Category: Coronavirus

Below is the text of the statement made by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, on 2 June 2020.

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us.

I’ll start as always with an update on the current position in relation to COVID-19.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,471 positive cases confirmed – which is an increase of 53 from the figures I gave you yesterday. However, I need you to note today that this figure of 53 includes 40 older positive test results, which have only been received today and are being added to the overall total now.

A total of 1,168 patients are currently in hospital with either confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and that is an increase of 122 from yesterday.

However, please note that the number of confirmed cases in hospital actually decreased by 23 compared to the figures yesterday.

A total of 34 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That is an increase of 7 since yesterday – all 7 of those are suspected cases at this stage, not confirmed cases.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,721 patients who had tested positive and required admission to hospital for the virus have now been able to leave hospital.

And unfortunately, in the last 24 hours, 12 deaths have been registered of patients confirmed through a test as having COVID-19 – that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2,375. Of course, tomorrow we will have the weekly report from National Records of Scotland which includes confirmed and suspected deaths from the virus.

Each one of these of course is an individual whose loss is being grieved and mourned by many. I want again today, to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this illness.

Lastly, on statistics I can confirm that the latest report on delayed discharges has been published today. That includes details on the number of older people discharged from hospitals – where they had no clinical need to be – to care homes. In April that figure was 510. An additional 600 were discharged during April to their own homes.

In addition to thanking our health and care workers – as I do again today from the bottom of my heart – there are two other groups I want to pay tribute to and these groups are relevant to the two substantive issues I want to cover today.

The first group is our unpaid carers, who of course provide vital support to family, friends and neighbours at all times. This pandemic has been an especially stressful time for many of them, and I want to thank each and every one of them, you if you are watching, for your efforts.

One of the ways in which the Scottish Government has already acted to support carers, is by establishing a Carer’s Allowance Supplement – worth £460 a year. The supplement is paid to around 83,000 people across the country who receive Carers’ Allowance – people who are on low incomes, and who provide 35 hours or more of unpaid care to a child, or to an adult on disability benefits.

Last month, we announced that these carers will receive a further Coronavirus supplement of £230. Parliament approved our plans two weeks ago, and so people who are eligible will receive this payment at the end of this month, together with their normal Carer’s Allowance Supplement.

The specific date of payment will be confirmed in the next few days. Let me stress now, if you are eligible, you don’t need to do anything to receive this Coronavirus supplement – it will be paid to you automatically at the end of the month.

I know that this pandemic has been really hard for everyone but it has been very hard for carers emotionally – you are inevitably concerned about your own health, and the health of the people that you are caring for. However in many cases, it has also been very difficult financially. This extra payment is one way of providing you with some additional help – but is also an important way of us acknowledging the help and care that you provide to others.

I also want to acknowledge that this week is Volunteers Week – that’s an opportunity for all of us to highlight and celebrate the service of volunteers in communities the length and breadth of the country.

Of course, like unpaid carers, the efforts of volunteers are important at all times, but the Covid outbreak has demonstrated once again just how much they contribute. The Scotland Cares campaign, which you will recall we launched at the end of March, received more than 80,000 sign-ups in total. More than 60,000 of those were from people who wanted to volunteer through the British Red Cross or through Volunteer Scotland.

Some have been shopping for their neighbours – making sure people get the food and prescriptions and other essentials they need – others have been making befriending calls, or providing emotional support, to isolated or lonely people.

Some are directly helping with the response to COVID-19, and others are volunteering through long-standing community organisations.

There are also some people who signed up who may not have been asked to volunteer yet, but you may well be needed in the future – for example in supporting people who are asked to self-isolate under the “test and protect” system.

And of course, alongside the tens of thousands of people who have signed up under the Scotland Cares campaign, there are hundreds of thousands of people and many of you watching will be amongst that number who have been volunteering for years and in some cases for decades.

There are also, I know, many of you who are maybe not formally recognised as volunteers, but who have been performing important acts of kindness for neighbours and friends for a long, long time. I want to say how grateful I am, and how grateful the Scottish Government is to each and every single one of you.

Our national response to Covid depends on people being prepared to look out for each other and show solidarity with each other. Volunteers are an essential and highly valued part of that collective national effort.

Of course, each and every one of us has a part to play in that effort. And it remains the case, that the best way in which each of us can show solidarity with each other, is by sticking to the rules and the public health guidance.

That is the point I want to end on this afternoon.

You should still be staying at home most of the time right now, and you should still be meeting fewer people than normal.

I’d ask all of you to consider whether or not your life feels as if it is going back to normal? I’m sure that’s not the case but if it is, perhaps you should think about whether you are following all of the public health guidance because unfortunately, and regrettably, our lives shouldn’t feel completely normal right now.

When you do meet people from another household, when you are away from home, you should stay outdoors at all times, and you should stay 2 metres apart from people in other households.

Now you might be reading or hearing in the media today some voices saying that 1 metre is sufficient – so I want to take the opportunity today to stress that the clear and strong advice from the Scottish Government is to stay 2 metres apart from those in other households.

Don’t meet up with more than one other household at a time, don’t meet more than one a day – and please keep to a maximum, and I stress, a maximum of 8 people in a group.

Remember to wash your hands often. That is actually more important as you start to meet, albeit at a physical distance, with people from other households. So wash your hands often and thoroughly. If you’re away from your home, out and about, please remember to take hand sanitiser with you.

