Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 16 March 2021
16 Mar 2021 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Covid-19
I thank the First Minister for advance sight of her statement and I, too, pass on my condolences to all those who have lost a loved one.
Steps to reopen our society and economy are welcome, particularly as those, too, impact on health and wellbeing, and I know that they will give much-needed hope to people across Scotland. That is why we need to make sure that the current lockdown is our last.
In the past week, we have seen a rise in the number of cases, and there are local areas in which rates are much higher than average. Although we want progress, we need to make sure that infection rates do not rise with the lifting of restrictions.
To have finally reached 400,000 vaccinations a week will also be welcome. However, last week, almost 420,000 gold-standard polymerase chain reaction tests went unused. Will the First Minister commit to using those in our schools and workplaces, as restrictions ease? Effective testing and tracing are what will stop us going back into another lockdown.
We also welcome the commitment of additional funding for businesses, but the eligibility and the speed of disbursal is crucial. Does the First Minister recognise that it will take time for businesses to recover, even after the restrictions are lifted and lockdown ends, and does she agree that transitional support must be made available over the longer term, to avoid businesses having to close and people losing their jobs?
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
The next item of business is a statement by Nicola Sturgeon on Covid-19. The First Minister will take questions at the end of her statement, and I encourage ...
The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon)
SNP
My statement will set out our next steps out of lockdown and back towards a way of life that is much closer to normality. I intend to set out in some detail ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Thank you, First Minister. We turn to questions.
Ruth Davidson (Edinburgh Central) (Con)
Con
Today’s update, as briefed, has started to give some clarity on when various sectors can reopen. Frankly, they were calling for and expecting that clarity th...
The First Minister
SNP
First, had I announced three weeks ago everything that I have announced today, I would have been doing so without the confidence I now have that we would hav...
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the First Minister for advance sight of her statement and I, too, pass on my condolences to all those who have lost a loved one. Steps to reopen our...
The First Minister
SNP
First, we all want this to be the last lockdown, but making that happen is not as easy as a politician simply saying that, as a soundbite. Making sure that t...
Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)
Green
The fact that we are in a position to start planning to reopen things and get our lives back will be welcomed by everyone. As always, the Scottish Greens sup...
The First Minister
SNP
There will be a gradual return of students to further and higher education and we will use lateral flow testing as appropriate and in a targeted way to suppo...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
I am sure that people will feel a little bit of hope today. Their sacrifices, and the brilliance of the vaccine scientists, mean that our liberty may return ...
The First Minister
SNP
People want some clarity about the indicative timeline, which we are trying to give them. All of that is predicated, though, on the data continuing to go in ...
Annabelle Ewing (Cowdenbeath) (SNP)
SNP
The setting of indicative dates for the initial easing of lockdown is welcome news. However, the First Minister has struck a cautionary note. Will she clarif...
The First Minister
SNP
We would aim, as we have generally done throughout the pandemic, to confirm, hopefully—or otherwise, if things were not going in the right direction—a week b...
Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
When will the Scottish Government publish updated guidance on restrictions that are contained in the tier system, especially the restrictions in level 0?
The First Minister
SNP
We will publish some of that later today, which will back up what I have said today. The update to the document is possibly already published. In relation to...
Clare Adamson (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)
SNP
What reassurance can the First Minister give to parents, carers and staff following reports of an outbreak of coronavirus at St Ignatius primary school campu...
The First Minister
SNP
One of the difficult things with the virus on an on-going basis is that, even as we get its prevalence and incidence down—as I hope that we will—we will see ...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
Age Scotland, Engender, Inclusion Scotland and around 20 other civil society organisations have written to the First Minister, welcoming her commitment to a ...
The First Minister
SNP
I have already given a commitment to a human rights-based approach to a public inquiry. I believe that we still might be the only Government in the UK that h...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
I thank the First Minister for her statement. Many businesses across Scotland will appreciate the clarity that was given on the course out of lockdown and—I ...
The First Minister
SNP
The approach to business support that I set out is intended to combine, on the one hand, on-going support for businesses that must remain closed or that stil...
Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
The First Minister will know that a recent report said that, during the second wave of the pandemic, more than half of severe Covid cases involved transmissi...
The First Minister
SNP
There is a direct correlation between community transmission of the virus and nosocomial infection and transmission. As community transmission rates have fal...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
I was delighted to get the AstraZeneca vaccine on Saturday. I guess that I am slightly older than the First Minister, so I might have been vaccinated before ...
The First Minister
SNP
I do not want to be churlish, but I think, from memory, that Mr Mason is significantly older than the First Minister. I anxiously await my vaccination appoin...
David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
I am considerably older than the First Minister, and I am delighted to say that I have had my vaccination. Does the First Minister share my view that the goo...
The First Minister
SNP
It is good news. I was paying close attention to the news from the European Medicines Agency earlier today. The agency is carrying out further review over th...
Ruth Maguire (Cunninghame South) (SNP)
SNP
Today’s announcement is positive, but many families—particularly those on low incomes—who are sick or find themselves in vulnerable circumstances are struggl...
The First Minister
SNP
That is an important reminder that, in many different ways, the impact of the pandemic will be felt long after the Covid restrictions have been lifted. That ...
Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Does today’s framework announcement confirm that we are moving out of lockdown nationally at the same pace, with no scope for local easing? Can the First Min...