Chamber and committees

This data is not held by the Scottish Government. Care homes are required to notify the Care Inspectorate of the death of any of their residents. In line with new statutory reporting requirements, the Care Inspectorate now provide a weekly report on the total number of death notifications they receive from adult care homes to the Scottish Government, which is laid before Parliament and also published on the Scottish Government website. https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-additional-data-about-adult-care-homes-in-scotland/ .

Monthly capacity figures for the NHS testing service in Scotland are available from 10 February until 16 June, as follows:

Feb 10 -28 (inclusive): 7000

March   38918

April   82311

May   180272

Testing capacity fluctuates on a daily basis, any comparisons on testing capacity between countries is a single point in time assessment based on information available at that time.

The Scottish Government had no role in deciding the game should go ahead. This was an operational matter for the organisers of the Six Nations Championships and Scottish Rugby who ensured that relevant Public Health measures were adhered to.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any Covid-19 incidents centred on the event on 8 th March. It should be noted that symptoms of Covid -19 typically take several days to emerge and anyone displaying symptoms after 12 March were asked to self-isolate.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Work on the provision of ‘virtual visits’ across the entire Scottish prison estate has been underway since 24 April 2020 and significant progress has been made in delivering this project.

The first virtual visits took place in 3 establishments on 15 June 2020, with a further 5 establishments ‘going live’ by 19 June 2020. The system is being rolled out across the prison estate and it is anticipated that all sites will be operational by the end of the month.

Teachers will play a vital role in the economic recovery in Scotland as we emerge from Covid-19.

We are currently working with local authorities and the General Teaching Council for Scotland to support the recruitment of skilled teachers for the education recovery phase through the Covid19 Education Recovery Group. We are committed to supplementing the existing workforce in schools where required, and we are currently working with local authorities to establish what additional staff might be needed. Once we know the requirement, we will take steps to meet that demand.

Colleges and universities and their staff will play a vital role in economic recovery in Scotland as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. However, staffing matters, including recruitment, are the responsibility of individual colleges and universities, and it is for institutions themselves to make decisions on future staffing levels.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29837 on 24 June 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 .

NRS published additional analysis on COVID-19 deaths by deprivation on 13 May and updated their analysis on 17 June. Their reports are available here . Public Health Scotland also include some deprivation analysis as part of their weekly publication on COVID-19 statistics.

We know that COVID-19 - like many other illnesses – disproportionally affects those from poorer backgrounds. We are also aware that underlying health conditions which can increase the risk of coronavirus, including heart disease and obesity, are more prevalent in poorer communities.

As we emerge from this outbreak, we will act to mitigate these underlying health and social inequalities while ensuring that services are provided in a way that is proportionate to need. This work will be guided by our “ Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design: The Framework for NHS Scotland ”, published on 31 May 2020, which focuses on how to best support those that are most vulnerable - socially and clinically - in our society.

More generally, in terms of action and investment so far, we are already providing a range of benefits for people on low incomes and those who are struggling the most – which offer a higher level of support than the equivalent DWP benefits, and to a wider range of people. We have also confirmed £27.6 million of new funding for local authorities. This is in addition to our £350 million package of communities funding which already supporting people most affected by the pandemic – including more than doubling the Scottish Welfare Fund.

We are acutely aware of the damaging impacts that living in poverty can cause. That is why we are committed to building back better and creating a fairer and more prosperous Scotland for everyone.

The Scottish Government ordered 904 ventilators from a wide range of manufacturers in March. This number was reduced in May as a result of suppliers de-committing and to bring in line with our maximum ICU surge capacity of over 700 beds, plus additional capacity if needed. As at 11 June, we have received 149 ventilators from Scottish procurement and 98 ventilators from the joint UK procurement exercise. We expect more deliveries to arrive over the coming weeks.

These additional ventilators in conjunction with the repurposed anaesthetic machines has meant that, at no point to date in the outbreak, has the NHS had insufficient critical care capacity to deal with COVID-19 and emergency demand. Further, NHS Scotland is well positioned should cases of the virus start to rise again. This is confirmed in the Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group (SICSAG) report, published on 3 June which shows that there has been more than enough ICU capacity to deal with the impact of the crisis.

The Programme for Government 2019-20 included a commitment to begin work to pilot self-sampling for cervical screening at a national level. Although the work to establish a pilot in Scotland was paused due to the escalation of COVID-19, it will be resumed and prioritised following the restart of the screening programmes.

At this stage the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has not approved self-sampling for use in a national screening programme, and this work will require further study in pilots and research projects before it can be introduced safely into the cervical cancer screening programme.