Wear a face covering when you are in shops or on public transport. And again, I want to make a direct appeal to you here, if you haven’t been wearing a face covering so far when you’re in a shop or on public transport or in other enclosed spaces, I’m asking you to please think about doing so now. Because it can offer some protection to other people, it protects them from you transmitting the virus to them if you have it perhaps without knowing it and other people who wear a face covering are offering you some protection as well. So again, it’s something all of us can do to protect each other.

Remember to avoid touching hard surfaces – and when you do touch a hard surface remember to clean it.

And if you have symptoms of COVID-19 – a new, continuous cough; a fever; or a loss of, or change in, your sense of smell or taste – you should get tested, and follow the advice on self-isolation.

I want to underline that point today as well. The success of our test, trace and isolate system – Test & Protect – depends on everyone with symptoms coming forward and getting tested.

So if you do experience symptoms – please do not delay – do not do that thing that sometimes in normal times all of us do, wait to see if we feel better after a day or so. The moment you start to experience these symptoms, book a test at nhsinform.scot or you can phone NHS 24 on 0800 028 2816.

It is really important that if you experience those symptoms, a cough, fever, a loss or change in sense of taste or smell then you come forward and book a test.

Above all else, and this is my final point, please remember that the individual decisions that all of us take right now have an impact far beyond our own health and wellbeing – our individual decisions right now affect the wellbeing of our families, our communities, indeed they affect the wellbeing of the entire country.

The Scottish Government’s responsibility to lead the country through this pandemic and to take all of the appropriate practical steps we need to take is a responsibility we and I, personally take very seriously.

But the truth is that our success or failure in suppressing this virus and keeping it suppressed will also depend on all of us as individual citizens and it will depend on our collective efforts as a society.

We must all continue to do the right thing by each other – by following all the rules and following all of the public health guidance.

I want to stress today that if we all do that, we will continue to slow down the spread of this virus and we will save lives. So my thanks to each and every one of you for doing that so far and I ask you to continue to do the right thing.

Below is the text of the statement made by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, on 1 June 2020.

Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us for today’s briefing.

I want to start by providing provide an update, as I always do, on the current position in relation to Covid-19.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,418 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 18 from yesterday.

A total of 1,046 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents a total decrease of 27 from yesterday, including an increase of 3 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 27 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid 19. That is the same as the figure yesterday.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,695 patients who had tested positive and required hospital treatment for the virus have been able to leave hospital.

And unfortunately, in the last 24 hours, 1 death has been registered of a patient who had been confirmed through a test as having Covid-19 – that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2,363.

That figure should be treated with some caution. Although deaths can be registered at weekends, registration numbers are usually relatively low at the weekend and they can be especially low on a Sunday.

For example, just to illustrate that point, last week I reported 3 deaths on Monday, but then reported 18 deaths on Tuesday. That should be taken into account when looking at today’s figure.

And of course we must always remember that these numbers are not simply statistics. They represent unique and irreplaceable individuals whose loss is mourned by many. I want to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus.

I also want to express once again my deep thanks to our health and care workers. You are doing incredible work in exceptionally challenging circumstances, and all of us owe you a debt of gratitude.

The statistics that I have just read demonstrate the real progress we have made together against the virus. There are now far fewer people in hospital and in intensive care than at the peak of the outbreak.

But these statistics also demonstrate how fragile that progress is. There are still hundreds of people in hospital and suffering from this virus. There are still new infections in many health board areas. And it is still the case that every day, I have to stand here and confirm further loss of life.

The fact is the virus is being suppressed – but it has not gone away, and it is still extremely dangerous. Indeed, our routemap out of lockdown expressly recognises that during phase 1, which we entered on Friday, there is still a high risk that the virus is not yet contained.

We all must understand that and continue to remember it.

I know that in the last three days, many of you have had long-awaited reunions with family, friends and loved ones. I really hope you enjoyed that – and enjoyed the lovely weather too.

I also know that the vast majority of people stuck to the rules when having those reunions and I want to thank you sincerely for that – you stayed outdoors in small groups, and you stayed more than 2m away from other households. So again my thanks to you for that.

However it is also clear that over the weekend not everyone stuck to the rules. I’m told by the police that on Saturday alone there were 797 dispersals and that is people being moved on for not complying with the rules. To give some content to that, that 797 is five times higher than the figure the previous Saturday.

And there were clearly cases where, despite the guidance we have issued, people were driving more than 5 miles to beauty spots. In some cases, people were staying overnight in tents, caravans or motorhomes.

Some of the early statistics we have from Transport Scotland are especially concerning.

Overall, transport yesterday was 70% up from the previous Sunday. Transport on Saturday was 60% up on the week before.

In some places – like Loch Lomond and Glencoe for example – the increase was even more dramatic.

On Saturday, on the A82 by Loch Lomond, traffic was around 3 times higher than the previous Saturday. We saw a similar picture around Glencoe.

I’m going to be blunt here – it is very hard to see how all of that can have been caused by local residents, or by people travelling a reasonable distance to meet loved ones.

So we will be considering all of this as we continue to assess the impact of the Phase 1 changes.

Last week we deliberately allowed some flexibility when we changed the lockdown restrictions. We recommended that people don’t travel more than 5 miles for recreation, but we left room for some discretion so that you could go further to visit family.

And we strongly recommended that when two households meet, there should be no more than eight people in total in a group – but again, we put that into guidance rather than putting it in law, because we trust, and continue to trust, the majority to keep those groups small and to stay within the rules.

But it is worth being clear, in fact I have a duty to be clear with you, that if there is continued evidence of even a minority not abiding by those guidelines and travelling unnecessarily – if people meet up in larger groups or make journeys which risk spreading the virus – we will have to put those restrictions, on group size and travel distance, into law. And we won’t hesitate to do so if we think it is necessary for the collective safety and wellbeing of the nation.

I should make clear, of course, that the stipulation that no more than two households can meet at any one time is already the law, and if need be, it will be enforced.

And I also want to remind you that the two households should keep 2 metres apart from each other, not share food or utensils, and not go inside each others’ houses.

And the reason I’m stressing all of this – the real danger we still face – is not because I want to be imposing these restrictions but it is because the progress we have made so far in tackling Covid-19 is not guaranteed and it is not irreversible. Cases could increase again, it won’t take too much for that to happen, rather than continuing to decrease. And if that happens then that will result in more loss of life.

And if all of that happens restrictions will have to be reimposed, rather than being relaxed. None of us want that. But the only way of avoiding it, is for all of us to comply with the rules.

Unless you are an essential worker, or work in one of the categories now permitted to be at work – you should still be spending the majority of your time at home.

You should still be seeing far fewer people than you might normally do. And those meetings you are now able to have – and your life more generally – still should not be feeling normal.

That basic point applies to everyone. I know that young people, for example, will be hugely frustrated after weeks in doors, and will be desperate to spend more time with friends in the park or at the beach. Young people may also think they are generally less likely to become very seriously ill as a result of this virus.

I want to say very directly to young people, this virus can still be harmful to you. And even if you yourself are not adversely affected, you can still pass the virus on to other young people, and then some of them may pass it on to others – for example parents or grandparents – who are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill. So please think about that wider interest when you are considering your own behavior in the days and weeks to come.

All of us want to be able to lift more restrictions, so that we can meet friends in more normal circumstances. We also want to be able to restart NHS services, as the Health Secretary spoke about yesterday – and to allow people to get back to work, school or study.

But we can only do this if we keep driving the overall level of Covid infections down, and if we continue to suppress the spread of the virus. And we can only do that, if people continue to stick to the rules.

So please, if I can conclude again by reminding you of what we are asking everybody to do:

Only meet people from other households outside – because the risk of transmission outside is lower than the risk of transmission indoors – and even outdoors stay 2 metres apart from the other household when you do meet.

Don’t meet with more than one other household at a time, don’t meet more than one a day and keep to a maximum of 8 people in a group.

Wash your hands often. Take hand sanitiser with you if you are out and about.

Please wear a face covering when you are in shops or on public transport or other enclosed spaces where physical distancing might be more difficult.

Avoid hard surfaces – and clean any you do touch.

And if you have symptoms, get tested and follow the advice on self isolation.

Above all, more generally – and this applies to each and every one of us – let’s remember that each decision we take as an individual, affects the safety and wellbeing of us all.

I know that that’s difficult. I understand just as much as anybody does the desire to see more people, and to travel outside your local area.

But if we all stick to these rules we are helping to suppress this virus. But if even just a few of you don’t stick to these rules, we are providing a chance for the virus to spread more quickly, and to spread to different parts of the country.

We need to continue to do the right thing, and to do right by each other. I know that the vast majority of you are doing that. Again, I want to sincerely thank you for that.

My appeal goes to everybody across the whole population. Let’s stick together and let’s all do the right thing for the benefit of ourselves and each other.

Below is the text of the statement made by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, in Edinburgh on 26 May 2020.

Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us for today’s briefing.

I want to start – as I always do – by updating you on some of the key statistics in relation to Covid-19 in Scotland.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,185 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 29 from yesterday.

A total of 1,200 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents a total decrease of 69 from yesterday, including a decrease of 16 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 36 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid 19. That is a decrease of 4 since yesterday.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,589 patients who had tested positive for the virus have been able to leave hospital.

And unfortunately, in the last 24 hours, 18 deaths have been registered of patients who have been confirmed through a test as having Covid-19 – that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2291.

Each one is an individual whose loss is a source of grief to many. I want to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus.

I also want to express my gratitude – as I always do – to our health and care workers, for everything you are doing in such testing circumstances.

Today, I want to focus on the launch of NHS Scotland’s test, trace and isolate programme – Test and Protect – the logo for which you will see behind me.

From the end of this week, through Test and Protect, anyone who suspects they have Covid-19 will be tested.

If you test positive, your close contacts will be traced and advised to isolate for 14 days.

The aim of Test and Protect is to quickly identify cases of the virus and then act to break the chains of transmission.

On 4th May, we published our initial plans.

I can confirm today, that the system will go live in every one of Scotland’s 14 health board areas on Thursday.

Test and Protect will be an important tool in the months ahead – it will help us suppress the virus while we slowly ease lockdown restrictions. But it will only be effective if we all play our part.

So today I’ll set out what the capacity of the new system will be at the point of launch and how this will develop.

And I’ll set out how you as an individual, your household, your workplace and your employer can support us in making it work.

Firstly we said that to launch Test and Protect nationally we needed the ability to conduct over 15,000 tests a day. I can confirm today that this capacity is now in place.

It will be delivered through a combination of NHS labs, academic partners, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Lighthouse Lab in Glasgow.

Secondly, we said we would enhance and extend use of the software that public health teams already use for contact tracing in relation to other infectious diseases.

