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If anyone would like to come in, please indicate that to the clerks, and Nigel Sellars, please type the letter R in the chat function. There is no need for you to manually turn on your microphones as we will do that for you.
I encourage members who wish to participate to press their request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible, or to place an R in the chat function. I call on Stuart McMillan to open the debate on behalf of Graeme Dey.
As you are all joining us virtually this morning, I suggest that, if you want to come in at any point, you put an R in the chat box. I also point out that you do not have to push your own mute and unmute button—broadcasting will do that for you.
If any other witnesses wish to come in, please do as Alastair Wilcox has just done and type R in the chat function. The question possibly has its roots in research that Citizens Advice Scotland did about two years ago.
If Eva Thomas-Tudo wants to come in, she should put an R in the chat function. If the witnesses in the room want to come in, they should simply indicate to me or the clerks, and we will do our best to bring them in.
Before I invite questions from members, I ask that those who are participating remotely should press R in the BlueJeans chat function if they wish to respond to a question.
It would be helpful if members who wish to ask a question could put an R in the chat function now. It was vital for Parliament to hear the statement today as thousands of Scots continue to die from drug abuse, but the crisis requires decisive action from the top.
Studies have shown a significant proportion of COVID-19 patients can expect to experience some long-term symptoms.1Carfì , A., Bernabei , R., & Landi, F. (2020). Persistent Symptoms in Patients After Acute COVID-19.
In easing lockdown restrictions, we cannot ease everything at the same time because that might impact on the R number. That number is low at present, but there is the potential for easing of restrictions to have an impact on it.