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Last update: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 5:16 PM
- Scottish schools will be closed until mid-February
- 1,165 new Covid cases and 71 more deaths on Tuesday
- The island of Barra will be closed from midnight.
- Lockdown measures extend until mid-February in Scotland
- The Scottish government is considering the creation of ‘closed hotels’
Waiting Time for Superior Court Trials Doubles Due to Covid-19 Restrictions
The average waiting period for trials in higher courts has doubled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
New figures from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service show that the average waiting period for higher court trials has doubled from a six-month wait at pre-pandemic levels to 12 months.
However, the introduction of remote jury centers allowed 29 evidence-based trials in higher courts to take place in December, which is higher than the previous two years of 26 in 2019 and 23 in 2018.
Remote jury centers spread across Scotland to restart sheriff’s court jury trials and 11 evidence-based trials were launched in Lothian and Borders and Glasgow and Strathkelvin. Other areas will follow in early 2021.
400,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have yet to reach patients, says Ruth Davidson
More than 400,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have yet to be administered to patients despite reaching Scotland, conservatives said.
Scottish Conservative Holyrood leader Ruth Davidson said the Scottish government had so far received 717,000 doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, but crucially claimed that more than half of these had not yet been used.
She challenged the Prime Minister on the issue when Nicola Sturgeon announced that the Scottish blockade would continue until mid-February at least.
Sturgeon also insisted that Scotland was not behind the target in vaccinating people, as it accused the UK government of “reporting and spinning misleading supply figures”.
The Prime Minister said: ‘Supplies are allocated to Scotland, then they are brought to Scotland, and we vaccinate as quickly as possible.
“That will continue to be the case.
“As for the doses that are in Scotland, a lot of them have already been put into the hands of the people.”
Aldi staff will receive a salary increase as thanks for ‘outstanding efforts’ amid the Covid pandemic
The number of Covid-19 cases in Scotland has decreased, Nicola Sturgeon said.
Updating the MSPs on Tuesday, the Scottish Prime Minister said the lockdown measures were having an impact.
She said: “We believe that the closure restrictions – and the sacrifices that everyone continues to make – are starting to have an impact.
“The number of cases, which had increased rapidly, appears to have stabilized and even decreased.
“In the week ending January 14, there was an average of about 1,900 new confirmed cases per day. This is an 18% reduction from the previous week.
“The positivity of the tests has also decreased slightly, as has the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants.”
Ambulance call managers receiving the Covid vaccine after a priority U-turn – Unite
Scottish Ambulance Service call handlers began receiving the coronavirus vaccine after a government U-turn allowed them to take priority, a union said.
The Scottish government initially refused to include control room workers in the priority category, arguing that they were not “patient-oriented,” according to the Unite union.
However, after concerns were raised about the impact of possible outbreaks on the emergency service response, the Government agreed to allow the Scottish Ambulance Service to decide whether to prioritize call handlers.
As a result, the first call center staff received a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday morning, and all of the 500 or so workers must be vaccinated by the end of the week.
Scottish Unite Secretary Pat Rafferty said: “Unite is delighted that, following our pressure, the Scottish government agreed to defer the decision to vaccinate control room workers at the Scottish Ambulance Service, which agreed agree with us that your entire workforce should be prioritized.
“It was an odd position for the Scottish government not to initially prioritize workers because they are not ‘patient-oriented’.
“Without them, we do not have an effective service, so it is a relief for the workers and we appreciate that by the end of this week all the personnel in the control room receive the vaccine.”
Matt Hancock self-isolates after contact with coronavirus
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said he isolates himself after coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.
The minister said Tuesday that he was alerted by the NHS app “last night”, after he had chaired a press conference in Downing Street on Monday night.
“He pinged me last night with the NHS coronavirus app, so that means I will isolate myself at home and not leave the house until Sunday,” he said in a video on his Twitter.
“This self-isolation is perhaps the most important part of all social distancing because I know from the app that I have been in close contact with someone who tested positive, and that is how we break the chains of transmission.
“I have to work from home for the next six days and together, by doing this, following this and all the other rules that we have had to implement, we can overcome this and defeat this virus. “
Matt Hancock self-isolates after contact with coronavirus
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said he isolates himself after coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.
The minister said Tuesday that he was alerted by the NHS app “last night”, after he had chaired a press conference in Downing Street on Monday night.
“He pinged me last night with the NHS coronavirus app, so that means I will isolate myself at home and not leave the house until Sunday,” he said in a video on his Twitter.
“This self-isolation is perhaps the most important part of all social distancing because I know from the app that I have been in close contact with someone who tested positive, and that is how we break the chains of transmission.
“I have to work from home for the next six days and together, by doing this, following this and all the other rules that we have had to implement, we can overcome this and defeat this virus. “
Nicola Sturgeon announces that all restrictions will remain in effect until at least mid-February
Scottish Schools Announcement: Schools closed until mid-February at the earliest, Nicola Sturgeon announces
Eighty percent of nursing home residents in Scotland have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, Nicola Sturgeon said.
When updating the MSPs in Parliament, the Prime Minister said that various local authorities had vaccinated all residents of nursing homes with the first dose.
Sturgeon also said that 70% of the nursing home and other health and care personnel had received their first blow.
Three million people in Scotland, the majority of the adult population, will have received their first dose of the vaccine by early May, Sturgeon said.
“That means that in approximately three months, around three million people in total will have received at least the first dose of the vaccine; this is, of course, the majority of the adult population and includes all people over 50 years of age. and many young people with an underlying health condition, ”he said.
“The rest of the adult population will follow as quickly as supplies allow.”
Schools in Scotland will be closed until mid-February, the Prime Minister has said.
In updating the MSPs at Holyrood, Sturgeon said that the community transmission risks of Covid-19 had forced the Cabinet to delay opening.
Schools were initially due to emerge from Scotland’s second shutdown on February 1.
Sturgeon said: “The cabinet decided today that, except for vulnerable and key child laborers, the school and daycare facilities will remain closed until mid-February.”
The situation will be reviewed on February 2, the Prime Minister said, adding: “If it is possible, as I hope it is, to even begin a gradual return to learning at school in mid-February, it will be.”
Coronavirus in Scotland: 1,989 people are hospitalized with the virus, as 71 more people have died in the last 24 hours
The island of Barra will be closed starting at midnight on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.
When updating the MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, Sturgeon said that 10% of the island’s population had been forced to isolate themselves.
She said: “For these reasons, the national incident management team has recommended and the Cabinet, in consultation with the local authority and the local board of health, has decided that Barra and Vatersay, which is connected to Barra by a causeway, They must go from Level 3 to Level 4 at midnight tonight.
“This means that the same confinement restrictions, including home stay, except for the essential purposes requirement, are already in place in mainland Scotland.
Scots must remain “cautious” about the coronavirus, despite the decline in the number of new cases, Nicola Sturgeon said.
Speaking to MSPs in Holyrood on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said: We need to see these trends continue, to be more sure that this phase of the epidemic is now on a downward trajectory.
“And second, we have to be realistic in the sense that any improvement that we are seeing is due, at this stage, to the fact that we stay at home and reduce our interactions.
“Any relaxation of the blockade while the numbers of cases, although they may be decreasing, are still very high, could quickly reverse the situation.”
Scotland will remain locked in until at least mid-February, Nicola Sturgeon said.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, the Prime Minister said: “It is for all these reasons that the Cabinet decided this morning to maintain the restrictions that are currently in place.
“That means lockdown restrictions, including the strict stay-at-home requirement, will remain in place across mainland Scotland and some island communities until at least mid-February.”
