The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Scotland aims to raise virus testing capacity to 65,000 every day
Sturgeon sets out figure as Holyrood reveals updated strategy for tests
Nicola Sturgeon said she wants Scotland to be able to carry out 65,000 coronavirus tests a day as the Scottish Government revealed an updated testing strategy.
Currently about 40,000 tests for the virus can be carried out each weekday, with work now being done to increase this, in part to cope with greater demand in autumn and winter.
Appearing alongside the first minister at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing yesterday, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said testing is being used to “actively hunt down the virus”.
Close contacts of those confirmed as having Covid-19 have now been identified as a priority group for testing.
Ms Sturgeon said the revised strategy “seeks to give a concise and clear explanation of who we are seeking to test, why we are doing so and what our plans in the near future are”.
“The revised strategy seeks to give a clear and concise explanation of who we are seeking to test.
FIRST MINISTER NICOLA STURGEON
She said this “sets our intention to further increase testing capacity in Scotland”, which she said “will be increasingly important as we move into the autumn and winter”.
Ms Sturgeon explained: “In those months more people will have symptoms such as a new cold, which might be similar to Covid symptoms.
“Current weekday capacity in Scotland is for just over 40,000 tests every day but we want to – and are working to – increase that to 65,000 tests a day.”
Ms Sturgeon said the “top priority continues to be to test anyone who has symptoms of Covid”, such as a high temperature, new cough or change in sense of taste and smell.
“Anyone who develops these symptoms should book a test immediately,” the first minister said.
She added: “Our second priority now is testing contacts of people with Covid and using testing in that way to prevent or minimise new outbreaks of the virus.
“And the third priority is routine testing of people who work in higher risk environments, such as care homes.
“We’re also using testing to ensure the safe resumption or continuation of NHS services and to assess prevalence of the virus in Scotland.”
All contacts of people classed as “Covid-19 index cases” will now be offered testing, regardless of symptoms.