Chamber and committees

Scottish sites are actively enrolling patients into trials of drugs to treat COVID-19, principally through the RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVID Therapy) Trial. As part of international efforts to co-ordinate and accelerate COVID-19 research, data between international studies will be combined.

Officials are in regular contact with all Scottish airports and sea-ports throughout COVID-19 outbreak.

I can confirm that at the time this question was issued (16 March) all airports were displaying the latest posters as agreed with Public Health England and Health Protection Scotland.

Guidance at that time related to international points of entry only, so UK passenger sea-ports such as Stranraer-Larne or Scottish Island services were not required to exhibit guidance.

We will continue to work with ports and airports to ensure the latest advice is displayed for the safety of all passengers and staff.

In order to make best use of available testing capacity we have identified three priorities for testing, these are: to direct our testing capacity effectively to save lives and protect the vulnerable; to ensure that critical staff can return to work as soon as possible and to monitor and report on the spread and prevalence of the virus in the population and the impact of public health measures. Testing is therefore prioritised in hospitals and to enable essential workers in health and social care to return to work.

Between 1 January and 31 March 2019

(a) 1 care home was issued with an improvement notice.

(b) No care homes had conditions applied.

(c) No care homes had their registration cancelled.

Between 1 January and 31 March 2020

(a) No care homes were issued with an improvement notice.

(b) No care homes had conditions applied.

(c) No care homes had their registration cancelled.

In April 2019

(a) 1 care home was issued with an improvement notice.

(b) No care homes had conditions applied.

(c) No care homes had their registration cancelled.

Data for April 2020 is not yet published by the Care Inspectorate.

The Scottish Government is working closely with all NHS Boards, including Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) to respond to the additional demands arising from the current unprecedented emergency. This includes provision of additional funding from the Scottish Government to support agreed local plans, and SAS will be supported by this. We will continue our regular engagement with Boards, with local plans being updated and reviewed on a weekly basis. In addition, the Scottish Government is managing centrally funded initiatives, including provision of personal protective equipment and support to GPs.

The Scottish Government has taken urgent action to provide significant financial and practical support across NHS Scotland due to Covid-19. The circumstances demand a coordinated UK response and we are continuing to work closely with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations on funding requirements and arrangements.

SAS has used this funding to support a number of key areas, including enhancing its air transfer capacity through procurement of additional aircrafts from Loganair, and procurement of Epishuttle isolation pods for safe air transfer of patients.

The Scottish Ambulance Service respond to and prioritise all calls based on patients condition, state of vulnerability and perceived level of risk. The maximum response time in the West Dumbartonshire area for the most serious calls in the last quarter was 11 minutes 1 second.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28392 on 13 May 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) is taking forward Covid-19 surveillance through a range of measures with key partners to identify and monitor the spread of Covid-19 across the population.

These include:

Community testing through community pathways - This is new information on those people presenting with mild to moderate symptoms provides information about the population that we have not had before and widens our understanding Covid-19 within the community;

and

Antibody testing at a population level through participating health boards – This testing indicates if a person has, or has not, yet had the infection and looks at the antibodies people produce in response to infection, which help to fight the virus.

For any infection, the percentage of the population required to achieve herd immunity is generally very high and often well above 90%. However, we do not yet know enough about the new Coronavirus infection to be able to estimate accurately what percentage would be necessary to achieve and to sustain herd immunity in the long term. Herd immunity is likely to occur as more people are infected with the disease or are vaccinated against it. As there is no current vaccine for covid-19, herd immunity is not part of our strategy for combatting the disease.

As Covid-19 is a new virus, we do not know enough to have a precise incubation period. The World Health Organisation states most estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 1-14 days, most commonly around five days. These estimates will be updated as more data become available.

Further information can be found at NHS inform.