Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-29006

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will expand its COVID-19 testing to include residents in sheltered accommodation.

Advice on COVID-19 testing for residents in sheltered accommodation is provided by Health Protection Scotland . Health Protection Scotland also provide a control measure tool for the control of incidents and outbreaks in Social or Community Care and Residential Settings, and measures to be taken to ensure shielding in such facilities in order to best protect the most vulnerable.

Local Health Protection Teams are able to advise on the need for testing of residents and staffing in sheltered housing accommodation taking account of the circumstances of the facility and will provide advice on other Infection Prevention and Control measures to help limit further spread of the virus.

Additional to any testing which may be undertaken by the local Health Protection Team, any staff who are symptomatic would also be eligible for testing through the UK Government’s programme in Scotland. Anyone in Scotland, age five or over, who is presenting with symptoms, will be able to book a test at the drive-in or mobile test centres.

Question reference: S5W-29010

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it, any of its agencies or the NHS has contracted with Amazon to deliver and/or collect COVID-19 tests.

Question reference: S5W-29011

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has contracted with a private laboratory in Northern Ireland to have COVID-19 tests processed.

Question reference: S5W-29045

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 outbreaks/cases it has not made public due to patient confidentiality or for any other reason.

We report the number of all cases for people testing positive for COVID-19 through our daily briefings.

In any outbreak, an independent, multi-disciplinary, multi-agency group Incident Management Team (IMT) is established. The IMT provides a framework, response and resources to enable the NHS board and other statutory agencies to fulfil their remits. The IMT considers what information can be released to maintain patient confidentiality while also protecting public health.

Question reference: S5W-29015

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it was first informed of a case of COVID-19 in Scotland; what it did to alert the public to the case, and what public health message it put out following the case.

The Scottish Government was first informed of a case of COVID-19 in Scotland on Sunday 1 March 2020 by Health Protection Scotland. Ministers were informed and a SGoRR(M) chaired by the First Minister was held that evening.

A news release was published on the Scottish Government website and on social media on 1 March informing the public of the case. The First Minister then gave a press conference the same evening.

https://www.gov.scot/news/coronavirus-covid-19/

Public health messaging at that time focussed on following good hygiene practices, such as washing your hands frequently with soap and water or alcohol hand sanitiser; avoiding direct hand contact with eyes, nose and mouth; and covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. This was accompanied by a “catch it, bin it, kill it” campaign.

Additionally, those who had travelled to affected areas and developed symptoms were advised to go home and phone their GP or NHS 24 out of hours.

Members of the public were then, as now, encouraged to visit the NHS Inform website for the latest advice.

Question reference: S5W-28170

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the scientific evidence on which it based its decision to not roll out community testing for COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-28246

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments by its National Clinical Director on Channel 4 on 16 March 2020, whether it will confirm how many key workers (a) overall and (b) in the nuclear sector had been tested for COVID-19 by the end of each week since that date.

As of 18 May, at least 32,166 key workers or their family members have been tested. This does not include key workers tested through the UK Government regional or mobile testing units, and is therefore likely to undercount the number of keyworkers tested. Information on the number of tests carried out each day since 2 March may be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-trends-in-daily-data/

Data is not collected for every sector and figures specifically for the nuclear (or energy sector more widely) are not available. At present we collect data on tests delivered for health and social care staff, along with the total number of tests delivered.

Question reference: S5W-28410

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will roll out community testing for COVID-19.

We are continuing to rapidly increase our testing capacity and keep its use under constant review, including whether there are other groups who could or should be tested to improve our knowledge of the spread of the virus and to protect individuals.

On 4 May the Scottish Government published a Test, Trace, Isolate and Support Strategy, which is designed to interrupt chains of transmission of Covid-19 in the community.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-test-trace-isolate-support/pages/1/

Question reference: S5W-28164

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on community testing and isolating every suspected case of COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-28166

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it did not follow World Health Organization (WHO) advice to test and isolate every suspected case of COVID-19.