That software has been piloted in Fife, Lanarkshire and Highland over the last week and I can confirm that it will be operational in every health board by Thursday.

Thirdly, we said that we’d aim to have 2000 contact tracers available by the end of this month.

Based on current demand estimates, we assess that around 700 will be needed in the early phase. However, I can confirm that by the end of the month we will have a pool of around 2000 to draw on if necessary.

This is a system that will operate at a scale not seen before in Scotland. Over the first couple of weeks, it will need to bed down. But introducing it at the same time as we take the first cautious steps out of lockdown gives us the opportunity to address any operational issues ahead of a potentially more substantial easing of restrictions at the next review date in 3 weeks.

Over the next few weeks, we will also add enhancements to the system.

As I said earlier, the technology used by contact tracers will be in place from the start. But we will also add a digital platform to allow people who test positive to enter details of their contacts online.

We will also continue to build testing capacity and make access to testing more locally accessible. We will keep you updated on all of that.

Let me now outline what we are asking you, the public to do.

Let me stress that, just like lockdown, this is something that will only have the desired effect if we all do what is required. It can’t be seen as optional.

To make sure we all understand what is required, a public awareness campaign will start later this week. And during June, information will be delivered to every household across the country.

But let me set out the basics here.

Firstly, as of Thursday we are asking that if you have any of the symptoms of COVID-19 – that is a cough, temperature or loss of taste or smell – you take immediate steps to book a test.

Please don’t wait to see if you feel better after a day or two – time is of the essence, so get in touch as soon as you experience symptoms.

You should go to nhsinform.scot or, if you can’t get online, call NHS 24 on 0800 028 2816.

Online you can ask for a test for yourself, or for someone else that you live with, and book it at one of the drive through testing centres or mobile testing units. For some, there will also be the option of a home testing kit. As I said earlier, in the coming weekswe will be working to further expand local access to testing.

If you can’t go online, you should call NHS 24 on 0800 028 2816. An adviser will then go through some questions with you, and book you in for a test.

While you wait for your test and the result, it is essential that you and your household self-isolate. That means staying at home at all times – with the exception of going for the test. You shouldn’t go to the shops, out for exercise or to see anybody else.

In line with the current guidance, the person with symptoms should isolate for 7 days from the start of your symptoms.

Other members of the household should self-isolate for 14 days. If any of them start to display symptoms during that time, they should also go through the testing process.

If your test comes back negative, you and your household can end your isolation.

However, if you are contacted to be told that you have tested positive, you will be asked at that stage for details of people that you have been in contact with.

The definition of a contact is people within your household, people you have had face to face contact with, and people who have been within two metres of for a period of 15 minutes or more.

I want to take the opportunity now to assure you that your privacy will be respected at all times during this process.

The information you provide will be held securely within the NHS and used only for the purposes of tracing your contacts.

It will not be used by the Scottish Government – indeed, we won’t have access to it. All the work of identifying and tracing contacts will be done within Scotland’s NHS.

Let me turn now to what to do if you receive a call from a contact tracer to say that you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive.

It is no exaggeration to say that how you – how any of us – respond will be vital in stopping the spread of the virus.

We will ask you to self-isolate immediately – the success of Test and Protect will really depend on all of us trusting this advice and, for the sake of ourselves and each other, agreeing to abide by it.

If you are at work, the advice will be to immediately head home, taking care to come into contact with as few people as possible.

We have published guidance this morning for employers, making clear they should support anyone who is asked to self-isolate by Test and Protect.

If you are well, and can work from home, then your employer will expect you to do so, but they should not ask you to go into work.

The Scottish Government is also in contact with the UK Government to ensure that employment rights and entitlement to benefits including statutory sick pay, take account of the fact that people may be off work or unable to attend appointments through no fault of their own.

We have also published today general advice for anyone who is asked to self-isolate. Remember that this is something over the months ahead that could happen to any of us – on more than one occasion.

This includes hygiene advice for your home, advice for other people in your household, what to do if you care for someone who is shielding or clinically vulnerable, and what to do if you need help accessing food and medicine or even accommodation. It also suggests how we can all make some preparations in advance.

Now, I know there’s a lot of information here to take in. But don’t worry, we will be taking steps to ensure everyone knows what we are asking you to do.

For now, let me leave you with these points.

Test and Protect is an important tool for us in the period ahead. The more effective it is, the more of the lockdown restrictions we will be able to lift.

However, it can’t do all the work of suppressing the virus. We will all continue to have a vital role to play in our everyday lives. That means even as we ease lockdown, physical distancing, good hygiene and following appropriate advice will continue to be essential.

And so too will all of us doing what is asked of us. Test and Protect will only work if we all come forward for testing when we have symptoms and if we all agree to self-isolate when asked.

And if the government steps up to give you the support you need to do so.

In short, Test and Protect will require exactly the same spirit of solidarity and care for each other as lockdown has done.

It will be a collective national endeavour.

People will need the help of family, friends, colleagues and employers. Volunteers who have been supporting efforts to distribute food and care for the vulnerable through lockdown will have a valuable part to play in supporting people through Test and Protect. Government will have to ensure the right capacity, resources and support is in place.

And all of us will have to agree to make sacrifices for the common good – just as we have been doing.

In short, by agreeing that some of us will have to stay home at times – when we have symptoms, test positive, or have been in contact with someone who tests positive – we can gradually move away from a situation where everyone has to stay home all of the time.

As I said earlier, we will make much more information available in the days and weeks to come.

