Chamber and committees

Workforce education for Contact Tracers is developed and delivered by Public Health Scotland, NHS National Services Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland.

For Tier 1 contact tracers, working within the newly established National Contact Tracing Centre (NCTC), the workforce education programme is a mixture of self-directed and virtually hosted facilitated training days. The duration of the learning pathway varies depending on roles and experience, with ongoing support provided as required. Tier 2 of the service is being delivered by specialist staff across NHS boards who will already have had the appropriate health protection training and also have access to the educational materials developed for the NCTC if required.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recommends EU/EEA members and the UK generate R rates, as explained in guidance it produced in June. The ECDC published the document ‘Monitoring and evaluation framework for COVID-19 response activities in the EU/EEA and the UK’: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/covid-19-framework-monitor-responses.pdf . In this framework document it is explained that the ECDC itself does not collect, or calculate, R rates.

Individuals returning to Scotland after visiting other parts of the UK are not being asked to quarantine for 14 days upon return.

The Scottish Government and sport scotland are committed to working with stakeholders, including the Scottish FA, to undertake the necessary planning and risk assessments so football – and other sports – can resume for people aged 18 and over in a healthy and safe way and in line with current guidance and best practice.

Non-professional adult outdoor contact sport is expected to resume in Phase 3 of the route map, but not before 31 July 2020 at the earliest, and only when it is safe to do so.

The Scottish Government and sportscotland have been working with stakeholders, including Scottish Sporting Governing Bodies, local authorities and leisure trusts, to develop appropriate sectoral guidance for the resumption of organised outdoor contact sport. This can be found on the sportscotland website . Similarly, sportscotland have been working with partners to develop, review and refine their sport specific guidance in line with the current restrictions.

We will continue to work closely with partners as we prepare for the resumption of outdoor contact sport for adults when it is safe to do so. Non-professional adult outdoor contact sport is expected to resume in Phase 3 of the route map, but not before 31 July at the earliest.

Since 13 July 2020, children and young people (0-17) have been able to play outdoor contact sport in an organised setting, where there is sport specific guidance in place from the Sport’s Governing Body. These changes relate to activities being run by an organisation, not to informal sport between groups of friends.

The Scottish Government and sport scotland are committed to working with stakeholders, including the Scottish FA, to undertake the necessary planning and risk assessments so football - and other sports – can return for all ages in a healthy and safe way and in line with current guidance and best practice.

Non-contact training activity can currently take place for ages 18 and above, providing it is undertaken in line with the current restrictions on outdoor gatherings.

Non-professional adult outdoor contact sport is expected to resume in Phase 3 of the route map, but not before 31 July and when it is safe to do so. We envisage guidance will be provided at that point to enable people to play safely.

Since 13 July 2020, children and young people have been able to play outdoor sport in an organised setting, where there is sport specific guidance in place from the sport’s governing body. The Scottish FA have agreed guidance with sportscotland and this includes information on strict hygiene measures and the ability to contact trace participants, as required by sport scotland’s overarching guidance. Organised sports for children and young people can use a ‘field bubble’ where contact is allowed on the field of play when the activity is taking place.

The Scottish FA has also launched a 'Return to Football Hub' which provides resources for all its National Affiliated Associations’ leagues, clubs and facilities to use to return to football safely in accordance with the Scottish FA and Scottish Government regulations.

There is no shortfall in staffing numbers within the contact tracing service as part of NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect. Low numbers of people are currently testing positive for COVID-19 and Boards are sufficiently staffed to meet that demand, but the staffing model is designed to be able to increase or decrease in response to demand.

The contact tracing workforce is designed to be a flexible resource and health boards can call upon a total pool of over 2,000 staff who are available at short notice.

We will continue to deliver Employability Fund through 2020-21 and during the current pandemic we have taken steps to ensure that current participants continue to be supported appropriately. We will make decisions about future employability interventions as we progress through the pandemic.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30276 on 8 July 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29384 on 16 July 2020 for further information about data on hospital admissions from care homes. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .