Coronavirus in Scotland: John Swinney's address to parliament in full

Deputy First Minister John Swinney addressed the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday. Read his full statement here.

I want to update Parliament on the current position in relation to the Covid pandemic.

I will not announce any changes to the current restrictions, but I will set out some additional support for students, and I will also outline our current thinking on issues such as travel restrictions.

First, though, I want to give an overview of the current course of the pandemic in Scotland. And to do that, I will start by giving a brief summary of the latest statistics.

John Swinney addressed the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.

The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 1049.

This represents 9% of all tests carried out, and takes the total number of cases to 174,002.

I can also confirm that by 8.30am today, 437,900 people had received their first dose of vaccine. That includes 51% of all 80 year olds living in the community.

2,010 people are now in hospital – a reduction of 6 from yesterday.

And 149 people are in intensive care, a decrease of 2 from yesterday.

I also regret to report that in the last 24 hours, a further 87 deaths have been registered of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days.

The total number of deaths, under this measure, is now 5,796.

Once again, I send my condolences to all those who have lost a loved one during this pandemic.

Presiding Officer, the figure for new deaths that I have just read out is heartbreaking.

And the number of new cases, and of people in hospital, continues to be deeply concerning

But recent figures should also provide us with cautious confidence, that the lockdown restrictions are having an effect.

At the start of the year – in the 7 days to Friday the 8th of January –an average of 2,356 people in Scotland were testing positive for Covid every day.

That’s 302 new cases for every hundred thousand people in the population.

Last week – in the 7 days to last Friday - that number had fallen from 2,356, to 1,384.

That’s approximately 180 new cases for every hundred thousand people.

There now seems to be little doubt that the lockdown restrictions are reducing case numbers, rather than simply stabilising them.

But case numbers remain far too high. In fact, they are still more than a third higher than they were, just one week before Christmas.

And of course, because we have had high infection rates for many weeks now, our NHS is under considerable strain.

As Parliament has just been advised, there are currently around 2000 people in hospital with Covid – that is about 500 people more than was the case last April.

And there are approximately 150 people in intensive care with Covid.

That is fewer than in the spring, but it still puts a significant burden on the NHS as it tries to handle other winter pressures.

We are now seeing some evidence that hospital numbers may be starting to stabilise - but they will take time to fall.

And at the moment, any relaxation of restrictions could cause them to increase further.

All of this means that - although we are definitely seeing signs of improvement - the position in Scotland remains precarious.

As a result, at this morning’s Cabinet meeting - as I have indicated - we decided not to make any changes to the current lockdown measures.

They will remain in place until at least the middle of February.

This means – among other things – that there is no change to the current position in relation to education.

Online learning for school pupils will continue to be the default position.

We will provide a further update on education arrangements next week.

And for university and college students, plans for a staggered return will be kept under review.

Presiding Officer, these current restrictions are tough, and the Scottish Government is constantly assessing whether there is additional support that we can provide to the organisations, businesses and individuals who need it most.

In relation to business, it is maybe worth noting that this week, new funds are being launched to provide support for brewers, travel agents, our wedding industry, and indoor football centres.

In relation to support for individuals, I have just mentioned our colleges and universities.

The pandemic has caused additional financial difficulties for students.

For example many students who were reliant on part time jobs, have found themselves out of work.

The on-going restrictions around student accommodation are also causing difficulties - for students, and also for educational institutions.

The Scottish Government has decided today, therefore, to allocate a further £30 million of support.

£10m of this will be used to help colleges and universities which have lost revenue –for example if they have refunded rents for accommodation which is not being used.

And £20 million will provide further hardship support for students – including students who are having to pay rent on properties they cannot occupy.

We are hugely grateful to our students and our educational institutions for the way in which they are co-operating with us, and helping us to tackle Covid. We hope that this support will help them to manage, as they do that.

Presiding officer, the Cabinet this morning also discussed the support grants paid to people who are self-isolating.

We will make an announcement soon on extending eligibility for those grants.

Providing help for those who most need it, while they are self-isolating, is clearly the right thing to do.

And it will also help us to keep the virus under control. It is one of the ways in which we can strengthen our test and protect system in the weeks and months ahead.

Travel restrictions will also play an important part in keeping the virus under control- by reducing the risk of new cases, and new variants, being imported.

We have engaged with the UK Government for some time on improving border controls, and - while we have had some discussions on issues such as Quarantine Hotels - we have not yet been sighted on what the UK Government intends to announce or when it intends to announce it.

I understand that decision has been deferred to this evening.

Border controls will work best on a four nation basis.

Otherwise – for example if Scotland establishes a supervised quarantine regime, and England does not - that could be problematic if unrestricted travel between Scotland and England resumes.

The Scottish Government believes that a comprehensive system of supervised quarantine is required.

And so I can confirm that the Scottish Government will initially go at least as far as any UK Government announcement in enhancing quarantine arrangements, including through the use of hotels.

However if these UK restrictions are at a minimal level, we will look at other controls we can announce - including additional supervised quarantine measures - that can further protect us from importation of the virus, and we will set those out next week.

Any additional travel restrictions will of course create further difficulties for our aviation industry, and we believe that the UK Government should provide support which recognises that.

Any support for the aviation sector which the UK Government does provide, will be passed on to the sector in Scotland through consequential funding.

Presiding Officer, in addition to travel restrictions, and Test and Protect, our vaccination programme will also play an increasingly vital role in keeping the virus under control.

We have now given a first dose of the vaccine to more than half of over 80 year-olds in Scotland. In addition, 95% of older care home residents, and 95% of frontline health and social care workers, have now received their first doses.

Letters are going out at the moment to people in the 70 to 79 age group, and we expect to give a first dose of the vaccine to everyone in that age group by the middle of February.

In time – not immediately, but in the fairly near future - vaccination should start to significantly reduce the number of people who die from Covid.

In the longer term, as more and more people are vaccinated, we should see an impact on hospital admissions and transmission rates.

And of course ultimately the vaccination programme – combined perhaps with some continuing restrictions – offers us a way out of this pandemic.

However for the immediate future – as I have outlined – very strict restrictions continue to be necessary.

And as part of that, it is essential that people who have had the vaccine continue to follow the rules – and that we all still physically distance from people who have had the vaccine.

Presiding officer, I know that these restrictions remain difficult for people across Scotland to endure.

But they are essential, and they are working.

They are reducing case numbers, and by doing that, they are saving lives.

So please stick to the letter – and also the spirit – of the rules.

If you live in a level 4 area – and level 4 of course includes the whole of mainland Scotland – then you must stay at home, unless you are going out for an essential purpose.

Do not have people from other households in your house - and do not go into theirs.

Work from home whenever possible - and if you are an employer, support your employees to work from home if they can.

And follow the FACTS advice at all times when you are out and about.

By doing that, we can protect ourselves, our loved ones and our communities.

We can relieve some of the pressure that health and care workers currently face.

And we can keep the virus under control, while vaccinations proceed.

So please - stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.

I express the Government’s thanks to everyone who is doing that.

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