 The next item of business is consideration of business motion 2544, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, on changes to today's business. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press their request to speak button now. I call Alex Cole-Hamilton. I will not call Mr Cole-Hamilton, but I will call on the minister, George Adam, to move the motion. No member has asked to speak against the motion, therefore the question is that motion 2544 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is a statement by Nicola Sturgeon on Covid-19 updates. The First Minister will take questions at the end of her statement, and so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I will give a general update on Covid today and share the latest information we have on the Omicron variant. I will also set out the further protective measures that we consider necessary to help slow its spread while we accelerate the pace of booster vaccines. First, today's overall statistics, 3,177 positive cases were reported yesterday, 11.3 per cent of all tests carried out. The number of PCR tests yesterday was slightly lower than in recent days, and I therefore want to take this opportunity to appeal to people not to put off going for a PCR test. If you have symptoms or a positive lateral flow test, I know that no one wants to test positive or isolated Christmas, but testing is a really vital part of our defence, and there is no shortage of capacity, so please do get tested. 541 people are currently in hospital with Covid-19, 20 fewer than yesterday, but I can also confirm that we now know of two confirmed Omicron cases who are in hospital. Sequencing of other possible cases continues, and the actual total is likely to be higher. 38 people are in intensive care with Covid generally, which is one fewer than yesterday. Sadly, a further six deaths have been reported taking the total number of deaths under the daily definition to 9,725. I want again to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one. On Omicron specifically, our current assessment is that it is spreading very rapidly in Scotland. The best indicator of that is the proportion of cases showing what is called the S gene dropout. For about 95 per cent of all cases in Scotland, tests are currently processed in a way that allows us to know if the S gene is present or not. That shows that Omicron cases are increasing exponentially faster than any variant that has gone before it. When I made a statement to Parliament this time last week, around 4 per cent of cases showed this S gene dropout. By Wednesday that was 7 per cent. On Friday it was above 15 per cent. Today it is 27.5 per cent. We estimate that the doubling time is two to three days, more rapid than anything experienced in the pandemic so far. We expect Omicron to become the dominant strain circulating in Scotland within days. That matters because Omicron is significantly more transmissible than Delta. The R number associated with Delta is around one, but the R number for Omicron appears to be well over two and it is possibly above four. Cases in Scotland in total have increased by a quarter in the past week. They have risen in all age groups except the over 85s and Omicron is already contributing to that increase. As it becomes the dominant strain, its much higher R number will also dominate and that will drive a much steeper increase in cases. That is why I warned on Friday that we are facing a likely tsunami of cases in the weeks ahead. Some are suggesting that Omicron may be milder in its impact on individual health than Delta. Obviously, we all hope that that is the case. However, we do not yet know that that is the case. Indeed, there is some initial evidence from Denmark that may suggest otherwise. Even if it proves to be milder, simple arithmetic means that the challenge that poses will still be very significant. Let me illustrate that. In recent months, the proportion of Delta cases needing hospital care has been around 2 per cent. That means that an average daily case number of around 2,700, as has been the case in recent weeks, will result in around 400 hospital admissions a week. If cases rise significantly to, say, 10,000 a day because of Omicron's much greater transmissibility, and that is well within the model estimates in the evidence paper that we published on Friday, then even if the hospitalisation rate turned out to be half that of Delta's at just 1 per cent, we would see 700 hospital admissions a week. The basic and very hard fact is that a much more transmissible infection, even if milder in terms of severe illness, can still place a much bigger burden on the national health service. More people infected will result in more severe illness and, tragically, more people will die. A surging level of infection will also result in many more people being off work due to mild illness and isolation, so the impact on our economy and on our ability to deliver critical services will also be severe. Indeed, we are starting to see these impacts already. All of this explains why we must take Omicron extremely seriously. That is not a choice between protecting health and protecting the economy. Let me turn to what in the Government's judgment we need to do now to mitigate this challenge. In doing so, I ask everyone again to think in terms of a race between the virus and the vaccines. Our vaccination programme is running fast. We are currently the most vaccinated part of the UK. 46 per cent of the over 12 population have had booster jags already. However, just as vaccines started to win this race, the virus learned to run faster. That means that we must deliver boosters even faster. That is all the more important in light of early data telling us that the protection we have against Omicron infection with just one or two doses is significantly lower than it is for Delta. We need a booster jag to ensure a substantial level of protection against Omicron infection. We are taking steps now to get boosters into arms much faster. Getting fully vaccinated is the best thing any of us can do to protect ourselves, our loved ones and the country. Please book your booster jag as soon as possible. Speeding up vaccination is essential. I want to assure the nation today that it is the Government's top priority. I will shortly set out more detail on exactly how we are going about doing that. However, while that is necessary, our judgment is that in the short term it will not be sufficient. While we are speeding up vaccination, we must also try to slow down Omicron. That is why we are also proposing today, albeit very reluctantly, some further protective measures. I am appealing to everyone to follow today's advice to help to slow Omicron down while more of us do get our boosters. Let me be clear that we do not do that lightly. I know how hard it is. Please believe me when I say that I would not be asking for yet more sacrifice if I did not genuinely consider this to be necessary in the face of a threat that is very real. Let me set out now what is being asked. First, we want to keep businesses open. To help to achieve that, we are asking them to step up the protections in place in their premises. We intend to amend regulations to put a legal requirement on those running businesses or providing services to take measures that are reasonably practicable to minimise the risk of transmission. We will issue guidance this week to make clear what that means for different sectors. For example, in retail it will involve a return to the kind of protections in place at the start of the pandemic. For example, measures to avoid crowding and bottlenecks. That will include physical distancing, measures to control the flow of customers and protective screens. For hospitality, it will mean, for example, measures to avoid crowding at bars and between tables and a reminder of the requirement to collect contact details of customers to help with contact tracing. For employers more generally, the guidance will make clear that enabling staff who were working from home at the start of the pandemic to do so again is now a legal duty. I am hugely grateful to employers who are already allowing staff to work at home where possible, but we are not yet maximising the impact of home working to reduce the overall number of contacts that we are having. We recognise, of course, that there are people who cannot work from home, for example those who work in manufacturing, hospitality and key public services. We are asking anyone in this position to test regularly before going to work. We have extended the workplace testing scheme, which delivers lateral flow kits twice a week to all businesses who have signed up to it. I would encourage urgent need any business with 10 or more employees to join up and encourage staff to test regularly. We will also be reinforcing the rules and public health messaging on the importance of wearing face coverings and wearing face coverings properly. My hardest request today is of the general public. I want to be clear that I am not asking anyone to cancel Christmas, but in the run-up to and in the immediate aftermath of Christmas, I am asking everyone to reduce as far as possible and to a minimum the contacts that we have with people in other households. I will say more about Christmas day in a moment. We are not banning or restricting household mixing in law as before. We understand the negative impact that this has on mental health and wellbeing. However, we are asking everyone, and we will issue strong guidance to this effect, to cut down as far as possible the number of people outside our own households that we are interacting with just now. That will help to break transmission chains. My key request today is this. Before and immediately after Christmas, please minimise your social mixing with other households as much as you can. However, if you do plan on socialising either at home or in indoor public places, we are asking that you limit the number of people represented in your group to a maximum of three and make sure that you test before you go. I know that this is a tough thing to ask people to do, especially at this time of year. I want to be clear why we are making this request. One of the things that we have already learned about Omicron is that it has a very high attack rate. That means that if just one person in a gathering is infectious, that person is likely to infect many more people in the group than was the case, is the case with the Delta variant. By reducing the number of people in households gathering together, we help to limit the extent of its spread. Turning to Christmas Day specifically or Christmas Eve or Boxing Day or whenever you have your main family celebration, we are not asking you to cancel or change your plans and we are not proposing limits on the size of household gatherings. The use of worship will also remain open with appropriate mitigations, but we will issue guidance to help you to make Christmas safer. Reducing your contacts in advance of and after Christmas, as I have just strongly advised, will help to do this. Keeping your celebrations as small as your family circumstances allow is sensible too. Make sure that everyone in your gathering is vaccinated and has done a test in advance. Keep rooms ventilated and follow strict hygiene rules. I know how much I am asking of everyone today after a difficult and painful two years. I would not be doing so if I did not believe it to be absolutely necessary. Indeed, it could be argued that we should be going further, which is why I need to also explain a significant limitation on our ability to act in the way we