Question reference: S5W-35026
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 5 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether workplace testing for COVID-19 is taking place at the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, given that staff are working in the Sheriff and Supreme courts and are in contact with members of the public, and what the reasons are for its position is on the matter.
Answer
Testing is available in Scotland for anyone with COVID symptoms.
As the First Minister announced in her statement of 2 February, we are introducing an enhanced asymptomatic testing programme to break chains of transmission, support the safe return of essential services, and the safe return to schools. The groups included in this part of the Scottish Government’s testing expansion include:
- higher and further education students,
- school staff and senior phase pupils,
- early learning and childcare staff,
- healthcare workers in primary care,
- hospice staff,
- other social care setting staff,
- prison service staff,
- emergency service control rooms and NHS24 staff, and,
- food processing staff and front-facing food distribution staff.
Regular asymptomatic testing for staff at the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service is not currently available. Further expansions to the asymptomatic testing programme is kept under constant review in line with clinical and scientific advice.