share the frustration at times.

But sticking with it for a bit longer really does matter. These painful but necessary sacrifices have brought us to where we are today – with this virus in retreat.

In retreat, but not gone. And still posing a real risk, especially to the most clinically vulnerable.

And that’s the key point I want to make to you today. This is such a crucial juncture in our battle against the virus. We will either keep going, keep beating it back – or we will give it the chance to roar back with a vengeance.

We must do the former. If we break the chains of transmission even more and drive down the number of new cases to a lower base, the safer it will be to more meaningfully ease the restrictions and speed up our journey back to some normality.

And if we do keep making the progress we have in the last few weeks, I am optimistic that 10 days from now at the next formal review, we will be able to move, at least in part, into the next phase of our routemap out of lockdown, with more individual freedoms restored and more businesses able to open up and operate again.

But that depends on all of us. So please stick with it. Every day we do, brings us closer to getting back to a form of normality. But today I want to thank each and every one of you for all of those sacrifices you have been making.

The main – and difficult – issue I want to talk about today is shielding. I want to give as much of an update as I can for the approximately 180,000 people across Scotland who have been shielding – because we know you are at greatest risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from this virus.

Our initial advice in March was for you to shield until the 18th of June and I know you are anxious about what happens next.

This is not an easy update to give – and I know it will not be an easy one for you to hear – but it is important that we set out for you our current expectations at this stage. You will receive a letter from the Chief Medical Officer shortly with the information I am about to give.

The advice for you to shield has been necessary to protect you from harm – and for now it remains so – but I am well aware that such a long period of isolation causes its own harms and distress.

For all of these reasons we want, as soon as we possibly can, to move to a better position where we can give you more tailored advice on the risks associated with your specific condition – and then set out what you can do to mitigate these risks and how we can support you to live more normally.

However to do that properly and safely, we need more clinical and scientific evidence than we have right now. I will say more about that in a few moments.

For the moment, despite the progress that has been made in reducing levels of Covid in the community, the virus still poses a very significant threat to you. I am afraid, therefore, that our recommendation at this stage is that you should continue to shield until 31 July.

We are however likely to amend our current guidance so that from next week you can go outside to exercise. I will say more about that shortly.

The support you currently receive will of course still be available. At present, more than 50,000 shielding people receive free weekly grocery boxes, and 46,000 have registered for priority online delivery with supermarkets. That is in addition to the services local pharmacists are providing, and the help given by local authorities and the third sector.  All of those services will continue – and even if you haven’t needed them up until now, you can still access them.

I promise you, and I want to say this very directly and very sincerely to you, I promise you we are not going to forget about you between now and the end of July.

During that period, we will consider on an ongoing basis whether further easing is possible. And if we can bring shielding in its current form to an end earlier than the end of July, we will do so. But we judge it is better to give you the clarity of a backstop date now.

And please be assured that we are working hard to provide a more tailored approach for you – so that from the end of July at the latest, you can enjoy more normality in your life.

We know that not every person who is shielding faces exactly the same risk.

So we are working to develop tools that allow you and your clinicians to take into account your specific condition –  and also other factors, like your age or ethnicity – in order to give you a better sense of the risks you face.

As part of that, we are also looking for ways to help you understand the changing risk of infection in your local area.

Once this evidence is available, we will start providing more specific advice for you, so that you can understand the safest ways to go back to a more normal life. We are working on this with clinicians and scientific advisers across the 4 nations of the UK.

It is worth stressing that some of the issues here are complex – and new clinical evidence is becoming available constantly – however we hope to make this more detailed advice available over the next few weeks.

Before then – for the period from 18 June onwards – we have been considering what steps we can safely take.

We now know that the risk of catching Covid outdoors, if you stay 2 metres apart from other people, is relatively low.

And so we currently expect that from Thursday 18 June, anybody who is shielding, unless they live in a nursing or residential care home, will be able to go outdoors for exercise. There will be no limit to how long or how often you can go out each day.

We hope that this will provide some boost for your quality of life – particularly if you live in a home which doesn’t have a garden, or which has limited space – without greatly increasing the risks you face.

Assuming that this change goes ahead – and I currently expect that to be the case – you’ll be able to go out for exercise; for example a walk, wheel, run or cycle.

However you should stay two metres away from others while you’re out.

We will not recommend yet that you take part in sports such as golf or tennis.

And you should still avoid meeting up with other households, even in a physically distanced setting. I know that that in particular is really  hard, but we want to avoid the possibility of creating additional risks.

For people who live in nursing or residential care homes – I am afraid that any change to the guidance on exercise from 18 June, will not yet apply to you.  We will change our advice for you as soon as we can confidently do so.

In relation to education, we have already published guidance to clarify that children who are shielding should not be expected to return until it is safe. Instead, they should be supported to receive education at home or in a way that best meets their needs

And in relation to work, the starting point for everyone – regardless of whether or not you are shielding – should be that you work from home where possible

But if you are shielding, you are not expected to return to a workplace until at least 31 July. And I want to be clear that employers should do everything they can to help you to work from home safely. Nobody should be penalised for following medical guidance.