think necessary to protect public health. In this context, I am genuinely not seeking to make a political point simply to set out the factual position. Many of the protections that help curtail Covid come at a financial cost to individuals and businesses. So wherever we can, we put in place financial packages to protect people's health, jobs and livelihoods. However, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments do not have the ability to borrow to meet the Covid funding challenge. UK funding arrangements mean that we rely on the Treasury to do so on our behalf, and the Treasury has responded well throughout the pandemic. Although Scottish taxpayers foot our share of the bill, money only flows to the devolved Governments when the UK Government makes decisions. Financial support is not triggered if the devolved Governments take decisions that we consider appropriate for public health reasons, even though it is our responsibility to do so. Because the UK Government is at this stage not proposing any further protections, a position that I do not agree with, there is no funding generated to compensate businesses for any protections we think are necessary and wish to put in place. That is not acceptable in current circumstances, and with the Welsh and Northern Irish Governments we are pressing for a fairer approach that takes account of our devolved responsibilities for protecting public health. For now, this is the situation that we are in, and it means that our public health response is curtailed by lack of finance. There are further steps that we could and would have considered today, particularly around hospitality, had we the financial ability to do so, but we do not. However, I can confirm that with some considerable difficulty we have managed to identify within our own resources around £100 million that we will use to help businesses, mainly those in hospitality and food supply and in the culture sector, affected by our advice last week on work Christmas parties and further affected by what I have said today. The finance secretary and her officials will be engaging with affected sectors immediately to consult on and confirm the details of support. We will work to make money available as soon as possible. Businesses who previously receive support through the strategic framework business fund will be contacted directly. We have identified an additional £100 million to ensure that the self-isolation support grant is available for those who need it given the expected increase in the number of eligible people who will be asked to isolate. Making this money available will involve difficult reprioritisation, but we recognise the importance of providing as much help as we possibly can. However, this is the limit of what we are able to do within our own resources. I know that it does not go far enough in compensating businesses for what we are asking of them now. Of course, no Government can rule out having to go further in the weeks ahead, so we are continuing to press the UK Government to increase support to enable us to respond adequately to the public health challenges in the weeks ahead. I will turn now to our actions to speed up delivery of booster vaccinations. Anyone aged between 40 and 60 who has not already booked an appointment has now received an invitation to do so. In addition, since yesterday, all 30 to 39-year-olds have been able to book their booster jags online, and I can confirm today that 18 to 29-year-olds will be able to book online from tomorrow. Our aim is that, by 31 December, everyone over 18 will have been able to book a booster appointment. It is not possible to guarantee that absolutely everyone over 18 will have been vaccinated by 31 December. For a variety of reasons, some appointments will run into the new year. For example, some people will not be eligible by the end of December because it will still be less than 12 weeks since their second dose. Some people have not yet come forward for a first or second dose, and, despite our best efforts, some will not come forward to book a booster either. In addition, despite the strenuous work that is under way, we know that some capacity challenges between now and the end of the year are inevitable. For example, vaccinator staff absences due to Covid. However, we are aiming to reach as close as possible to 80 per cent uptake by the end of December with the balance of appointments taking place in January. I do not underestimate the challenge of this. Vaccination teams are already making a herculean effort, and we are asking a great deal of them. In addition, reaching that level of uptake depends on people continuing to come forward to get jags even over the holiday period. That will not be easy. We know that, but we are working on the basis that the higher we aim, the further we will get. Let me now therefore set out the steps that we are taking to create the additional capacity needed. Firstly, given its vital importance against Omicron, we will prioritise the Covid booster programme over the remainder of the flu vaccination programme for the next few weeks. That will allow many more booster appointments to be made available. Let me stress, and this has informed our clinical advice that for those in the highest risk groups for flu, uptake of the vaccine this year is already high. For over 65-year-olds it is 88 per cent, which is higher than last year. Secondly, and in line with advice from the UK chief medical officers, the requirement for people to wait in a vaccine centre for 15 minutes after they receive an mRNA vaccine is being removed. This will speed up vaccination times and enable many more appointments. Thirdly, health boards are working to offer additional drop-in capacity within local vaccination centres. Additional venues for vaccination are also being identified. This will include mass vaccination centres in areas where this is considered appropriate. In terms of human resources, we plan to extend the number and role of volunteers to ensure that clinical staff can spend as much time as possible supporting the administration of vaccines. We will continue to expand the size of the overall vaccination workforce as much as possible and make full use of any military support that is available. We will, of course, keep Parliament updated on the delivery of these plans. However, at this stage, I want to again thank everyone working so hard to design and deliver the biggest and the most important logistical project in our peacetime history. We also stress that, while the focus of my statement today is on boosters, if you haven't had your first dose yet, please do book it now. It is more important than ever to do so. In the new year, we will also complete second doses for 12 to 17-year-olds and I hope, very much hope, that we might also soon get regulatory approval to offer vaccination to under-12s. Before I close today, there are some further issues that I would like to highlight. First, let me reiterate the changed advice on self-isolation. For now, household contacts of a person who tests positive for Covid are being advised to self-isolate for 10 days. This advice applies to everyone in a household regardless of age, vaccination status or PCR test result. Businesses and organisations providing vital services can apply for an exemption to allow essential workers to return to work subject to them being symptom free and taking certain precautions, including daily lateral flow tests. Second, beyond this advice, we are not recommending that entire school classes are required to isolate when a pupil tests positive. The advice on school isolation will continue to be risk-based. More generally, a key aim is to ensure that schools stay open, if at all possible, to minimise further disruption to education. However, it is vital that schools are safe for pupils and for staff. To help to achieve that, we continue to ask secondary school pupils and all staff to take lateral flow tests regularly, including during holidays and before returning after the break and to wear face coverings. In addition, the advisory subgroup on education is meeting today to provide further advice on how schools can operate safely in the new year and we will send this advice to schools by the end of this week. Thirdly, we will continue to consider appropriate protective measures for people in institutional settings such as care homes, while ensuring that visits can continue. Last week, we recommended that care staff take lateral flow tests on a daily basis. We are also now recommending that individual visits in care homes should not involve any more than two households visiting any patient at a time and we are asking anyone visiting a care home to test before every visit. For hospitals, we are recommending that no more than two people visit a patient at any one time and again we are recommending a lateral flow test before each visit. Finally, I fully understand that Omicron will be especially concerning to people on the highest risk list. I therefore want to give an assurance to all of you that the chief medical officer will be writing to you shortly with further advice and assurance. It is an understatement to say that this is not the update that I wanted to be giving before Christmas and I am painfully aware that it is not an update that anyone wanted to hear. However, we have a duty to take decisions no matter how difficult or unpopular that will get us through this as safely as possible and I will not shy away from that responsibility. The fact that I am asking for further sacrifice today underlines how severe we think the risk posed by Omicron might be. Please do follow the advice that I have made today. Although this is without doubt a very difficult juncture in the course of the pandemic, please remember that vaccination does still put us in a better position than last year. Also, hard and very wearying though this is, we are not powerless in the face of the virus. We know the steps we can take to slow it down. I will stress again what we need to do. Firstly, please get fully vaccinated as soon as possible. If you are going to meet other people and our advice is to minimise this as much as possible, take a lateral flow test before you go every time. The tests are easy to take and despite an issue with online ordering yesterday, they are easy to get hold of. Tests can be collected from local pharmacies and testing centres without a booking and the online portal is open again today. We are face coverings on public transport in shops and when moving about in hospitality settings and make sure that your face covering fully covers your mouth and nose. Keep windows open if meeting people indoors even at this time of year. Follow all advice on hygiene, work from home whenever possible, this will soon become a requirement anchored in law and please follow the new advice that I have outlined today. Although it is guidance, please do not think of it as optional. Cut down unnecessary contacts as much as possible. In the run-up to and immediately after Christmas please avoid socialising with people in households as much as you can. If you are socialising indoors at home or in public places, limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three and tests before you go and please follow the advice we will give to keep Christmas day as normal but as safe as possible. We do face an extremely difficult period again ahead, I cannot tell you otherwise but I know we will get through it more safely if we do right by each other as we have done all along. So please get vaccinated, test regularly and follow all of the other rules and guidance that are in