Wiping out Covid is within our grasp, insists Sturgeon
●First Minister says ‘elimination’ is realistic as cases continue to fall ●Chief medical officer joins airline chief in warning of ‘cost of isolation’ ●Johnson calls for fast track plan to develop new vaccines
The “elimination” of coronavirus from Scotland is a realistic ambition, Nicola Sturgeon has said, as the country prepares to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown amid falling cases of infections.
The First Minister confirmed she was pursuing an elimination policy, a move with widespread public support, despite warnings about the stark economic cost of cutting the country off from the world.
The move came as th e chief executive of Loganair warned that "draconian" restrictions “could drive aviation out of Scotland” as Scotland pursues a stricter quarantine regime than that south of the border. Professor Jason Leitch, the Scottish Government's national clinical director, said it is "possible to strive" for elimination–an approach pursued with a large degree of success in New Zealand – but cautioned th at the approach came at the cost of isolation.
The move came amid growing optimism about the economic prospects of the United Kingdom following a step change in the roll-out of the vaccine.
In an effort to build on that success, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to call for the G7 leaders to commit to increasing the speed at which future vaccines could be developed, cutting the process to a “fast track" programme of 100 days.
At her daily briefing, Ms Sturgeon said she wants" if at all possible" for the currentcorona virus lock down to be the last, as she confirmed Scotland is still working on an elimination strategy.
But she stressed that to ensure no further lockdowns are required, the lifting of restrictions must be sustainable.
She warned :" if it is quick at the expense
of sustainability, the danger is as we start to look at next winter again, we will be back in lockdown."
Her comments come ahead of the Scottish Government publishing a new road map out of lockdown next week.
The First Minister said although "cases are declining in Scotland, test positivity is declining", the road map will still "be deliberately quite cautious, because none of us want to set this progress back".
S head ded:"iwant,i fat all possible, this lock down to be the last one we need."
A panel of Scots convened by Holyrood's Covid-19 Committee has called for an elimination strategy to be put in place to fight the virus, which would see restrictions in place to slowly work the number of cases to zero, though the group accepts there would need to bean agreement across the UK.
But one health expert warned the first minister that eliminatingcorona virus in scotland will be "near impossible"
Dr Christine Tait-burkard, a research fellow in the department of infection and immunity at the university of edinburgh' s Rosl in institute, said this would be "a very difficult strategy to pursue" because Scotland is a "very multi-cultural society" with "very close links to the continent".
She said: "It's a bit different from Australia and New Zealand where these strategies are indeed quite feasible because the only ports are by air or by boat.
"With the UK those links are very close and people can travel very easily."
Ms Sturgeon said she has "always been part of the school of thought that says we should be seeking to eliminate" the virus - though she accepted this might mean "something slightly different" in Scotland compared to New Zealand.
The First Minister stressed, however: "We have since last spring, early summer, in Scotland said our objective should be to eliminate, by which I mean supress to as low as possible a level and then try to keep it there.
"Now is that feasible? The evidence and the work that has been done around genomic sequencings says yes, because what it shows is we actually achieved that in the summer in Scotland last year.
"So we know we can do that. I think we're still some way off it on the data we have got just now, but i think weareo nap a th back to that suppression to very low levels."
Prof Leitch warned an elimination strategy would prevent international travel to Scotland "for some time” and said elimination was not the same as "global eradication" of Covid-19, which would take many years. "We can see countries striving very hard for elimination and getting there and then they get little blips. So you saw this week in Melbourne some people might have been watching the tennis with a crowd and then no crowd. So six days, five days of lockdown because they got a few cases.
"So elimination is not eradicating the virus. The virus, in order to be completely eradicated, would be a smallpoxstyle, many years project, and the virus would probably have to help us. But we can strive for elimination."
Hep raised the panel of citizens, saying :" their recommendations are all excellent. I spent sometime with them, they were full of questions, they wanted to deeply understand the pandemic and what happens next ."
It came as the chief executive of the main Scottish airline today warned devolved governments they "could drive aviation out of their airports" if they took a "particularly draconian approach" over travel restrictions compared to their UK neighbours.
Logan air boss Jonathan H ink les’ comments were echoed by Jet 2 chief executive steve heapy, who said airlines moving elsewhere would affect jobs and local economies.
Edinburgh Airport also attacked the Scottish Government's “continued divergence from the rest of the UK” over travel restrictions.
But the Scottish Government said theuk govern men t’ s“partial approach” to restrictions risked allowing Covid variants into the country.
Mr Hinkles said: "The devolved governments. whether that be Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, have all got to be cautious about driving aviation out of their airports into a regime that is perhaps slightly less onerous in the neighbouring parts of the UK.
"I believe there is a risk of that happening if one devolved assembly takes a particularly draconian approach in relation to those immediately next door to it. I don't believe that's in the interest of consumers. I don't believe that helps public health and it certainly doesn't help the economy and the protection of jobs in the aviation sector in those assemblies."
