Chamber and committees

Testing for COVID-19 in Scotland is available to all symptomatic individuals aged 5 years and over through the Test and Protect Programme further information can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-getting-tested/ or by calling 0300 303 2713.

The Scottish Government is committed to using testing where it has a clear purpose and can contribute to reducing the risk of transmission. We will continue to adopt a flexible approach to testing which is based on the best available evidence to address the challenges where it can have the greatest impact and is guided by scientific, clinical and public health advice from our expert advisory structures.

Testing is one of a number of key public health mitigation measures and must be seen alongside a strong emphasis on removing symptomatic health and social care staff from the work, the use of PPE, physical distancing, environmental optimisation and decontamination and good social hygiene. It must not be seen as a substitute.

The information is not centrally held.

Testing for COVID-19 in Scotland is available through the NHS in Scotland to all Health and Social care staff delivering NHS services and providing social care to protect and care for the most vulnerable. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-getting-tested/pages/who-can-be-tested/ .

The Scottish Government have engaged with Social Work Scotland Learning Disability and Autism sub group and the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities to monitor what has been happening across the country for day care services. This has included consultation to understanding the potential barriers to safely re-open and reconfigure services; what creative solutions have been implemented to date; and what support and guidance is needed to support local decision making.

Social day care services encompass a wide variety of types of support. Some critical day care and respite support for people with learning disabilities has remained in place with appropriate physical distancing and hygiene measures, whilst other services have re-opened, providing essential support in a different way.

It is critical that social care support is maintained throughout this difficult period to ensure the safety, dignity and human rights of people who already receive support and their unpaid carers. We have made clear to local authorities that they should act to do what is right to deal with the virus, and not be constrained by funding issues. In addition to the funding directed towards social care from the 2020-21 budget, we have agreed with COSLA that Scottish Government will meet additional social care costs incurred because of the impact of the pandemic.

The Scottish Government have been working with the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities (SCLD) and People First Scotland to create easy read versions of all official Government Coronavirus related advice and information relevant to people with learning disabilities. These are available on SCLD’s website .

Information on Testing can be found on NHS Inform's website at

https://www.nhsinform.scot/media/3556/20-21-coronavirus-easy-read-nhs-inform-10-testing-9-june-2020.pdf . Information on Tracing can be found on NHS Inform's website at https://www.nhsinform.scot/media/3697/20-21-coronavirus-easy-read-nhs-inform-11-contact-tracing-6-july-2020.pdf .

Additionally the link to the easy read version of the advice on testing can be found at the bottom of the door drop leaflet on Test and Trace.

Easy read documents are the most effective methods of written communication for people with learning disabilities and the easy read documents are the most accessed alternative formats of Government advice on NHS Inform’s website.

The information is not centrally held.

Testing for COVID-19 in Scotland is available through the NHS in Scotland to all Health and Social care staff delivering NHS services and providing social care to protect and care for the most vulnerable. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-getting-tested/pages/who-can-be-tested/ .

On 3 June, the NRS published data on the number of COVID deaths of people whose usual residence was a care home and who died in hospital. That figure was 154.

This information can be accessed via the following link:

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/covid19/covid-deaths-care-home-residents.xlsx

One of our key priorities is to ensure that children and young people with additional support needs, continue to be fully supported with their learning as we begin to transition back to a greater level of face-to-face education.

The needs of individual children should be carefully considered by education authorities, schools and early learning centres within the plans for anticipating a return to schools on a full-time basis in August. Our national guidance on continuity of learning supports this approach.

To further support local authorities and schools, Education Scotland has developed bespoke resources to assist in planning the individual support that children and young people with additional support needs may require in their transition back to school or in their progression to another learning setting.

The Scottish Government published a description of how the Covid-19 R number is calculated on 21st May. This is available via the link. https://www.gov.scot/publications/
covid-19-modelling-epidemic-scotland/ .

The model uses data and provides an R value for Scotland in its entirety. The contribution of care homes, hospitals and the community at large to the overall value, and the links between them, are not well understood. Scottish Government analysts are working with academic groups and modellers from across the UK, through the SPIM and SAGE groups to develop ways to do this, and we await their findings. The Scottish Government is also carefully considering a range of Covid statistics on care homes. This includes data produced daily by Scottish Government on the number of number of care homes notifying cases of COVID-19, and the number of suspected cases of COVID-19 in care homes. This also includes weekly excess deaths produced by National Records of Scotland to help understand where people have died from Covid-19.

NHS Board Laboratories - We have NHS labs operating in all 14 health board areas: Together, these have a maximum normal lab capacity for more than 10,000 tests a day.

Supporting Laboratories - Our testing capacity is supported the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service lab and non-NHS labs at the University of Edinburgh and University of Aberdeen.

Lighthouse Laboratory - The Lighthouse Laboratory, based at Glasgow University is one of three Lighthouse Centres across the UK. It has a testing capacity of around 20,000 tests a day.

There are 6 drive-through testing centres in Scotland as part of the UK Government’s Expanded Testing Programme. These are located at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen airports, the Highlands and Islands University campus’ in Inverness and Perth, and Prestwick Airport.

The UK Government's Expanded Testing Programme also provides Mobile Testing Units. Mobile testing units (MTU) were deployed for the first time in Scotland on 30 April. On Wednesday 10 June, 9 Mobile Testing Units were operational at: Dornoch, Galashiels, Fort William, Stirling, Motherwell, Prestwick, Greenock, Dundee & Glenrothes.

Mobile Testing Units are deployed on a rolling programme around the country, and decisions on deployment are made in conjunction with Local Resilience Partnership and Regional Resilience Partnership. These decisions are informed by local factors of public health, population, rurality, access to testing and need for specific responses to outbreaks. We are working with local authorities and health boards to ensure Mobile Testing Unit deployment is publicised locally.

We are continuing to work with partners to increase testing pathways in the community to widen availability to testing for people going forward in addition to the testing which takes place within care homes and our NHS hospitals.