place for our own protection. Let us pull together again and let's help each other through. Thank you. The First Minister will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 70 minutes for questions after which we'll move on to the next item of business and I'd be grateful with members who wish to ask a question where to press their request to speak buttons now. I call Douglas Ross. The situation with the new Omicron variant has changed the circumstances in which we are all dealing with. The Scottish and UK Governments have both examined the new variant and it's clearly more transmissible with the potential to severely impact the NHS and other vital services. So let me reiterate the key requests to everyone. Those who can go out and get fully vaccinated and get your booster jag as soon as possible. Take a Covid test as often as you can. Take a lateral flow test before you go to bars and restaurants, before you go to meet your family and before you go to work and take every precaution possible to protect your family and the people around you. But the Government must also live up to their end of the bargain and the most important defence we have against this virus is the booster vaccine. The vaccine booster scheme is going well and the volunteers and staff undoubtedly deserve our praise and thanks. But now we need to go even faster. Week after week, my party has come to this chamber and asked the First Minister to prepare to bring in mass vaccination centres. But only now, only today has that been accepted. The Scottish Government have delayed and now they are scrambling to find venues at the last minute. First Minister, why has it taken so long for the Government to accept our calls and agree to launch mass vaccination centres that were so crucial and successful in the original roll-out of the vaccine? My party has also called for extra support to be made available to protect Scottish jobs and to help the businesses who are already struggling and losing income right now as we saw over the weekend up and down Scotland. It has impacted one of its busiest times of the year and desperately needed financial support. Yesterday we called for an emergency cancellation compensation fund to protect jobs. It is very welcome that these calls have been listened to and support is coming from the Scottish Government for Scottish businesses. Can I ask the First Minister to confirm that payments will reach these businesses before Christmas? I am sure that the First Minister will not make a political point. We will welcome the announcement from Rishi Sunak and the UK Government that additional funding will be made available to the devolved Administrations. During her briefing on Friday the First Minister announced that from Saturday household contacts of a positive case of any variant had to self-isolate for a full 10 days, meaning that a single positive case would lead to a household of potentially four or five people having to isolate for a 10-day period, even if they tested negative. We agree for the need for caution that, at the level of cases that the Government is expecting by next week, this rule change could mean tens of thousands of Scots put into self-isolation every single day. We do not believe that this policy is sustainable. It will have knock-on consequences that could impact our transport services, police, schools, workplaces across the country, even our vaccination programme. Can I ask the First Minister to outline the science and data behind the change in policy that she announced last week and what impact the Scottish Government modelling says it will have on our economy and public services? Clearly we've had today a change from the announcement on Friday and the First Minister is now saying that businesses and organisations providing vital services can apply for an exemption to allow essential workers to return to work. How is that going to work? Where will organisations apply to for an exemption? What criteria will the exemptions be judged on and how quick will the turnaround be in the applications once they are made? Let me take that last point because it's probably the easiest one to deal with as anybody who had been paying attention to this over the last few months would have known. We had an exemption scheme in place before so the arrangements for the parts of the economy and the arrangements to apply and who they apply to are the same as before. We'll make sure that that information is refreshed. On the other points, let me take them fully but as quickly as I can. Our vaccination programme is currently the fastest in the UK. We have designed it carefully so that the right facilities are available in different areas. Mass vaccination centres are not appropriate in every area. Often they result in very high appointments that are lost on a daily basis to the system. We flex the system to make sure that we are being appropriate to the characteristics of different areas. There are a number of health boards who already have drop-in clinics but as we try to accelerate this programme we look again at the additional things that we need to do. It will still not be the best use of resources to have mass clinics in every part of the country but in some areas perhaps here in the city of Edinburgh or Glasgow for example that will add helpful capacity to what is already there. We will continue to do this in the best way possible. What I would say to people not in any way to strike a note of complacency because that is the last thing we are around this is that what we have been doing so far in this vaccination programme has resulted in the fastest progress of any of the UK nations. That doesn't mean we'll continue with that we will have to work at that but hope gives some degree of confidence that the right judgments are being taken in how we proceed with this programme but it is now more important than ever and as I said in my statement it is absolutely the top priority for the Government in the days and weeks ahead. On the issue of money I've just been passed a note I didn't have this information because I don't think it was announced before I came in that the UK Government have announced that there will be additional funding made available to devolved administrations so I welcome that I think that is very good progress it's a move we have been pushing for for the last number of days. We have gone out of our way rightly so to find as much additional resource within our budgets as we can I noticed the Tory spokesperson calling for a fund of £10 million last night on television today we've announced £100 million for businesses and obviously we'll look at the impact of the UK funding so that we can have the detail of that. In terms of the isolation policy the clinical advice right now is because of the faster transmissibility of this releasing people from isolation within a household when they test negative is not as safe as it could be because testing negative one day with this virus doesn't mean you will test negative the next day that is the basis of this advice but we are keeping this under review we have already started looking at when we might migrate away from that or something that is more proportionate because I absolutely understand indeed I've set out myself the impact that isolation may have on the economy so this is about taking appropriate steps now but being flexible as we think it is safe to do so to move to more proportionate arrangements in the future Thank you Annas Sarwar I want to start by sending my condolences to all those that have lost a loved one The rapid spread of the Omicron variant is a real cause for concern and it has appeared as a Parliament to take the right decisions in the national interest We may not yet know just how dangerous this new variant is but what we do know is that this virus risks lives and how hard this must be for families across Scotland after almost two years of the pandemic but we cannot let our guard slip or let our resolve weaken at this crucial moment we all have a duty to protect each other and do what is in the best interests of our country and our NHS As the people of Scotland do your duty if you are eligible for a first or second dose but have yacht net had it please book that appointment now for those eligible for a boosted appointment book it as soon as you can As Christmas approaches we all want to protect every precious moment we may be able to spend with our loved ones that means working from home where you can, wearing a mask where appropriate and taking lateral flow tests before going to social events or visiting each other at home It is also important that in taking any decisions we take people with us that means sharing as much information as possible the data and the science Hospitality is one of the hardest hit sectors through this pandemic Christmas is a time when many of these businesses would have been hoping to catch up on lost earnings in order to survive they will need extra support I welcomed the assistance outlined but can I urge the Scottish Government to please engage with these businesses in the timely support that they need I also note what the First Minister said about wider support packages so if that means that the UK and the Scottish Government working together to find a package then that is what needs to be done in the national interest A few specific questions All over 18s are to be offered a Covid boosted appointment by the end of the year with a target of 80% receiving it by the end of the year that is only 18 days away that means over 75,000 vaccines a day I welcomed there are plans for masks and drop-in vaccination centres How quickly do we think those will be operational and will there be military assistance Given there will be higher demand is the First Minister confident that we have an adequate supply of lateral flow tests and what steps have been taken to make them more easily accessible to people across the country and no one should have to think of the financial impact of self-isolation on them or their family so I note the additional money and welcome it but what considerations have you made to increase the eligibility and the amounts available to individuals who need them Finally again to the people of Scotland stay safe, follow the advice we will get through this First Minister Thank you for those questions Can I just say firstly on hospitality I don't think I addressed the point that was raised in the previous round about will this money be delivered before Christmas is delivered as quickly as possible and hopefully before Christmas I absolutely agree that hospitality has had a sucker punch in the last couple of weeks because of the inescapable unavoidable public health advice we know that Omicron is spreading fast generally but the high attack rate means that if there is a group of people at a Christmas party for example if one person has it almost all are liable to be infected that is the higher attack rate that has made this advice unavoidable On the issues with the Covid booster the additional capacity will start to become available over the next few days and over the course of this week in the form of extra centres where necessary and appropriate mass vaccination centres and additional appointments at existing centres we will make maximum use of the military there has been UK government commitments to make more military support available Let me stress though increasing capacity that will be delivered and will be delivered most quickly are the changes that I talked about prioritising Covid boosters over flu vaccination that will free up significant numbers of appointments and also removing