Question reference: S5W-31407
- Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 25 August 2020
-
Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the increase in respiratory infections and illness in the winter, how it will ensure that adequate COVID-19 testing is available in the coming months.
Answer
Demand for testing will fluctuate for a range of reasons. With winter pressures on the testing system in mind, we have been taking forward plans to expand existing capacity by:
- Deploying additional mobile testing units
- Increasing the number of tests that can be carried out at regional testing centres
- Utilising additional NHS testing capacity, for example by activating additional drive-through facilities
- Establishing 22 new walk-through centres across Scotland
Sites in St Andrews, Glasgow city centre, west Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, West Dunbartonshire and Stirling have started testing. Sites in Dundee, west Edinburgh, Inverness and Inverclyde are now open. We are engaging closely with universities, health boards and local authorities to deliver these local test sites.
This means 11 sites are scheduled to open by the end of October. We have committed to delivering a further 11 sites by winter, with a total of at least 22, and are working with our partners to identify further site locations.
In addition to this, we have in place contingency plans to provide further capacity to cope with surges in demand.
On 17 August we published our updated Testing Strategy. This makes clear that our overall priority at this stage of the management of the disease is rapid identification and testing of people with symptoms. It is important for members of the public to understand when they should book a test: NHS Inform has clear advice about this, including a self-help guide. People should only book a test, either for themselves or for a family member, if they have been contacted and asked to do so by the Test and Protect team, or have one of the COVID symptoms: a new persistent cough, a fever, or a loss of or change in their sense of taste or smell.
However, as the First Minister set out in parliament last week, in light of increasing prevalence of COVID-19 in the community we are conducting a further review of our testing strategy, and the clinical paper to support this was published today.