But let me leave you with the most important message – from Thursday, if you have symptoms you should go online to NHS Inform or call NHS 0800 028 2816 0800 and book a test straight away.

And for now, all of us must continue to stick with lockdown measures.

So please, stay at home except for essential purposes.

When you do leave the house, stay more than two metres from other people. And do not meet up with people from households other than yours.

You should wear a face covering if you are in an enclosed space such as a shop or on public transport. This is one of the issues covered in the Transport Transition Plan that we will also publish later this afternoon.

You should also continue to wash your hands thoroughly and regularly.

And if you or someone else in your household has symptoms of Covid-19, then you should stay at home completely.

At the moment, these actions are vital – to slow the spread of the virus, protect the NHS, and save lives.

So thank you once again, for helping to do that.

Below is the text of the statement made by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, in Edinburgh on 28 May 2020.

Good afternoon. Thank you very much for joining us.

Today, as you are probably anticipating, I will confirm some careful and cautious changes to the current lockdown regulations.

I will set out what those changes are in a moment – but I want to begin with a simple but really important point.

The only reason we can make any changes today is that we have made progress in suppressing this virus. And that is entirely down to the sacrifices that all of you have made.

So more than ever today, I want to say thank you to each and every single one of you.

I’ll come to the changes themselves in a moment – and because there’s a lot to cover today, my update will be a bit longer than normal – but first of course I will provide the usual statistical update.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,288 positive cases confirmed – that is an increase of 48 since yesterday.

A total of 1,238 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That represents a decrease of nine overall from yesterday, including a decrease of 13 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 37 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That is a decrease of 1 since yesterday.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,635 patients who had tested positive for the virus have now been able to leave hospital.

Unfortunately though, in the last 24 hours, 12 deaths have been registered of patients who had been confirmed through a test as having the virus, and that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2,316.

Now I feel very strongly, as I’m sure you do, particularly today as we start to take the first steps out of lockdown, that we must never become inured to these statistics – and we must never ever forget that behind every single one is a person who was loved and is now deeply missed.

In future, we will want – collectively as a nation – to remember and mourn that loss.

But for now let me send my condolences to every family who has lost a loved one to this virus.

Let me also express my deep gratitude to our health and care workers for the incredible work you have done and continue to do, in such extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

The figures I have just given remind us that the progress we have made so far is real. But these figures also remind us of the toll this virus has taken – and that our progress remains fragile.

The virus is still proving fatal for too many. Hundreds of people are still in hospital. And new infections are still being identified in most health board areas.

As I have said before, that means we must proceed with the utmost care and caution.

Nevertheless, a downward trend in COVID-19 cases is now sustained and unmistakeable.

As you know, the law requires us to formally review the lockdown regulations at least every three weeks and to keep them in place only for as long as is necessary. And the latest review period ends today.

I can confirm that we have considered the latest evidence of the spread of the virus and I can report as follows.

The R number – the transmission rate of the virus – remains in a range of 0.7 to 1.

We can’t be certain how far below 1 it is – and that confirms, and underlines, that we must continue to exercise caution.

However, we have now reasonable confidence that the R number has been below 1 for a period of more than three weeks.

Our modelling also shows that the prevalence of the virus is reducing.

Last week you might recall that I reported an estimated 25,000 infectious cases across the country. Our latest estimate is that as of last Friday 22 May, there were 19,000 infectious cases in Scotland.

In addition, the number of patients in intensive care has fallen by 80% since the peak.

And the number of new hospital admissions has fallen by more than 80%.

Also, as we saw yesterday in the National Records of Scotland report, deaths associated with COVID-19 – both overall and in care homes – have now declined for four consecutive weeks.

This evidence has allowed the Scottish Government therefore to conclude that we can now move into Phase 1 of our four phase route map out of lockdown.

My confidence in that conclusion is bolstered by the launch today of Test and Protect – a system of test, trace, isolate.

We are now asking any person who has symptoms of COVID-19 – that is a cough, a temperature or loss of taste or smell – to take immediate steps to book a test.

If this applies to you, please go straight to nhsinform.scot to get a test or, if you can’t go online, call NHS 24 on 0800 028 2816. Don’t wait to see if you feel better before booking a test. And apart from going for the test, you – and all people in your household – should self-isolate.

If you are contacted by Test and Protect to say you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive, please follow the advice to self-isolate for 14 days.

But remember – and this is a really important point – that you can minimise the chances of that happening by taking care not to be a close contact of someone outside your own household – and that means staying at least two metres distant from anyone who is not part of your household.

Test and Protect will be a crucial part of our efforts to control the virus in the weeks ahead. But it will not do it – cannot do it – on its own.

The decisions that all of us make – about staying two metres apart, washing our hands, wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces – these matter just as much.

In many ways, in fact, they will matter even more as we start to slowly relax these lockdown rules.

If we don’t pay close attention, and follow physical distancing and hygiene rules, those 19,000 estimated cases I mentioned earlier will quickly rise again.

However, all of that said, we are now in a position to make careful changes. And I want to set out now what those changes will be.

Many of these changes will come into effect tomorrow.

We are publishing on the Scottish Government website specific guidance to help you understand the changes and also the rules that we are still asking you to follow. So please take the time to read that.

The focus of our Phase 1 changes is on outdoor activity.

And the reason for that is this – as long as people from different households remain two metres apart, do not touch the same surfaces and wash hands and surfaces regularly, the risk of the virus spreading is lower in an outdoor environment than it is indoors.

