Nicola Sturgeon to replace lockdown routemap and urged to expand testing

The First Minister was also asked to publish local data which has informed the Scottish Government’s decision making.

Nicola Sturgeon responded to calls for more to be done for those wishing to visit relatives in care homes

Nicola Sturgeon has said she will replace the lockdown route map published by the Scottish Government earlier in the year with a new ‘strategic approach to escalation’.

The First Minister was challenged by opposition parties following her announcement that people will not be able to meet with other households indoors from tomorrow, with a 10pm curfew also to be imposed on pubs, bars and restaurants.

After being asked to publish a new route map out of lockdown by the Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard who had labelled the existing one “defunct”, Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government would publish a “strategic approach to escalation” in areas hit by high infection rates.

She said the approach would allow the Scottish Government to “flex” and allow the country to move away from a nationwide route map.

Ms Sturgeon also confirmed in response to Mr Leonard that the Scottish Government will also publish more localised data on Covid-19 in the coming weeks.

This would see data available for areas covering around 4,000 people and the impact of Covid-19 in everyone’s neighbourhood area rather than the current data which is restricted to just local authority and health board regions.

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives in Holyrood, Ruth Davidson, said the new restrictions came with a “palpable sense of dread surrounding the months” ahead but welcomed the announcement children would remain in school.

However she highlighted the issues faced by those who have not seen their family members who live in care homes since the start of the pandemic.

The Edinburgh Central MSP and soon-to-be peer said: “The reality is that there are some family members who have not been able or allowed to visit their loved ones for a full six months, causing enormous distress and even impact on health.”

Ms Sturgeon said the existing plan for increasing the number of care homes allowing visits was ongoing and said the Scottish Government was aware of the importance of visits to resident well-being and mental health.

She added: “We don’t want to go backwards in this plan across the country generally and that is why it is important that the rest of us do the things that are being asked of us to keep the virus low.”

Scottish Green health spokesperson Alison Johnstone added that the decision by the UK Government to halt the furlough scheme as more measures are being introduced was “potentially dangerous and wrong”.

Calling on the Scottish Government to implement mass testing and “rapidly build” capacity, she said: “Mass testing, including weekly tests for those who are at heightened risk of exposure to the virus because they work in our hospitals, schools or provide care, is critical and proven to reduce the spread of Covid.

"But if it’s to be delivered we need a new strategy in Scotland to rapidly build NHS Scotland’s capacity.”

The First Minister said she “agreed with the sentiment” but added that the Scottish Government’s approach to testing is “appropriate and clinically driven”.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed the Scottish Government is not putting individual groups ahead of the general population in regards to access to testing, but said that the technology for mass testing “is not yet there”.

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