Thousands face quarantine as test and trace plan starts
MORE than 1,000 people a week in Scotland face the threat of being ordered to go into quarantine as lockdown measures are eased.
Under the Scottish Government’s Test and Protect strategy, which went live yesterday, everyone who tests positive for coronavirus must give details of everybody with whom they have had close contact.
All of those close contacts are then told they must self-isolate for two weeks – even if they have no symptoms.
Scottish Government data shows that, in the most recent full week, 384 people north of the Border tested positive for the virus.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC) estimates that most people who test positive during lockdown will have had two or three close contacts who then need to self-isolate. This means, based on current testing figures, up to 1,152 people a week might need to go into quarantine in Scotland.
This figure could rise substantially – potentially to several thousands a week – when lockdown measures are eased, as the ECDPC said the average person would have had seven to 20 contacts who needed to be traced prior to lockdown measures being imposed. It could also rise if more people are tested, with Nicola Sturgeon yesterday providing a new estimate that 19,000 Scots currently have Covid-19.
Asked about how many people will need to be traced for each person who tests positive, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘What I’d say on contacts is that, right now, if we are all following the guidance, the number of contacts any of us should be having is much, much lower than would be the case in normal times because we shouldn’t be coming within two metres of somebody in another household for 15 minutes or more.’
Under the Test and Protect scheme, anyone who has a cough, a temperature or loss of taste or smell will be told to selfisolate and take immediate steps to book a test. If they then test positive, they need to give details of everyone they have had close contact with.
This is defined as people within their household, those who someone has had face-to-face contact with, and anyone who has been within two metres for 15 minutes or more.
Concerns have been raised about the impact that people being asked to self-isolate will have on individuals, companies and public services.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘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.’
Concerns have also been raised about the present capacity of 15,500 tests a day not being used, and unclear arrangements as part of the Test and Protect scheme.
Among them, it has not yet been confirmed what transport will be provided for people who cannot drive to a testing centre, or what alternative accommodation will be in place for those unable to self-isolate at home.
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon
‘Number of contacts lower than normal times’
admitted to being nervous about this phase of the exit and no wonder. It will only work if testing is up to scratch, and so far that has not been the case.
‘We still don’t really know what happened to the 2,000 tracers who were meant to be in place by the end of the month, nor how long it will be until the system is in full swing.
‘And the First Minister is still being very evasive on the Nike conference which was kept secret from the public and was a clear failure of the tracing system she is now talking up.’
Asked about the ‘unanswered questions’ about elements of the scheme, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I’m not sure these are unanswered questions – these are things that will be determined as we know what the needs of people are.’
The First Minister said testing at home will be expanded in the coming weeks.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said councils and charities provide support for people who are being shielded.
She added: ‘We built on that operation and that will encompass now the support that might be needed to anyone who is asked to isolate for a period of time – seven days or 14 days – who can’t get the help they might need in terms of food and medicine from families and friends.
‘That comes through the local health partnerships, so in each part of the country there will be a consistency of what is available, but the particular local arrangements may vary.
‘That includes, for example, local arrangements that are there to provide quality accommodation should someone be in a position where their own circumstances mean it will be very difficult to isolate in their own household.’