Before I finish, I want to acknowledge that the support made available to people who are shielding is only possible because different organisations have worked together. That includes national and local government, the third sector, supermarkets and wholesalers, and the NHS.

And these services depend on a lot of hard work from a lot of people – for example the staff in local authority assistance centres, delivery drivers, volunteers and many others. I want to say thank you to all of them.

I also know that for anyone who lives with someone who is shielding, this has been a very stressful time. I want to particularly acknowledge the support that you will have been providing, in incredibly difficult circumstances.

And of course most of all, I want to say thank you to those of you who are shielding.

I don’t know, from my own personal experience, just how difficult this has been for you, so I’m not going to pretend to you that I do, but I can imagine how difficult this has been.

I know that many of you listening today will be very disappointed that shielding is to continue for some time yet. I want to assure you though that this is not a decision we take lightly – it weighs heavily on all of us, including on me.

But it is for your protection. And I hope that our advice on exercise, should it come into force next week as I expect, will make a difference for many of you.

I also promise that we will ease our guidance again before the end of July  – if we are confident we can do so safely. And I guarantee that in the weeks ahead, you will continue to be absolutely central to our thinking.

I want to conclude just by emphasizing again our key public health guidance for all people outside the shielding group.

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, you must stay outdoors, and you must 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 8 people in a group.

Wash your hands often. Take hand sanitiser if you are out and about.

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

Avoid touching hard surfaces – and clean any you do touch.

And if you have the symptoms of Covid-19 you must get tested, and follow the advice on self-isolation.

Above all else, please remember that the decisions you take as an individual, affect the health and wellbeing of us all.

If we all do the right thing, then we will continue to slow the spread of this virus and we will save lives. And we will bring forward much closer that day when all of us can continue to get back to some normality.

So my thanks again to all of you, my thanks in particular to those watching in the shielded category. I know how difficult what I have just reported to you will be, but let me repeat that promise – that we have not and will not forget you.

First Minister: Testing,shielding and skills development

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

Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us for today’s briefing.

I want to start – as I always do – by updating you on some of the key statistics in relation to Covid-19 in Scotland.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 14,117 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 188 from yesterday.

A total of 1480 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That is a decrease of 54 since yesterday.

A total of 71 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid 19. That is an increase of 1 since yesterday.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,253 patients who had tested positive for the virus have been able to leave hospital. I wish all of them well.

And unfortunately I also have to report that in the last 24 hours, 34 deaths have been registered of patients who have been confirmed through a test as having Covid-19 – that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2007.

And let’s always remind ourselves that behind these statistics are individuals whose loss is a source of grief to their friends, family and loved ones. I want to send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus.

I also want to thank – as I always do – our health and care workers. Later this evening people across the Scotland will once again applaud you from our doorsteps and windows. I hope that that gesture gives a small but important indication of how grateful we all are for the incredible work that you are doing.

I have three things I want to update you on today. The first is on tests and I want to set out again, so it is clear, who is eligible – right now – to access testing. 

Let me stress we keep this under constant review and take clinical advice on an ongoing basis,, and as it changes we will let you know, but I want to set out very clearly the position as it is now – so no one who is entitled to a test is in any doubt.

NHS Scotland testing capacity is currently used within hospitals for all ICU patients, all patients in hospital who have symptoms, and all those admitted to hospital who are over the age of 70, whether they have symptoms of COVID-19 or not. People who are over 70 will be tested every four days during their stay. The reason for that is we see in the statistics every day that older people are particularly hard hit by this virus.

NHS tests are also given to all patients due to enter or re-enter a care home from hospital – if they have previously tested positive for the virus, they must have 2 negative tests before entering the care home from a hospital.

In addition, we implement what is called enhanced outbreak investigation in all care homes where there are cases of COVID. This involves testing, subject to individuals’ consent, of all residents and staff – whether or not they have symptoms.

NHS testing is also available for all NHS and social care key workers, or symptomatic household members of those workers. This testing should be accessible to care and health service staff within their local area, and should not require them to drive or travel long distances.

Care home managers can put symptomatic staff forward for testing and there should be no barriers to that.

Tests are also now available to a wider group of people through the UK wide Testing Programme at drive-in centres and mobile testing units. There are 5 drive-in centres in Scotland – at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports, and in Inverness and Perth. There are also now 12 mobile testing units across the country in locations such as Annan and Fort William, and they will move to other towns every 5 days or so.

These provide testing, for any key worker with symptoms – not just health and care workers – so, for example if you are working in critical infrastructure services. They are also available for anyone needs to work, and cannot work from home; and for anyone with symptoms who is over 65. Testing is also available to symptomatic household members for all of these groups.

If you book a test through these drive-in or mobile centres, you will be allocated to the centre closest to your own postcode. I know that for some people that can still involve travelling quite a long distance. We are therefore working with the military, to try to make mobile testing units as widely available as possible.

Finally, we are also now using NHS testing capacity for monitoring purposes – to test the prevalence of the virus in communities in Scotland.

As we further increase capacity – and as the incidence of the virus continues to reduce – we will also start implementing our policy of test, trace, isolate and support. That will be crucial to controlling further outbreaks of the epidemic, as we start to emerge from lockdown and we will update on progress on that shortly.