Mr Hinkles’ comments came at a webinar organised by umbrella body Airlines UK to lobby for aviation to be includedin theuk go vern ment’ sc ovid recovery“roadmap” which is expected to be announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday.
Scotland already has tighter restrictions than England over which arriving international passengers must quarantine in hotels, which has triggered fears some travellers are flying into English airports and travelling on to Scotland.
All passengers on international flights arriving in Scotland must go to quarantine hotels, but this only applies to those arriving in England from the most at-risk “red list” countries, such as in South America, southern Africa, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates.
Uk airlines want international flying restrictions progressively removed, otherwise they said a support package for the industry to survive was critical.
Young children with autism will not be able to return to school next week, council tells parents
Parents with young children in schools for pupils with additional needs in Falkirk have been told they will not be able to return to school full time next week – despite mainstream schools opening for five days for P1 to P3 classes.
People with children under seven in Ladeside, Sacred Heart and Easter Carmuirs schools in Falkirk, which cater for children with severe autism, have been told they will only be able to attend school for four days a week until all pupils are back in class – despite the Scottish Government announcing a return to the classroom for the youngest pupils from Monday.
Pupils will attend school on Monday and Tuesday and Thursday and Friday, with a break on Wednesday.
Parents and autism charities have warned of the impact the disruption will have on young
Jane Bradley
children with the condition, saying that autistic youngsters will be “left behind” their mainstream peers.
Falkirk Council said the move was due to a “risk assessment” and because pupils in ASN schools “cannot maintain” social distancing. Parents at Sacred Heart school were told the Wednesday break would allow for “deep cleaning”. Under Scottish Government guidelines, children under 12 do not have to social distance due to the reduced risk of transmission of coronavirus in young children.
Nick Ward, director of National Autistic Society Scotland, said: "The strict restrictions and huge change to routine created from the pandemic and lockdown has left many autistic children and families under severe pressure with profound impacts on mental health and wellbeing. Many parents have struggled to effectively home school, as through no fault of their own, they do not have the skills to deliver specialist learning and many are worried their children are falling behind.
"The Government has set out the timetable for children returning to school and it is important that autistic children benefit from the same opportunities as everyone else to safely attend school, whether in mainstream or specialist settings. To not do so risks leaving autistic children and young people left behind and their futures put in jeopardy."
A spokesman for Falkirk Council said: “ASN specialist provisions have been operating a blended learning model since January 11, 2021, in line with Scottish Government guidance.
"Two metre distancing cannot be maintained in specialist provisions and to mitigate risk of transmission, numbers in school were reduced in order to reduce number of households. It also reduces occasions when staff cannot socially distance from other staff and adherence to class bubbles.”
The spokesman added: “Most pupils in specialist provision have received a form of face-to-face teaching. The return for P1-P3 pupils is dependent on staff maintaining a 2m distance from other staff. Each specialist provision has considered their model and risk assessments and are communicating with parents regarding arrangements for P1-P3 in line with the Scottish Government guidance.”
Jo Bisset, organiser for campaign group Usforthem Scotland, said: “Whenever the government or a council embarks on closures like this, it’s the most vulnerable who lose out. We’re seeing this again with pupils who have additional support needs.”
Scotland’s Chief Nursing Officer has retired after seven years in the role.
Professor Fiona Mcqueen was originally scheduled to leave her post a year ago, but agreed to remain in post to help the Scottish Government’s pandemic response.
Prior to her initial appointment as interim Chief Nursing Officer in November 2014, the 58-year-old served as Executive Nurse Director for NHS Ayrshire and Arran for more than a decade.
Prof Mcqueen said: “There aresomanypeopletothank,” she said, “whether its our cleaners, our admin support and hospital engineers. But if I may be indulged, I want to say a huge thank you to the
nurses and midwives across Scotland.
“You have been an amazing force to help the country through this pandemic, whether is has been working alongside families who have been bereaved, in life-saving work in intensive care, or whether it’s our school nurses or health visitors.”
Vaccine "laziness" could be a problem among younger people when the inoculation programme reaches their age groups, according to Scotland's national clinical director.
Jason Leitch said he had been speaking to his counterparts in Israel, which is leading the world in progress with vaccinating its population.
He said that laziness, as opposed to traditional "antivaxx"sentiment,wasemerging asacauseofslowuptakeasprogrammes moved into younger age groups.
One method of combating this, Professor Leitch suggested,wasgettingtrustedvoiceson Tiktok to share vaccine information.
Prof Leitch told Holyrood's Covid-19 Committee: "There is global evidence that as you move down through age groups, people are more vaccine hesitant. It's partly vaccine laziness rather than an actual intellectual approach to it. It's about making it easy for people and finding those individuals."