‘Revised’ version of report into Covid positive discharges into care homes
A report that claimed there was no “statistically significant” link between hospital patients being discharged into care homes and Covid-19 outbreaks and deaths is to be re-released by Public Health Scotland.
The report, used by the Scottish Government to defend its guidance in the early days of the pandemic, which saw patients discharged into care homes without ac ovid -19 test, was criticisedby the office for statistics Regulation for giving“too much emphasistothenon-significant finding”.
It was also said to highlight data around hospital discharges that was “consistent with a causal relationship between positivity and outbreak”.
The report’s republication today follows the first publication of care home deaths broken down by provider and specific home and after both First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Health Secretary Jeane Freeman admitted mistakes had been made around the Scottish Government’s handling of care homes during the pandemic.
In a statement on its website, Public Health Scotland states: “Section two of the report has been revised to ensure the findings are presented in more accessible language.
"Additional analyses have been carried and further information has been included on based on where people lived before they were admitted to hospital; outcomes of those who were discharged and information on genomics.”
The SNP was accused by the Scottish Conservatives in February of spending almost a week “plotting how to spin” the results of the original report after it emerged officials had been briefed on its contents five days prior to its publication and had sight of the full report the day before it was released.
This was rebuffed by the health secretary, with Ms Freeman labelling it “absolute nonsense”, adding the government "didn't spend any time trying to spin anything”.
Asked about the fresh publicationof the report at ac ovid -19 briefing, the First Minister said she had not read the revised report and did not know if its conclusions had changed.
She said: “I certainly haven’t read it, but even if I had if it is published tomorrow under the rules of government publications I wouldn’t be able to tell you today what was in it.
"I am sure if you have questions around the Public Health Scotland report tomorrow, we will respond to them.”
The First Minister insisted the decisions made by the Scottish Government around care homes in the early stages of the pandemic were designed to keep people“as safe as possible ”.
Ms Sturgeon said there were “undoubtedly” aspects of the government’s response she would now do differently with the “benefit of hindsight”.
The BBC, using data obtained from the Crown Office’s investigation into care home deaths during the pandemic, published details of the number of deaths reported at each care home in Scotland for the first time on Monday.
The SNP leader said: “We at all stages of this pandemic have taken the decisions we thought were best to keep people, includingpeople in care homes, as safe as possible.
"But we have had a developing knowledge about this virus. We know things now about the dangers of asymptomatic transmission that we didn’t know then and if we could turn the clock back and have all of the knowledge then as we have now, undoubtedly there are things not just around care homes, but particularly around care homes and perhaps more widely, we would do differently.
"We didn’t have then the benefit of the hindsight we have today.”
The First Minister insisted the Scottish Government’s response to the pandemic had changed due to learning lessons around care homes, citing the lower number of deaths in care homes during the second wave as evidence.
Ms Sturgeon reiterated her commitment to hold a public inquiry into her government’s handling of the pandemic by the end of this year should the SNP be returned to power.
She said: "Too many people in Scotland have died overall and too many in care homes. The numbers dying in care homes in the second wave are much much lower than in the first wave, though that is no comfort to anybody who has lost a loved one.
"But the reason they have been much lower is because we have learned lessons as we have gone, as our knowledge of the virus has developed, and applied that knowledge and to make sure we were doing everything that was required.”
Ms Sturgeon also said yesterday that securing a long-term recovery from the pandemic will be the "overriding ambition" of the SNP if it is re-elected to power next month.
The First Minister and SNP leader said there would be "no limit" to her party's ambitions for boosting the economy and creating new jobs.
Infrastructure investment of more than £33 billion over the next five years could support some 45,000 jobs, Ms Sturgeon said, adding that plans to build 100,000 affordable homes over the next decade could support a further 14,000 jobs a year.
She also vowed th es np would continue to push the Tories at Westminster to act against the "disgraceful" fire andre hire tactics that have been used by some employers, resulting in workers being faced with the choice of either losing their jobs or accepting reduced pay and conditions.
The party plans a £10 million fund to help companies implement a four day working week for employees, with more work on this possible "as and when Scotland gains full control of employment rights".
Johnson eyes new Covid treatments to prepare for third wave
Boris Johnson has launched a new drive to identify simple treatments for coronavirus, amid warnings that a third wave of cases could hit the UK.
The Prime Minister insisted the "path to freedom" remained open, with nothing in the figures to suggest a deviation from the road map out of lockdown. For the first time since September the latest figures showed fewer than 2,000 Covid-19 patients in hospital.
But as he launched a new taskforce to identify antiviral treatments, Mr Johnson acknowledged soaring cases overseas and warnings from scientists that there will be another wave this year.
At a Downing Street press conference he said: "As we look at what is happening in other countries, with cases now at record numbers around the world, we cannot
delude ourselves that Covid has gone away.
"I see nothing in the data now that makes me think we are going to have to deviate in any way from the road map - cautious but irreversible that we have set out.
"But the majority of scientific opinion in this country is still firmly of the view that there will be another wave of Covid at some stage this year.
"And so we must, as far as possible, learn to live with this disease as we live with other diseases."
Mr Johnson suggested that antivirals could be a third method of defence, along with vaccinations - including booster shots - and mass testing.
The antiviral taskforce will seek out new medicines to "stop the virus in its tracks", hopefully producing simple treatments that can be taken at home. It is hoped that antivirals
could help to reduce infections and limit the impact of any new variants.
They may also help to protect people who cannot take vaccines or those who are not fully protected after having the jab.
Officials hope to find and bring two treatments online this year.
In an effort to avoid the kind of international disputes that have marked the deployment of vaccines, the taskforce will also look at opportunities to make antiviral drugs in the UK.
Mr Johnson said he hoped the move would help give "ever greater confidence to the people of this country that we continue on our path towards freedom".
The Prime Minister was questioned about the timing of a decision to put India on the travel red list. Ms Johnson, who cancelled
a planned trip to India due to the situation there, said the red listing was a "purely precautionary" step while investigations were carried out into the virus variant discovered there.
"What we're seeing in India is a result of a variant under investigation, it hasn't yet been deemed a variant of concern - I think that was why there has been the delay," the Mr Johnson told the press conference.
"I think what the JBC (Joint Biosecurity Centre) has decided is on a purely precautionary basis, it's necessary now to put India on the red list."
The variant - also known as B.1.617 - was first noted internationally in October and first identified in the UK on February 22.
It has 13 mutations including two in the virus' spike protein known as E494Q and L452R.