on clinical advice in the four UK medical officers have given the go ahead to this removing the requirement for people to wait in vaccination centres for 15 minutes so actually these two things will make the biggest immediate impact on increasing the capacity to do more booster vaccinations and I'm absolutely well aware of the run rate that we have to get to to meet the targets we've set today although these targets also depend on people coming forward we know that both supply and demand in a normal year for an immunisation programme would dip over Christmas so we need to work to keep that as high as possible Lastly in terms of the self-isolation support grant we have announced today additional funding to support the increased numbers that are likely to be eligible and asked to isolate we keep the eligibility requirements under review and we'll look at that again but we need to maximise the amount of money that is getting to people who are most genuinely in need so that is always going to be a fine balance that we need to try to strike Alex Cole-Hamilton Thank you very much Nobody wants to surrender the progress that we have all made over the last 18 months but at moments like this we need clarity from the Government we need businesses to get support pound for pound and we need both the Scottish and UK Governments to work together People will struggle to understand why it is safe to mix with 400 people at a concert but not four families in their own home The effect of this public uncertainty will see the event sector rocked and events cancelled I want to bring a particular situation to the First Minister's attention it concerns the event sector and its efforts to ramp up the booster programme A rave of three and a half thousand people taking place this Saturday is set to displace the principal vaccination hub for NHS Lothian at the Royal Highlands show ground This will reduce vaccine capacity at that venue by 50% until after Christmas As of 2pm, RHS had heard nothing from the Scottish Government and without clarity they are contractually obliged to begin dismantling the vaccine operation this evening This is really urgent Can I ask the First Minister what should they do? First Minister I spoke to the health secretary about this first thing this morning I can't remember at what time Action is under way to cancel the rave to make sure that there is full compensation for that and make sure that the vaccination centre and its current location continues The health secretary has been working on this on morning, I'm sure he will be happy to give an update when we are out of the chamber but it is something that pre-Omicron but clearly in light of the Omicron developments is no longer appropriate because we want to increase the facilities for vaccination not see them go in the opposite direction I call Co-Cab Stewart to be followed by Sandish Gulhane Thank you, Presiding Officer I would like to ask the Scottish Government what advice it would give to parents who are concerned in relation to the Omicron variant and are considering keeping the children well I would encourage parents to continue to send their children to school I absolutely understand the anxiety parents will have at this time It's important that testing protect with local health protection teams work on a risk-based and targeted way to ensure that where there are cases identified the right approach has been taken to advice for self-isolation There are also other mitigations in place in schools particularly in secondary schools around face covering and the requirement to take lateral flow tests regularly I know that those mitigations have been controversial in the past but they are really important As I said in my statement the education advisory subgroup is meeting today to look at additional measures that we may advise schools to put in place for the new term I'm not going to pre-empt what those recommendations will be but I suspect they will include further advice on ventilation As I said earlier on we will ensure that that advice is with schools by the end of this week I completely understand the anxiety but I know that parents will also be anxious about the disruption to children's education and we want to work in a way that minimises that as far as possible during this next difficult phase I listened with some concern about the Omicron variant and I want to reiterate the importance of getting vaccinated all the way to your booster jag It's not too late First Minister, a month ago I asked to reopen mass vaccination centres with local flexibility using volunteer support and if you'd listened to me then we'd be well on our way by now but I welcome the Scottish Government's listening now and it's great that First Minister listened to me on telling last night and found money for businesses that was much needed I also asked to instigate mobile vaccination centres in those 70 areas of Scotland where only 40 per cent of the population required a second dose and help our remote communities as well I made these suggestions to help the people of Scotland In addition to the measures that you have announced today will you now commit to mobile vaccination centres to help those parts to reach people to get the jag into their arms as quickly as possible First Minister We already have mobile vaccination units of clinics operating within more rural areas What we need to do now is expand the capacity in those to make sure that they can do more appointments and where necessary open additional facilities and as I've said we will do all of that Not every area mass vaccination clinics are not appropriate for every area that is not the best way to get everybody vaccinated the appointment system is important but we will continue to flex this I absolutely take on board every suggestion that is made I think that we should reflect on the fact that as I keep saying because it is important that obviously what we have been doing up until now has been successful because our vaccination programme is further ahead on boosters quite a bit further ahead than England, Wales and Northern Ireland so that suggests that we are getting that balance right but that was then, this is now and we've got to significantly increase the pace and therefore we look again across the whole of the provision and decide where and how the capacity that is needed To be followed by Jackie Baillie Presiding Officer A constituent's elderly mother has advanced dementia and was admitted to hospital a few days ago On previous admissions NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde permitted visiting under an essential visitor policy which specifically mentions both dementia and end of life care However my constituent is struggling to see his mother someone who has left his mum distressed and anxious and the family worried that we would be in contact with NHS but can I ask the First Minister has there been any change to essential visitor guidance in the light of the Omicron variant and if not, can the Scottish Government work with NHS boards and staff to ensure that guidelines are clear well understood and applied to ensure emotional support and end of life care can be offered appropriately First Minister We will ensure that refresh guidance to ensure that they understand what the appropriate measures are with hospital visiting I set out today that we absolutely do not want to stop visiting it's really important that visiting goes ahead it's important for people in hospital and for their loved ones but we are suggesting a limit of the number of visitors for each patient at any one time Visiting should continue with appropriate precautions and mitigations Patients should not be denied visitors in short-term very specific circumstances such as managing an on growing outbreak where of course hospitals can put in place temporary visiting restrictions however even when managing an outbreak we expect what we call essential visits to continue and a person with dementia is a clear example of someone we would expect to receive essential visits even during an outbreak Jackie Baillie to be followed by Christine Grahame Care packages are being cancelled due to staff absence I have a constituent who had carers coming in four times a day and all of that support has been pulled she has been told that this will last at least a week and to phone an emergency helpline if anything should go wrong this puts her health at considerable risk what can the First Minister say to those who feel abandoned as their care packages are withdrawn what urgent support can she put in place and can she confirm that exemptions will apply to health and social care workers from the 10-day self-isolation rules On that last question yes that was the case previously and that is the case now I covered this at some length in my statement this is part of the challenge we are facing this virus not just through isolation but if it infects people and people have mild illness they cannot go to work that is why we need to crack down on this virus because otherwise we are going to see impacts in our schools on our public transport and on the part of people who rely on care packages now we will continue to work with the health service and social care to mitigate these impacts as far as possible I absolutely understand the impact on anybody of not having their care package for a single day let alone multiple days but the root of this is to get this virus under control and that is why what I set out today is so important for the people across Scotland to do the right thing by following all of this guidance Christine Grahame to be followed by Gillian Mackay First Minister these Tuesday Covid statements to Parliament are of course essential for Parliament to hold the Scottish Government to account public engagement and compliance is key as it has been from the very start and very high however constituents tell me that they miss those regular lunchtime televised Covid information updates which were so important in the early days of the pandemic in this past moving situation brought about by the Omicron variant can these lunchtime public information broadcasts be reinstated First Minister I could hear the enthusiasm from the Conservatives and Labour benches as Christine Grahame was speaking whatever people might think I don't miss having to do daily updates on Covid although we don't know what lies ahead I respect Parliament I should come to Parliament be accountable to Parliament make announcements to Parliament it's not for me to decide the days on which Parliament sits if Parliament wants to recall that's a matter for the Presiding Officer what I can do during a public health emergency is withhold decisions or advice to the public from 5pm on a Thursday evening until 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon that would literally put lives at risk it's also sometimes important for me to be able to communicate to the public with the chief medical officer and the national clinical director to answer clinical questions so I will continue to do everything I can to get key public messages across and I think in an emergency like this it's incumbent on all of us to try to put the differences to one side and unite to get those public health messages across I call Gillian Mackay to be followed by Paul MacLennan Thank you Presiding Officer The Scottish Greens have advocated a cautious approach in dealing with the pandemic throughout and that remains our position Boosters will play an increasingly important role in providing protection against the Omicron variant so I urge everyone who is eligible to book their appointment I appreciate the