Even so, in making changes at this stage, we have limited room for manoeuvre. So we need to get the balance right.

Of course we want to restart the economy as quickly as possible, but we have also kept very firmly in mind the things that matter most to our quality of life – family, friendship, love.

I will therefore spend most of my time today talking about what these changes will mean for your ability to interact with friends and family.

But first let me cover what they mean for business and public services.

From tomorrow, most outdoor work that has been put on hold can resume, and the construction industry will be able to restart site preparation – that’s the first phase of its restart plan. It will require to consult further with government before moving on to the second stage of that plan.

From tomorrow, garden centres and plant nurseries can reopen some of their services, and we will no longer be discouraging drive-through food outlets from re-opening as well.

However, non-essential shops, and pubs, restaurants and cafes – except for takeaway – must remain closed at this stage.

Household waste recycling centres can re-open from Monday – and guidance on this was issued yesterday.

We continue to ask other business premises to remain closed at this stage, unless providing essential goods and services, and we ask all businesses to let staff work from home wherever possible.

From Monday onwards, 1 June, teachers and other staff will be able to enter schools for the purpose of preparing for a re-opening of all schools on 11 August, for a blended in school / at home model of learning.

And from next Wednesday onwards – that’s 3 June – childcare will be available to a larger number of children who most need it, for example vulnerable children and children of essential workers.

Childminding services and fully outdoor nursery provision will start to reopen from next Wednesday too. However, there will continue to be limits on the number of children that can be cared for, and guidance for childminders will issue on Monday.

During Phase 1, some key public services – for example some respite care, children’s hearings and some key health programmes – will also begin to restart their work, and further announcements on timing will be made in due course.

In terms of sport and recreation, some non-contact outdoor leisure activities will be allowed to restart – again from tomorrow.

This applies to activities where you can safely keep a two metre distance from others at all times and follow strict hygiene practices – for example golf, tennis, bowls and fishing.

You will also be able, from tomorrow, to sit or sunbathe in parks and open areas. I am sure that will welcomed by many, particularly in this weather – but it will be welcomed especially by those who do not have gardens.

And you will be able to travel – preferably by walking or cycling – to a location near your local community for recreation. However we are asking you, for now, to please stay within, or close to, your own local area. And don’t use public transport unless it is absolutely necessary.

Now we are not setting a fixed distance limit in law – but our strong advice is not to travel further than around five miles for leisure or recreation.

And it is still the case that you should not go to our island communities, except for essential reasons.

We simply don’t want, in this phase, to see large numbers of people at tourist hot spots or local beauty spots. Crowds of people – even if they’re trying to socially distance – bring more risk than we judge is acceptable and safe at this point.

So if you do go somewhere and find it is crowded, please use your judgment, change your plans and go somewhere else.

Now the final area I want to talk about is social interaction.

But before I do that I want to say something specifically and directly to people who are shielding – the people who are most vulnerable to the virus.

You are now well into your third month of being advised not to leave home at all. And I know that listening to today’s changes – which don’t yet bring a change to your own circumstances – will be particularly hard for you.

So I want to assure you that we will be providing you with more information and guidance in the next couple of weeks. And we will be trying, as far as possible, as far as safe, to move to less of a blanket approach – one which requires all of you to stay at home all of the time – to one that more reflects your individual circumstances.

We know the impact that our advice is having on you, and on your loved ones, is significant – and we are doing everything we can to get that advice right so that you can safely, albeit gradually, start to lead a less restricted life. I want you to know today that you have not been forgotten – and you are a central part of our thinking, as we consider how we move forward.

More generally, though, we can today confirm changes to the rules on meeting socially. And this, I know, is something everyone has been eagerly anticipating.

From tomorrow the regulations on meeting other people will change.

You and your household will be able to meet with another household out of doors – for example in a park or in a private garden.

We said last week this should be in small groups – and to give you greater guidance on that, we are asking that the total number of people between the two households meeting up should be a maximum of eight. Please keep it to less than that if you can.

Now, we are not saying that you must pick one household and only meet the same one during Phase 1. But we are saying that you should not meet with more than one other household at a time.

And while this will not be the law, we also strongly recommend that you don’t meet with more than one other household per day.

This change will obviously allow you to meet with more people that we can right now – but please remember that we should still be meeting far fewer people outside our own household than we would in normal times.

Now, I know how much all of you will be looking forward – all of us will be looking forward to seeing family and friends for the first time in a while. But how we do this is going to be really vital.

Before you meet up with people from another household you should stop, think, read the guidance and make sure you are protecting yourself and others.

In particular, you must stay outdoors and stay at least two metres away from people from the other household. That is crucial.

You should also avoid touching the same hard surfaces as they do.

Let me give an example of that. I suspect many of you will be planning a picnic or a barbecue this weekend. If you are, not only should you stay two metres apart from those in the other household, but each household should also bring its own food, cutlery, plates or cups. Don’t share these things.

And please – don’t go indoors. Being in someone else’s house should still be avoided, unless of course you are providing support to someone who is vulnerable.

And that means thinking in very practical terms. We are not putting a legal limit on how far you can travel to meet another household, but please use your good judgment. If the distance is so far that you would have to use someone else’s bathroom, then perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it.

And the reason for all of this is simple, but it is worth repeating, because I am not putting all of these restrictions – or asking you to put these restriction on your activity for no reason.

