Number of positive coronavirus
The number of people testing positive for coronavirus in Scotland has risen to 153, as health secretary Jeane Freeman came under renewed pressure to push for increased production of life-saving ventilators and make more intensive care unit beds available.
Daily figures released by the Scottish Government showed a rise of 32 since Saturday, with a total of 4,240 people who have now tested positive.
Ms Freeman said she hoped to double the amount of intensive care unit (ICU) beds taking the number available from 190 to 380.
She has come under sustained pressure from opposition parties to increase the number of ventilators – with Scottish Labour claiming there are currently just 60 ICU beds with ventilators available for use across Scotland as a whole.
The health secretary said:
“We are working to double the number of acute beds. That will take us to about 380.
“We are looking at what we need to do to increase capacity in our existing hospitals. That willincludeslowingdownand stopping elective work.”
Ms Freeman said that she was also in the process of preparing additional bed capacity but said that was unlikely to involve temporary buildings.
She said the public would be told about additional facilities in due course.
The health secretary said she was also working with the
Scottish Labour health spokesperson
UK government to see manufacture of ventilators and other essential equipment increased.
She said: “My understanding is we have one company in the UK and we need to get them to scale up manufacturing to ensure we have enough ventilators and equipment.”
The minister said she was due to take part in a Cobra meeting with the UK government today and warned that significant decisions on further measures to curb the spread of the disease would be made in the coming days.
This follows on from Prime Minister Boris Johnson personally urging manufacturers to shift their production lines to build ventilators, as the NHS prepares for a significant increase in cases of Covid-19.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “The thing the NHS needs now more than anything else is more ventilators. We’ve been buying as many as we can but we need to produce more too.”
He said he could not make guarantees that everyone who requires a ventilator will get one, saying: “We don’t make guarantees in healthcare.”
According to Scottish Labour, occupancy levels in ICUS and combined units in Scotland is currently around 71 per cent and this leaves around 60 ICU beds with ventilators across the country.
The party’s health spokesperson Monica Lennon – who is pressing SNP ministers for detailed plans – said reports that Italy’s healthcare service is on the “brink of collapsing” and that a shortage of ventilators has contributed to the country’s Covid-19 death toll, is an urgent call to action.
Ms Lennon said: “As cases of coronavirus increase, it is vital that Scotland’s hospitals are able to cope with the demand for intensive care beds and ventilator support.
“In the most serious cases, people will need help with breathing and the stories coming out of Italy are tragic and worrying. People have died because there are not enough ventilators to go round.
“Italy is ranked by the World Health Organisation as seconnd in the world for healthcare provision, after France.
“The UK is ranked 18th, which is a sobering fact and he challenges ahead must be an urgent call to action to Scottish Government to pull out all the stops to equip our hospitals. Scottish Labour has secured a commitment from the Scottish Government to double ICU capacity.”
Ms Lennon said she has written to Ms Freeman to ask how many ventilators have been ordered and how soon this equipment willbe in our hospitals. She added: “We know that ventilators and Icu-trained staff are going to be key to saving lives.
“With the number of Covid-19 cases rising steeply, Scotland urgently needs additional ventilators and we need to know what steps the government is taking to get them and train staff to use them.”
Meanwhile, Strathclyde University and the University of Dundee will suspend face-toface teaching from today.
The campuses remain open but teaching will be online. Heriot Watt University will suspend face-to-face teaching from Wednesday.
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will move to distance learning and has cancelled all performances.
The 2020 Glasgow Kiltwalk, due to take place on 24 April, has been postponed.
“It is vital that Scotland’s hospitals are able to cope with the demand for ventilator support”
MONICA LENNON
A reitred NHS infectious diseases consultant has written to the Prime Minister and First Minister to plead for a change in the current approach to handling the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr James Gray, from Edinburgh, who dealt with and advised on infections throughout his career, said he was “extremely worried” at the potential for establishing a so-called “herd immunity” response to the virus, which has claimed the lives of 35 people in the UK.
The number of confirmed UK cases of the virus has reached 1,372, with 40,279 people tested, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Health. Of the latest 14 patients to die in the UK, all were aged between their 60s and 90s, and most had underlying health conditions.
Earlier, 34 new cases were announced in Wales, 32 in Scotland and 11 in Northern Ireland.
Dr Gray wrote that an “immediate” lockdown is the only hope of controlling the disease and getting the numbers of people infected by Covid-19 down to a more manageable level.