further funding from the UK Government that was announced just after 2pm but it would appear at the moment to fall short of furlough A lack of furlough fundamentally limits the options available to both the Scottish Government and the UK Government to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant Could the First Minister advise the chamber what work is on going to try to obtain the financial support required if further measures are needed? First Minister This is an issue that we have discussed very constructively in four nations meetings over the course of the past week It's an issue that has been raised as you would expect by me by the First Minister of Wales and the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland I have not seen the detail of what the UK Government has announced I look forward to seeing that later and I welcome it The basic principle here and it should apply across all parts of the UK is that if we feel it essential to take measures to protect public health we should not be constrained in doing so because of the financial considerations so it should not be the case that money is only triggered if the UK Government decides to take steps if the Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish Government is acting within devolved responsibilities I think that that is important We should be able to trigger that support as well It's about parity not asking for one part of the UK to have an advantage over the other We all pay for this and it's important that we all have equal access to financial support for businesses and individuals whose livelihoods are on the line I certainly think that everything should be kept open and under review including the reinstatement of furlough over what we hope will not be a really challenging period for businesses in the weeks to come Paul McLennan, to be followed by Liz Smith Thank you, Presiding Officer I welcome the commitment of the Scottish Government to support the hospitality trade and indications of support from the UK Government Given that this Parliament does not have boring powers to fund the kind of response required, will the First Minister press the UK Government to advise this Parliament of details of their support package as soon as possible and whether the Scottish Government has any specific asks for this funding First Minister As I said, the Deputy First Minister is telling me that the detail that I've given the chamber is the detail that we have at the moment that more money will be made available but we don't know how much that will be or indeed whether that is genuinely additional money or whether it will be netted off against expected savings elsewhere I welcome it I welcome any movement on this but I hope that the chamber will appreciate that I really need to see the detail before I can comment any further on it where we can take necessary measures to protect public health without having to plead for financial support in a situation where if the UK Government was taking these measures they would be able to make that financial support available It is about parity and the ability to whether that is furlough to protect the wages of workers or to compensate hospitality businesses for the significant knock to their Christmas trade Whatever it is, we need to be in a co-position to compensate for the necessary public health measures that we are taking I hope that we have seen progress today and I will happily report back to Parliament when we have more detail Liz Smith to be followed by Gillian Martin Thank you First Minister Can I ask this question on behalf of two sets of constituents who have been in touch with me in the last 24 hours whose family have just arrived home they are working abroad but they have arrived home for a break and they have had in respective countries two vaccinations Will they be eligible for the booster if they are British passport holders? First Minister I think that in principle the answer to that would be yes but obviously there will be a caveat around that in terms of what vaccinations they have had in the countries they come for I do not know the detail of that and whether therefore they can have the boosters here so if I am happy to give an answer particular to the case rather than the general answer I am able to give on the basis of the information I have just now Gillian Martin to be followed by Monica Lennon Thank you First Minister has mentioned in her statement that the new variant presents a problem in terms of the capacity for the health service I would like to there will be people watching tonight who are looking for critical surgery or undergoing cancer treatment Can I ask the First Minister what assistance we are giving to health boards and what the plans are to make sure that those people get the treatment that they need and those that are vulnerable will leave in the hospital what has been done to ensure that care packages are in place so that they can leave hospital and they are not left in hospital they are not left in hospital blocking beds First Minister Those are important issues in terms of critical care NHS staff are obviously working extremely hard and are under intense pressure but health boards will continue to prioritise critical patients and urgent care as much as possible and of course in line with the clinical prioritisation framework published back in November 2020 obviously getting patients appropriately discharged from hospital is also important we have invested significantly to enhance care at home services although of course the issue of staff absences is one that is a concern for us so those matters are all being given significant attention and priority The health and care workforce are working above and beyond the call of duty right now we are asking them to do more in terms of accelerating the vaccination programme which is why I think it is important as I have set out today that we try to free up capacity there in ways that does not ask them to pause other forms of care where that is avoidable but we will continue to do everything possible to support them during this difficult winter Monica Lennon to be followed by Annabelle Ewing thank you NHS Lanarkshire declared code black 53 days ago staff are exhausted and they fear a trickle of omicron cases never mind a tsunami of infection what more will the Government do to support staff and patients in Lanarkshire including chronic pain patients like Liz Barry who has already waited 21 months for a steroid injection that she and many others should be getting twice a year First Minister We will do everything we possibly can to support those working in the health service I can even begin to find the words to express my appreciation of understanding of the pressure they are working under and obviously there are many patients including the individual cited by Monica Lennon having disruption to the care so we will do everything we can to mitigate the impacts but we come back as we so often have in this pandemic to the hard reality at the centre of this the impact on services is coming from the pandemic and therefore as cases go up then we see a bigger impact on people being off sick having to isolate an inevitable impact on services so we need to come back again hopefully for the last time in this pandemic all of us know exactly what's ahead but come back again to this need to pull together to do all of the right things to drive infections down again because that will do more than anything else to allow us to get the NHS sustainably back on the path to normality Annabelle Ewing to be followed by Murdo Fraser I can appreciate of course that no one has a crystal ball given that we are now just 10 days from Christmas Eve can the First Minister advise as to whether my Cowdenbeath constituents and indeed people across Scotland can now in fact reasonably start to finalise their Christmas plans based of course on the series of protective measures that have been set out today First Minister Yes, I think that that is a reasonable thing to say. I've tried to set out as clearly as possible today that we don't want to put limits on people's ability to gather in their families for Christmas Day or if people celebrate on Boxing Day or Christmas Eve whenever they choose to have that main celebration but there are things we need to do now reducing our contacts avoiding socialising with other households to make that safer there are things we need to do around testing and ventilation and hygiene on the day to make these things safer I really want people to be able to do that but I can't stand to hear and tell them that there are no risks around Omicron One of the darkest days for many people many dark days over the course of this pandemic and certainly one of the darkest days that I experienced was on 19 December last year having given people some limited normality to have to take that away from them before Christmas nobody I certainly don't want to be in that position so let us do the things that I'm asking today around limiting contacts limiting socialising in order to get through Christmas with that freedom to enjoy Christmas and then after that continue to limit socialising so that we don't see the surgeon cases afterwards that is my best advice to people right now in what is a really really difficult situation Murdo Fraser to be followed by Stephanie Callaghan The financial support already announced for the hospitality and food sectors is very welcome and hopefully there will be more coming but losses consequent to the announcement on Thursday about Christmas parties not being recommended go far beyond this I've been contacted by constituents in the hair and beauty sector who've suffered a whole range of cancellations of what would normally be their busiest time of year with the Christmas party season so will there be financial assistance offered to those businesses as well First Minister The 100 million pot that I have announced today is the limit of what we can do within the resources we have and we are going to have to make really difficult choices in order to make that money available and I'm being candid with people again that is not insignificant and I'm genuinely not trying to be political here but the Conservatives spokesperson said that 10 million was what they wanted to see we've delivered 10 times that today and I think that is right but that doesn't go near full 100 per cent compensation for the losses of business so I hope that what is being announced is said about not knowing the detail of that I hope that that allows us to go further with compensating businesses for the losses associated with our current advice and also gives us the flexibility should and I hope we don't but should we need to go further in order to do more so I will look at that and if we can do more we will but we have rightly made available today the maximum we can do within the resources we currently have at our disposal and to be followed by Craig Hoy to ask the First Minister whether further steps can be taken to encourage higher uptake of vaccines and boosters in minority ethnic communities and lower socio-economic groups First Minister yes I think the answer to that is yes more can be done and more needs to be done we're working with NHS boards who have dedicated inclusion plans within the vaccination programme on how they will offer vaccination to people who often face barriers to uptake health boards plan location of clinics to suit the needs of their populations and often respond to evidence of lower uptake using available data and local insights mobile outreach units are provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service