However at this stage, our testing policy continues to be based on three key priorities- saving lives and protecting the vulnerable; ensuring that critical staff can return to work as soon as possible; and monitoring and reporting on the spread and prevalence of the virus.

The continuing expansion of testing is enabling us to do that more effectively, while also building our capacity to test, trace and isolate.

The second item I want to update you on, relates to support for people who are shielding.

That term refers to approximately 175,000 people in Scotland who are at the highest clinical risk from Covid-19, and who are therefore being asked to stay at home at all times.

People who are shielding can ask for support and receive information through a text message service. If you have not yet registered for the service but are in that shielding group, I would encourage you to do so.

One of the services which you can request by text is free weekly delivery of food, and other vital provisions such as toiletries.

These deliveries are also available to people without a mobile phone – I will read out a freephone number in a few moments which will be useful if you are in that position.

More than 50,000 people who are shielding have signed up for the free delivery service and more than 250,000 food packages have now been delivered to people across the country.

In addition, many supermarkets are making priority delivery slots available for people who are shielding.

I know for some of you, as you enter your seventh or eighth week of shielding, you will be feeling incredible levels of frustration.

This crisis is in so many ways much harder for you than for you even than it is for those  living with the standard restrictions which are in place for everyone else. And so it is important to me that you know that support is available to you and that support will be available for as long as it is needed. Please ask for that support if you need it – whether that is food and medication, or indeed anything else. Just because you have not needed it up to now does not mean you cannot ask for it at any time.

I also want you to know that you are not being forgotten as we think about our next steps, and about how we live in a new world where this virus is present. Your needs and your quality of life remain really important to our decision making process. We will set out steps over the days and weeks to come about how we emerge from the lockdown but I don’t want anybody in the shielding group to think they are being left behind. You have particular needs and it is really important we protect you, but it’s also important we understand how difficult this is for you.

I mentioned earlier that we have a national helpline for people who are shielding. This will direct you to your local authority and is a good way of finding information about the support which is available to you – including food and medicine deliveries.

The number is 0800 111 4000 – that’s 0800 111 4000 – and the line is open between 9am and 5pm every weekday. So please, do make use of it.

The final issue I want to cover is the work of Skills Development Scotland. I know that the economic uncertainty caused by this crisis has caused very many people to worry about their future prospects.

Although it cannot currently offer face to face support, Skills Development Scotland has still been providing help to people throughout this crisis. For example its website, myworldofwork, provides information on online learning courses; on immediately available jobs; and on practical skills such as developing your CV.

Yesterday SDS expanded its support further by launching a phoneline and online service. Again, I will read out the phoneline number in a few moments.

The phoneline and web resources will provide people with access to range of services available from SDS and local councils.

They will therefore help individuals who are thinking about future job and career options – for example if you are currently on furlough; if you have been made redundant and are seeking employment; or if you are a school pupil, or their parent or carer, who is thinking about what to do after school.

An advertising campaign was launched yesterday to support the enhanced service. So if you think you might benefit from the advice being offered, either go onto the Skills Development Scotland website – myworldofwork.co.uk – or phone the helpline on 0800 917 8000.

I want to conclude my statement simply by emphasising once again our key public health guidance.

Please stay at home except for essential purposes- such as essential work that can’t be done at home, exercise, or to pick up food or medicines.

You can now exercise more than once a day – but when you do leave the house, stay more than two metres from other people. And do not meet up with people from households other than yours.

Please wear a face covering if you are in a shop or on public transport. And wash your hands thoroughly and regularly.

Finally, if you or someone else in your household has symptoms of Covid-19, then you should stay at home completely.

I know that this is really difficult and  it gets more difficult with every passing day. But right now it is still necessary, and it is making a difference.

By staying at home, we are slowing the spread of the virus, we are protecting the NHS, and we are saving lives.

And we are bringing the day closer, when we can relax some more of these restrictions.

So thank you once again to all of you for sticking with this for your own sake but for the sake of everyone else as well. This truly is a national collective endeavour that all of us are contributing to.

Support for people shielding during COVID-19

A quarter of a million packages containing essential supplies have been delivered to people across Scotland facing the highest clinical risks from COVID-19.

The free boxes, which include vital food and toiletries, are dropped off weekly to the homes of people who are shielding.

More than 50,000 individuals have currently signed up for the deliveries.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “We understand that this is an extremely worrying time for people who are shielding and we want to do everything we can to support them throughout this challenging time.

“These packages along with the priority supermarket delivery slots help those at greatest risk from COVID-19 to shield and protect themselves from the virus.

“We are providing guidance on shielding from infection and information about the support available. We are offering this support to people who are shielding through a dedicated text message service. Those without mobile phones can still access this support by calling their local authority.”

People who don’t have access to a mobile phone can request these priority slots through their local authority and anyone who is at increased risk but not part of the shielded category and who has no family or community support should phone our national phone line on 0800 111 4000.

The Scottish Government set up this service so those in this wider vulnerable group can also access help in getting essential goods.

The grocery delivery service is led by food and distribution companies Brakes and BidFood.

Shielding support and contacts