And the reason is this – if you go inside a house or if you share items, if you touch the same surfaces as another household, or come within two metres of each other, that is when you are creating an opportunity – a bridge, if you like – for the virus to spread from one household to another.

And that is what all of us must still do everything we can to avoid.

Now, I know the information I give at these briefings sometimes must be hard to absorb.

But today’s information is really vital. So please watch this back later to make sure you caught all of it. And please read the guidance that you will find at www.gov.scot

What I have announced today are important first steps back to some kind of normality I hope. But they are by necessity cautious.

I’ve said before that no changes are risk free – and there are no certainties in any of this – but I have also said that I wanted to ensure that with every step we do take, the ground beneath our feet is as solid as possible. And that is what we are taking care to ensure.

But I don’t mind admitting to you that as we take these first steps, I do feel a bit nervous.

I worry that the limited changes we are making to these rules, the very careful changes, might lead to much greater change in reality. And so I really need your help to make sure that is not the case.

I am sure there are going to be lots of emotional reunions this weekend. You will be planning to see family and friends that you haven’t seen for weeks. And based on the current forecasts, the sun will be shining too. We’ve all waited a long time for this, so I hope you all really enjoy it.

But please, please – respect the parameters we are setting out.

Be respectful of each other’s space, and make sure things still feel different to normal, because they should still feel different to normal.

Above all, remember that each individual decision we will take, will affect the safety and the wellbeing of everyone. Make sure that love, kindness and solidarity continue to be our guiding principles.

So to recap.

Still stay at home as much as possible – the virus has not gone away. Lockdown is being modified slightly – it is not over.

Make sure you are still seeing far fewer people than you might normally do.

Don’t meet up with more than one other household at a time, don’t meet more than one a day and keep to a maximum of eight people in a group.

Stay two metres apart when you do meet. And that, I know will be really difficult – perhaps the most difficult part of all. The instinct to hug somebody you love is a really strong one – especially when you haven’t seen that person for quite some time. And I know that for some – couples who live apart for example – for them, this is even more difficult. And I want to assure you that we are considering that point very carefully.

But for now – whether it’s parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, siblings, partners from other households – don’t put your loved ones or yourself at risk.

Also wash your hands regularly and thoroughly.

Avoid hard surfaces – and clean any that you are touching.

And if you have symptoms, get tested and follow the advice on self-isolation.

To end where I started, we are only able to take these careful steps towards a less restricted lifestyle for all of us now because all of you have, overwhelmingly, stuck to the rules so far.

And the truth is that we will be able to take more steps more quickly in the future, if we all continue to do the right thing, stick to the rules, and most importantly of all now, exercise good judgment at all times.

I want to thank you again for all you’ve done so far, but thank you in advance for continuing – as I know you will – to do the right thing and remember that this is all about protecting not just ourselves – it is about protecting each other.

And though these changes are small at this stage, I really hope they do make a positive difference and leave all of us with a real sense of hope that we are on the right track, the track towards greater normality while we continue to beat this virus along the way.

Thank you very much indeed for listening.

Below is the text of the statement made by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, in Edinburgh on 29 May 2020.

Good afternoon – and welcome to today’s briefing. I am joined today by the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Fair Work and Culture, Fiona Hyslop; and our National Clinical Director, Jason Leitch.

I want to start – as I always do – by updating you on some of the key statistics in relation to Covid-19 in Scotland.

As at 9 o’clock this morning, there have been 15,327 positive cases confirmed – an increase of 39 from yesterday.

A total of 1,216 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That represents a total decrease of 22 from yesterday, including a decrease of 28 in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 40 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid 19. That is an increase of 3 since yesterday.

We shouldn’t read anything into that increase – these figures will fluctuate day to day. But nevertheless it is a reminder that the virus has not gone away.

I am also able to confirm today that since 5 March, a total of 3,640 patients who had tested positive for the virus and required hospitalisation have been able to leave hospital. I wish all of them well.

And unfortunately, I also have to report that in the last 24 hours, 15 deaths have been registered of patients who had been confirmed through a test as having Covid-19 – that takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2,331.

We must never lose sight of the fact that these numbers are not simply statistics. They represent individuals whose deaths are being mourned by friends, family and loved ones. I want to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus.

I also want to thank – as I always do – our health and care workers. For the tenth Thursday in a row last night, people across the country joined together to applaud your efforts and show our gratitude.

There are two items I want to cover today.

Firstly, I want to recap on the changes to the lockdown restrictions on social interaction and leisure that have taken effect today.

I’m very conscious that this weekend will be the first – in quite a while – that people will be able to meet up. And so I want to take the time to outline, once again, what the changes are…and the rules you must follow to stay safe and avoid a resurgence of the virus.

From today, you and your household can meet with another household out of doors – for example in a park or in a private garden.

However, you should limit the total number of people meeting up, to a maximum of 8. Ideally it should be less than that.

You should not meet with more than one household at a time. And don’t meet with more than one other household per day.

If you do meet up, you need to be outside – and you need to stay at least 2 metres away from people in the other household. You should also avoid touching the same hard surfaces.

For example, if you are having a picnic or barbecue this weekend – not only should you stay 2 metres apart from members of the other household, but each household should also bring its own food, cutlery, plates and cups.

And please – don’t go indoors. Being in someone else’s house should still be avoided, unless you are providing support to someone who is vulnerable.

We are not putting a legal limit on how far you can travel to meet another household. But if the distance is so far that you would have to use someone else’s bathroom, please don’t go.