some health boards have partnered for example with local transport providers to use their vehicles to offer transport appointments for people who might struggle to get there there's a lot of work to reach under vaccinated communities and that work will continue because it is really important that everybody who is eligible to get vaccinated comes forward and gets it and they get the support to do so if that is needed Craig Hoy to be followed by Neil Gray Thank you Presiding Officer within hours of the public health guidance being issued my constituent Joe Lawrence who runs a catering business in East Lothian sent me this message just as we're getting back on our feet Presiding Officer last time around many independent wedding catering and hospitality firms like Joe's were excluded from major support schemes so will the First Minister give a commitment to ensure that no such business is excluded this time around? First Minister I've set out very clearly and very candidly where we are with financial resources we are making available every last penny of what we can do and when we have a pot of money there are difficult decisions to be made about how thinly that is spread versus giving perhaps a smaller group of businesses more significant advice the finance secretary and our officials will consult with affected sectors and get to the best possible outcome to that, we will help as many businesses as we can if there is more money available from the UK Government I hope that will allow us to do more but we have to see the detail of that choices and decisions I don't understand that I think that it's perfectly understandable that members come here and read out but nobody should be under any illusions that I don't know the impact of this that I don't understand how awful this is but I don't have a choice because I can't continue to tell people that it is safe to go to certain settings in groupings right now with Omicron running the way it is I can't do that so I have to make these choices the Government has to make these choices to deal with the impacts to the best of our ability and that is what we will continue to do Neil Gray, to be called by Mark Griffin Thank you Presiding Officer as the First Minister has made clear the evidence shows Omicron is a major threat to public health in Scotland but while I appreciate what she announced today to provide some support to business and the announcement from the Treasury released as the First Minister was on her feet the Scottish Government's hands have clearly been tied and the UK Government is unwilling to provide the necessary financial support the Tory party is full of zealots who won't vote for public health measures as we have seen over recent days at Westminster and the Prime Minister doesn't have the political capital to push the necessary restrictions through because last year number 10 partied through lockdown so does the First Minister agree that the UK Government's intransigence is putting lives at risk and that they must urgently change course? There is a real issue here it's not being political to point it out for whatever reason and whatever anybody's view of this is and I'm not going to comment on that I think it is very difficult for the UK Government to impose more protective measures when at my view is that these protective measures are really essential now that is the right of the UK Government just as this government is responsible for protecting public health in Scotland they are responsible for that in England they are entitled as we are to take the decisions they think are right but what is not fair right now is that when they decide to do things they can trigger financial support that is denied to us when we take decisions that we think are necessary now hopefully we get into a better position I certainly have and hopefully today's announcement is indicative of this seen more of a willingness to listen to this point in recent days than has been the case at some previous points in the pandemic but that's the basic issue of public health fairness at the heart of it and that's the issue that it's not just me raising the Welsh First Minister raises it the Northern Irish First Minister raises it the devolved governments are responsible for protecting public health but if we are denied the wherewithal to do that then we are in an invidious position that is not just unfair to the governments involved fundamentally unfair to the populations we serve there are many members who would like to put a question in this session and would be grateful for short and succinct questions and responses and I call Mark Griffin to be followed by Audrey Nicholl thank you, Presiding Officer the duty to work from home as recognition workplaces are an increased transmission risk and it's been raised before that many key workers can't and face a continued heightened risk of getting Covid at work and then potentially long Covid can the government set out what support will be offered to key workers now unable to work long term due to long Covid caught in their jobs and does the First Minister accept that long Covid should be made an industrial disease in Scotland's benefits system now the UK industrial injuries advisory council refused to do so First Minister I certainly think that there is an argument for that and I'd certainly be more than happy to look in more detail at that and consider the Scottish Government's position it's absolutely right that while we are advising people to work from home wherever they can and strengthening that requirement as of this week on businesses it's not just that it reduces the risk of transmission in workplaces it reduces the number of contacts people are having travelling to work or having lunch when they're at work so it helps take away some transmission risk and given what we're facing right now that is important those who have to work it's important that there are appropriate mitigations testing is one of the most important mitigations for those who suffer from long Covid and have long term implications that might affect their ability to work sickness pay is obviously reserved to the UK Government and much of the benefits system is still reserved to the UK Government so there will be issues here that we need to address and I hope this Parliament will come together to help us put these issues very much on the radar screen of the UK Government Audrena Cull to be followed by Ross Greer Thank you Presiding Officer Over the last few days I've been contacted by some constituents who have been experiencing difficulty obtaining lateral flow testing kits from their local pharmacies so can the First Minister provide an assurance that everything possible will be done to secure adequate supplies of kits that are available at pharmacies especially for those that are unable to use alternative options such as ordering online First Minister Yes, we'll take steps to do that I haven't been aware of particular issues at local pharmacies There are over a thousand community pharmacies and dispensing GPs across the country providing access to lateral flow tests Community pharmacies and dispensing GPs can place daily orders to ensure sufficient supply we're working with the UK Government to encourage pharmacies to place daily orders and increase the amount of tests they're able to order each day where needed In the event of any supply issues we're directed to collect another local pharmacy or a local testing site and if you want to know where the nearest source of LFDs are to you you can go on to the website put in your postcode and that will tell you Generally I raise this at a Four Nations discussion on Sunday We need to make sure with the higher demand for LFDs which is a good thing, really positive thing that the procurement and supply stays healthy and I know the team within the UK Government responsible for this is working extremely hard to do that with the online ordering system yesterday which has been rectified today but it's really important that we keep the supply of these tests flowing because they are really important as part of our defence Ross Greer to be followed by Joe Fitzpatrick Thank you, given that the one thing we do know about the Omicron variant is its significant increased transmissibility can I ask why the guidance for identifying close contacts in schools has not been immediately revised will this not result in more pupils and staff having to miss time from school when transmissions have been missed and outbreaks are worse than was otherwise necessary We keep all of these things under review and particularly with schools it's a really fine balance to strike we want to minimise the risk of children's education being disrupted so if we have a blanket self-isolation policy for a whole class where one pupil tests positive we will very quickly see large numbers of pupils and classes isolating On the other hand, as Ross Greer rightly says we don't want to have a situation where we're allowing the virus to spread more easily in schools than it would otherwise do that's why the risk-based approach that test and protect uses is so important but as this situation develops we are going to have to keep all of this under review to strike that right balance between protection and allowing schools and the economy and critical services to operate none of this is easy none of it has ever been easy it's going to be tricky in the weeks ahead but we are going to get these balances as right as possible Joe Fitzpatrick to be followed by Liam Kerr Hospitality businesses in Dundee have contacted me to express their concern about the impact of the new variant on trading over the festive period those businesses will welcome the announcement of 100 million pound support today from the Scottish Government but does the First Minister agree that while this is welcome today's treasury announcement about unspecified financial support highlights yet again that while we are in the grips of this horrible pandemic current funding arrangements across the UK are dysfunctional and that greater certainty is required from Westminster and quickly not only for the Scottish Government but also for those businesses who are facing a festive period of challenge and the Scottish Government really needs to press the UK Government for early clarity on this First Minister Yes, I do agree and we are pressing both for funding arrangements that even if just in the Covid context are more appropriate to the situation we face and for as much clarity as possible I'm not going to repeat what I said about not knowing the detail of what was announced just after 2 o'clock this is just a basic issue of good sense when it comes to dealing with a pandemic we cannot have our public health hands tied by funding arrangements that are asymmetrical and unfair to the devolved administration so hopefully we are going to see some progress here but it is really important that we all have maximum ability to steer our way through this next phase of the pandemic without businesses unduly paying the cost of what we do because we don't have the wherewithal to properly compensate them Liam Kerr to be followed by Willie Coffey Thank you, Presiding Officer The public health guidance on Thursday took many businesses, especially those in hospitality by surprise with absolutely no time to prepare what action will the Scottish Government be taking going forward to ensure that this situation doesn't happen again and that all possible steps are taken to give businesses adequate time to prepare for new measures and guidance We'll do that as far as possible and I understand the frustration the