Sturgeon defends far lower rate of testing

Scotland is fighting coronavirus with “one arm behind our back” as fewer tests are being carried out compared to other parts of the UK, L a b o u r ’s Richard Leonard has claimed.

He said research by Scottish Labour shows that in the last few weeks “Scotland has carried out fewer tests per 100,000 than any other nation of the UK”.

The party said that in the week ending January 11, 2,966.7 tests per 100,000 people were carried out in Scotland, compared to 6,065.4 per 100,000 in England, 3,849 per 100,000 in Northern Ireland and 3,460.4 per 100,000 in Wales.

Yesterday Mr Leonard said: “Over the last week Scotland carried out half the number of tests per 100,000 compared to England.”

He said experts say this means “we are only finding half, or less than half, of the cases”.

He told Nicola Sturgeon: “This is like fighting the epidemic with one arm behind our back.”

But the first minister insisted figures are lower in Scotland because prevalence of the virus is lower.

She said: “These are the figures of the demand-led testing scheme, people who have symptoms going to a drive-through centre or a mobile testing unit or ordering a home test and getting tests.

“The reason that the numbers going through are lower in Scotland than other parts of the UK is that in Scotland, even though prevalence of the virus is much higher than we want it to be and rising, it is lower than it is in other parts of the UK.

“It is perhaps less than a third what is in some other parts of the UK.

“So in very simple terms, that means there are fewer people with symptoms putting the demand on those tests.”