Again, to be clear, these rules are for a reason. If you go inside a house, or come within 2 metres of each other, or if you touch the same surfaces as another household, that creates an opportunity for the virus to spread.

And we must do everything we can to avoid that.

From today, you are also able to sit or sunbathe in parks and open areas.

You will be able to travel – preferably by walking or cycling – for recreation. However, please stay within, or close to, your own local area. Don’t travel more than around 5 miles from your home.

We do not want to see large numbers of people at tourist hot spots or local beauty spots. So if you do go somewhere and find it is crowded, please change your plans and go somewhere else.

If you haven’t done so already, please go to the Scottish Government’s website and read the guidance we are asking you to follow.

I hope that these changes will bring some improvement to the quality of our lives.

But they are deliberately and by necessity cautious – and they have been carefully assessed.

I said yesterday I was nervous ahead of these changes and that’s still the case.

If too many of us change our behaviour a bit more than these changes are designed to allow, we could see the virus spread quickly again and we will be back to square one.

And the consequences of that will be measured, not just in more time spent in lockdown – it will be measured in lost lives too.

So I’m not trying to cramp anyone’s fun this weekend. I want everyone to enjoy these changes – you have more than earned it.

But I am asking you to please do so responsibly. I am appealing to your judgment and your sense of solidarity to each other.

Please stay within the rules.

Apply judgment. We can’t give bespoke guidance for every individual circumstance – but remember that the purpose of the rules is to deny the virus bridges to jump across.

So continue to limit the people from other households you see.

Stay distant.

Be rigorous in your hand hygiene.

And don’t allow the virus to spread from you to someone else via a hard surface.

And generally, if you’re wondering whether or not it’s ok to do something this weekend, consider whether you might be providing that bridge.

And if you are in doubt about whether your plans are within the rules or not, err on the side of caution.

Because however harsh these rules might feel right now, abiding by them will never be as harsh as grieving the loss of a loved one.

So please, before you make any plans, stop and think to protect you and your families.

The second item I want to cover today relates to the economy. This morning, as I do every Friday morning, I chaired the Cabinet sub-committee on the economy.

Among the items we discussed was our support for business – and particularly for those industries which are not yet able to reopen.

One of those is – of course – our manufacturing sector. And that’s what I want to focus on today.

We know that manufacturing is vital to Scotland. And that fact has been underlined over the past couple of months.

In that time, manufacturers across country have stepped forward, to help Scotland’s response to the crisis. Many have repurposed or scaled up their operations, to meet the demand for things like hand sanitizer and PPE. In doing so, they’ve helped us to provide our frontline services, with the supplies that they need.

So I want to thank everyone who has contributed to that effort. I also want to thank the many manufacturing businesses – not involved in that essential work – who have remained closed. I know how tough things are at the moment – and I appreciate the sacrifices you are making.

Unfortunately, most of Scotland’s manufacturing businesses will not be able to reopen until phase 2 of our route map. However, during this first phase, they will be able to start preparations, for a safe return to work.

Earlier this week, the Scottish Government published guidance for the sector, on the measures that will need to be put in place.

We are determined to support our manufacturing industry, as it prepares for that restart. We also want to do everything we can to ensure its future success. That was already a priority for the Scottish Government. But it becomes even more important, as the industry recovers from this crisis.

That’s why I am announcing today that we will provide an additional £20 million of funding for Scotland’s new National Manufacturing Institute. That brings our total investment to £75 million.

I can also confirm today that the contract to build the new Institute has been awarded, though work will only commence when it is safe to do so.

The National Manufacturing Institute will be operated by the University of Strathclyde – and it will bring together expertise from academia and industry.

It will allow businesses – of all sizes – to access research and development. And it will ensure that Scotland remains at the very forefront of advanced manufacturing.

Of course, we also want to improve the support available to manufacturers – at a local level – right across Scotland. So today, we’re also announcing investment in 12 new projects, as part of our Advancing Manufacturing Challenge Fund.

Each of the projects is designed to help small and medium sized businesses. And the Cabinet Secretary will set out more detail on them, shortly.

We know that a strong manufacturing sector is vital to our economic success. So by investing now, we are preparing our economy, for the challenges – and the opportunities – of the post-Covid world.

Of course, for now, the Scottish Government’s primary focus is on dealing with this crisis.

Our country has made significant progress over recent weeks. But make no mistake, this virus has not gone away.

So before I hand over to the Cabinet Secretary, I want to set out for you – once again – what the new rules are.

Let me be very clear – you should still stay home as much as you can. Lockdown has been modified slightly – but it is not over.

You should still be seeing far fewer people than you might normally do.

Don’t meet with more than one other household at a time, don’t meet more than one a day and keep to a maximum of 8 people in a group.

Stay 2 metres apart when you do meet. That will be difficult, I know. We all want to hug our loved ones. But please, don’t put them or yourself at risk.

Wash your hands often. Take hand sanitiser if you are out and about.

Avoid hard surfaces – and clean any you do touch.

And if you have symptoms, get tested and follow the advice on self isolation.

Above all, remember that each individual decision we take, will affect the safety and wellbeing of everyone.

Recent weeks have been tough – and tough times still lie ahead – but I have never been prouder of this country than I am right now.

So let’s continue to stick together and do right by each other.

And remember, at all stages – stop, think and protect.

So I want to thank all of you in advance for doing that – and wish you all, within the rules of course, a happier and certainly a sunnier weekend than we’ve had in a while.