anxiety, the distress on the part of businesses that I've had two years now as we all have of guidance that changes as the pandemic changes but I would ask all members as I said earlier on this variant of the virus cases are doubling every two to three days it is moving faster than anything we have dealt with before in the whole course of the pandemic and that is quite a statement because we've dealt with really difficult situations before so speed of response right now is more important than it has ever been I understand that businesses would prefer we waited a few days to tell them what we were going to do a week hence and give them time to prepare and that virus will have doubled what, three, four times this variant of the virus so that's why speed is so important and I don't say that with any play, I wish we weren't in this situation but we are and we don't do businesses or anybody else in society any favours if we don't try to act as fast as the virus is replicating Willie Coffey to be followed by Michael Marra First Minister, some hospitality groups are saying that you have just asked people and a quote to stay away from their restaurants and facilities would you mind clarifying this so that everyone is totally clear what's being asked and what isn't First Minister I think I did make it clear in my statement I am not trying to override the judgment of every person we've two years into this people have a lot of experience of this and people need to be able to make judgments but I am saying in the run-up to Christmas and then after the core celebrations of Christmas people should reduce their contacts with people in other households as far as possible, that means minimising socialising that will help us to slow down this virus while we get more and more people boosted secondly though, because I appreciate some people will want to socialise and will socialise that is the case and my advice is to minimise that but if you are doing that whether that is in your own home or in hospitality try to limit the households that are in your group to a maximum of three and I am trying to explain why that is important that kind of thing has always been important with an infectious virus but the attack rate of Omicron means that if you are in a group of people and we've seen this in outbreaks over the last two weeks if you are in a group of people where one person is infected all of our evidence since the emergence of Omicron is that the majority of people in that group are being infected that almost took out an accident emergency unit in Lanarkshire last week so that's why we're giving this advice it's horrible advice it's the last thing people want to hear but it is essential if we are to get on top of this virus before it overwhelms us Michael Marra to be followed by Stuart McMillan thank you Presiding Officer in her statement the First Minister advocated continued lateral flow tests for secondary school pupils school testing figures currently sit at below 4% testing protect has been abandoned in classrooms and there's been no action beyond opening some windows on classroom ventilation further to this the promised laptops for all are not in the hands of pupils Presiding Officer this Government has done nothing to help keep schools open and done nothing to help prepare them in case of closing can we assume that Government will be working now to ensure after two years maximum safety measures are in place so that schools definitely reopen in January First Minister if I'm just going to be blunt that was a deeply irresponsible contribution and not only irresponsible because it mischaracterises the position of testing protect it's an insult to those who are working in testing protect to help schools to stay safe every single day on a risk-based approach trying to strike the right balance between protection and keeping children's education we distributed laptops and connections to tens of thousands of children at an earlier stage in the pandemic having identified those most at risk and we'll continue to do everything we can to keep schools open because as we see today in the attainment figures that is really important for the sake of children's learning and education now as I say that I absolutely accept that schools must also be safe for children and for staff which is why we've given local authorities resources to help with ventilation and the education advisory subgroup is looking at all of this again right now by all means scrutinise this but don't please, in the midst of this crisis come to the chamber and irresponsibly mischaracterise the situation Stuart McMillan to be followed by Tess White Thank you for saying all sir I'd be grateful if the First Minister could provide an update as to whether any consideration has been provided to give new guidance to large-scale events including sporting and recreation to actually help to slow down the transmission of this new variant The guidance that we've given today is to people around the interactions they have with people in other households specifically for indoor events we're also looking as I said strengthening face covering requirements and we will be looking as part of that in terms of whether we want to encourage people to wear face coverings even outdoors in some crowded events at the moment we will continue to look particularly if we have more financial will with all to compensate companies and events whether there is more proportionate action we can take but the advice that we're giving today is the advice that has been set out in my statement which will be backed up with more detail in guidance to be issued over the course of this week Tess White to be followed by John Mason Thank you, Presiding Officer First Minister, as we know the size of the vaccination workforce has accelerated booster programme This afternoon's statement indicated that the Scottish Government's will to extend the number and role of volunteers would it be possible to provide more details of how and when this is likely to be achieved First Minister As we speak I'd encourage all MSPs to think about maybe volunteering over the Christmas break in a local vaccination centre if there is a need of volunteers I've asked all ministers to think that it would be helpful I said last week in terms of the full-time paid professional workforce we had already increased that by 300 full-time equivalent posts there are many people who want to volunteer will make available details of how people go about registering their interests Obviously volunteers are restricted in what they can do but the activity and the contribution of volunteers can help free up some of the time tasks or stewarding people who are turning up for vaccination that frees up time of clinical staff to actually do the vaccination So all hands on deck over these next few weeks to get these boosterjags into as many arms as we can, as fast as we can John Mason to be followed by Graham Simpson Thank you on Saturday I was at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and they insisted on people either having had a vaccine or a negative test which I thought was extremely good I would agree with me that if venues should go above and beyond what the law says First Minister I would congratulate any venues and I know there are many many of them who are really going the extra mile to try to keep the venues and those who go to them either performers or spectators as safe as possible So I would encourage in fact what I refer to today we will be putting a legal obligation on those who run businesses and provide services to make sure they are taking all practical measures to keep their premises as free from transmission as possible We know that nobody can eradicate the risk of transmission It's really important to be clear about that but there's lots of things we know we can do to reduce the risk and I would pay credit to and give my appreciation to businesses the length and breadth of the country who are seeking to do that Graham Simpson to be followed by Collette Stevenson Thank you I had my booster jab yesterday It's a 12 hour shift You're not going to be able to do too many of them without getting exhausted So what are we doing to protect the army of heroes who are delivering the vaccination programme and how many extra vaccinators do you think we need First Minister We've already increased the numbers I said last week I've just repeated today we've already added 300 full time equivalent we're training health boards we're training new vaccinators and extra volunteers All of us are having to do this My appreciation knows no bounds to those who are doing the vaccination I had a good conversation when I went for my own booster a week or so ago with the lead nurse about the pressures they're under but also about the heroic work that they are doing It's often glib that we talk about the contribution NHS workers make to all of our lives is literally saving lives and helping the country to get through the most difficult periods so we owe them a huge debt of gratitude but the government owes them the support they need and that is what we are absolutely focused on providing as we ask them to do even more over these next few weeks Collector Stevenson to be followed by Paul O'Kane Presiding Officer it has been reported that around 120 staff from University hospital here mayors in my constituency are isolating following a Covid outbreak What discussions has the Scottish Government had with NHS Lanarkshire on this matter and what support, logistical or otherwise will be provided to ensure patients are seen First Minister We are aware of the situation at here mayors through the daily contact that the health secretary and or officials have with health boards NHS Lanarkshire is under significant and sustained pressure that they are deploying staff from other areas to ensure that services can deliver key and effective patient care We will continue to work closely with all boards including Lanarkshire to review their contingency plans and assist in any way possible for instance where appropriate through mutual and military aid but also making sure that appropriate use is made of the exemption system to allow critical workers to return to work on the basis of certain precautions Paul O'Kane to be followed by Clare Adamson I have been contacted by constituents and there have been pressure reports in the past few days of people deeply concerned that an elderly relative has not received their booster vaccination due to a prolonged stay in hospital Despite being in hospital through autumn many have been told by NHS Goethe-Glasgin Clyde that they can only be vaccinated in the community With the huge problem of delayed discharge and the imperative to ensure that everyone has a booster can the First Minister confirm if boosters will be administered urgently to those in hospitals if it is clinically appropriate There is no blanket policy that says that elderly patients in hospital cannot be vaccinated in the hospital down to the clinical decision and judgment I will certainly ask the health secretary to look to see whether we need to issue any more guidance to health boards to ensure that that happens Clare Adamson to be followed by Finlay Carson Thank you, First Minister We have talked a lot about the impact that this has had on a health service but it is also impacting other public service such as our court system Can I ask what has been done by the Scottish Government to deal with the significant backlog of cases and ensure that a criminal justice system can start to clear this backlog? The courts and tribunal services are working very hard on plans to