The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
FM: ‘It’s down to all of us’ to keep NHS afloat
Nicola Sturgeon has said “more than at any time in any of our lifetimes, it’s down to all of us” to help keep the NHS afloat, amid a warning that Tayside is just days away from exceeding corona virus hospital capacity.
The first minister said the current challenges are “more severe than any situation our health service has faced” in her entire time in government, as the number of people who have died since testing positive for Covid-19 surged above 5,000 for the first time.
The SNP leader met her cabinet on Monday to discuss toughening up coronavirus rules even further, including possible new restrictions on takeaways, click and collect service and “non-essential” construction work.
Ms Sturgeon said she does not expect any new area-specific measures to be introduced when she updates Parliament today but warned there may not be any easing of restrictions until at least the end of the month.
It comes after new data revealed Tayside could be just days away from running out of specialist Covid beds, with a similar situation already facing Central Belt health boards such as NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Lanarkshire.
Current reported hospital capacity will be met in two days – and exceeded in three – if hospitalisations continue to grow in Tayside at the current rate. Managers are now looking to scale up the number of available beds in the region.
Speaking at the Scottish Government’s daily briefing in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said that if a particular hospital or health board is unable to manage the capacity within its own boundaries, “mutual aid” will be introduced. This could include patients requiring specialist hospital care being transferred from one centre to another or to a different area of the country.
“It’s one of the advantages of having a relatively small country, that we can manage that capacity on an overall basis,” Ms Sturgeon said.
“But (the situation) is very, very stretched right now. The health service will seek to manage it, the government will support them to do that but more than at any time in any of our lifetimes, it’s down to all of us to help the health service.
“Every time we avoid putting ourselves in a situation where we might get the virus, we are also avoiding the potential for us needing hospital care or intensive care, so we are helping the health service.
And that really is something that all of us have got to play our part in.”
The latest daily coronavirus statistics show 54 deaths were recorded in the 24 hours into yesterday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 5,023.
But the most recent figures from the National Records of Scotland – which records all deaths registered in Scotland where C ovid -19 was mentioned on the death certificate – suggest the true total is 6,686.
Hospital numbers also continue to rise, with 1,717 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, up 53 in 24 hours, and 133 patients in intensive care, an increase of seven. A total of 1,875 positive tests was also recorded in the previous 24 hours.
Next week, ministers will review the current lockdown restrictions and decide whether it will be extended into next month, and Ms Sturgeon warned it is unlikely the rules will be eased significantly, if at all, following the review.
“I wouldn’t want to raise expectations that we will lift all of these restrictions at the end of January,” she said. “I think it would be very unlikely that we would have a wholesale lifting of these restrictions.”
The first minister said plans to bring the virus under control could include tightening up how takeaways operate to limit the potential for people to gather inside. Outlining travel restrictions, she said people arriving in the country after 4am on Friday will need evidence from the past three days that they h av e tested negative. Those travelling from countries not on the quarantine exemption list will still need to self-isolate on arrival.