Question reference: S5W-31437
- Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 26 August 2020
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Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 September 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is considering regarding testing school pupils for COVID-19 quickly and in their own locality and, in light of the similarities that symptoms of the virus can have with cold and flu strains, what plans it has to introduce less invasive tests.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of all school pupils, as well creating a safe environment for children to go to school during the COVID-19 pandemic. If anyone, including school pupils, have symptoms of the virus, they should immediately isolate and arrange test via a drive through centre, through ordering a home testing kit or via a walk-in testing if one is close to their home.
We are continually developing, and working with partners on, testing innovations that could enable us to provide testing in new and improved ways. Reducing the invasiveness of testing is one of the areas that we are looking to improve and we will seek to use less invasive testing techniques if they become available.
The Scottish Government understands the importance of school pupil’s education and will continue to work hard to ensure all our children and young people are able to attend school.