clear the backlog which is more on the criminal side than in the civil case A lot of civil businesses continue to happen online and there have been measures in order to minimise the impact on criminal business if that has been more severe I discussed this issue directly with the Lord President just last week and obviously the budget helps to ensure that there are resources there for the court service and the Crown Office to continue with their recovery work Finlay Carson to be followed by Katie Clark Given that the guidance set out today relies heavily on everyone taking personal responsibility and changing the rules around Covid can be confusing so providing good, easily understandable information is key and that certainly wasn't the case in Thursday evening with the public and businesses being hugely let down by the lack of clear guidance and I assume the First Minister agrees that good communication is critical so why has the Scottish Government once again removed ITV border from TV advertising schedules meaning that viewers in Dumfries and Galloway in the Scottish borders won't see another related public information messages on channel 3 and why is providing information in the south of Scotland less important than elsewhere given you continue to spend on STV? First Minister Why on earth would I want to stop public health messages getting to people in every part of Scotland? What could my possible motivation be and come from Conservatives to spend a lot of their time trying to prevent me giving public health messages to the public? I don't know why that's the case that I will look into urgently but actually a lot of, not all but many of our public health messages right now have been done on a UK-wide basis we're actually cooperating with the UK Government to ensure consistency of messaging so by all means yeah raise these things but raising them in a tone of voice that suggests that somehow I've got a motivation to stop people in the south of Scotland getting public health messages is utterly ridiculous Katie Clark to be followed by James Dornan Thank you Presiding Officer Further restrictions are clearly necessary but does the First Minister agree that people are willing to comply with restrictions when they think they are consistent and fair and it's going to be difficult to explain why people are allowed to mix at large events when small family gatherings are having restrictions put on them? First Minister Well firstly we are going to needn't be asking public places where people are gathering to start to introduce measures to ensure safety I talked in particular about hospitality and they need to ensure that there's not crowding between tables because we're asking people to stay in smaller groups if they are in these places so we will be giving that message consistently whether you're in your own home or in a public place I've set out very candidly today why we can't do more in some of the public places for financial reasons although as I've said we will look again at that to see if there is any more we can do to support some sensible measures there I understand the importance of people understanding that's why I'm setting out today the reason for what we're asking people to do but this is about just all of us trying to reduce our contacts as much as possible if we all reduce our contacts a bit as much as we can we will reduce the overall ability for this virus to spread so if that is easier for somebody to do by not going to hospitality or if it's easier for them to do in their own home whatever works for us let's do it and all just take our contacts down in the run up to Christmas then we can hopefully enjoy Christmas and not have that surge of infections after none of this is guaranteed this is a highly infectious variant of this virus but that will give us the best possible chance of achieving a smoother path through this winter James Dornan to be followed by Willie Rennie Can the First Minister provide an update as to what support the Scottish Government is making available to GP surgeries in Scotland to expand the level of care provided to patients First Minister We're providing funding of £30 million to support GP practices to continue providing a high level of care to patients through winter The funding will help with the provision of existing services It will include supporting more face-to-face appointments extra GP sessions practice nurse time non-core hours covering all appointments for example We do want face-to-face appointments to resume and to happen as necessary I think it will be the case that many people will continue to prefer online or telephone appointments with their GP but we need to make sure that that balance is right It's extremely hard over the course of this pandemic providing essential services and it's right that we support them with this funding to help ensure they continue to do so Willie Rennie to be followed by Maurice Golden I think the First Minister knows there is a glaring inconsistency between the household and the events gathering as Katie Clark has just pointed out and that she would like to go further if money is available now the UK Government has indicated there will be funds Will she be returning to the chamber tomorrow to give us greater certainty for businesses and jobs because I think events are going to be cancelled on today's guidance and we do need guidance to be updated very quickly to avoid that First Minister I don't know because I have no idea what money is on the table so when I get out of the chamber and back to my office maybe I'll have that information but maybe I won't If there is more money if that enables us to take other decisions that we think are appropriate we have to go through a decision making process without further decisions Yes, I will come to Parliament whether that will be tomorrow I can't say at the moment What I'd say to all MSPs is we all have a choice these are difficult decisions and when we're dealing with a pandemic there are always inconsistencies no matter what you do because we're all trying to reduce contacts as much as possible all of us have a choice where we can go around telling people about the inconsistencies or we can help explain because that actually is in the overall national interest Maurice Golden to be followed by Emma Harper Thank you, Presiding Officer On what date will the guidance for businesses be issued and what lead time will they have to implement it? First Minister We're intending at this stage for the change in regulations to take effect at the end of this week Friday and the guidance will be issued before that I come back again to the point I made with one of the member's colleagues We want to give businesses as much time as possible but let's just not lose sight of the fact we are facing a variant of this virus right now where cases are doubling every two to three days but actually it's closer to two days this is moving very fast and if we don't try to move as fast as it is then we're going to have very serious problems Emma Harper to be followed by Sue Webber First Minister constituents have contacted me who have family members flying into Scotland for the festive season and are due to arrive on December 23 that means that family members will not be able to obtain the required UK Government PCR test on December 26 48 hours after arrival due to the PCR providers being closed between Christmas and New Year except for urgent reasons and the First Minister outlined whether discussions are taking place with the UK Government about this issue and whether she will encourage people to ensure that they are aware of the current travel advice especially regarding the PCR test requirements for persons coming to Scotland for the festive season because many have already booked their travel already First Minister I think that this is an issue that I've addressed in the chamber before we encourage people coming into the country to take the PCR test on day 2 after their arrival but they are actually able to take it regulations have always allowed this within 2 days of arrival so they don't have to wait until boxing day if they are arriving in the timescale that Emma Harper has set out so they should make sure that they know how they will get their test a list of testing providers is available on the UK Government's website Sue Weber to be followed by Daniel Johnson Thank you Deputy Presiding Officer A 21-year-old constituent has contacted me asking something that I hope the First Minister will verify she's asked me and I'm quoting verbatim Am I being stupid? Pubs and restaurants have to socially distance and you can't order at the bar but you can still go to a nightclub so it comes back down to nightclubs again what are the recommendations for this already hard-hit hospitality sector given the on-going specific pressures on nightclubs? First Minister I would have encouraged the member to listen to the statement of guidance we're asking businesses in hospitality to take measures that will avoid crowding at bars we have not asked so far to go back to table service we're trying to be as proportionate as possible while having an impact on transmission if the member wants to say to me that we should close nightclubs then she should perhaps say that and if there is funding there then we can consider that to be properly avoided there is never going to be 100% consistency there never has been on this and since the days we simply made everybody stay at home all day apart from going out for one walk I think his elected representatives we have a duty right now to help explain to people why they've been asked to do certain things and why one thing might look a bit inconsistent to another we are political opponents across this chamber we have vigorous disagreements but we are again in the teeth of a serious public health crisis and I think our overriding duty is to unite to help to explain the advice to the people of Scotland so that they have the best chance of following it and Daniel Johnson thank you can I ask the First Minister for further detail about the supply of lateral flow devices while the website is back up and running it's currently stating that there are no lateral flow devices available to order can I ask whether or not she's confident that there is sufficient supply both in current circulation and on order to enable people to lateral flow as frequently as we all need them to First Minister yes supplies and I'll come on to the point with the online system in a moment supplies are under pressure because demand is rising and that's a good thing let me say just again as a statement of fact although we all the devolved nations contribute financially to this the procurement and the distribution is done on a UK wide basis the issue yesterday with the online system and it may be that that issue is kicked in again while I've been in the chamber it's not supply, it's distribution there has been and there is work under way to increase this there has been a limit to the number that can be distributed through the Royal Mail on a daily basis and that number has been breached so that's a distribution issue not a supply issue and because it's not a supply issue we can say with confidence although I know there are other procurement efforts under way that people if they can order online they can go to a local pharmacy or test site and get supplies and supplies are being distributed to local authorities to be made available in other areas as well I said before to partner a four nations call on Sunday where the head of the testing system a helpful detail about the work that is under way to increase supply and to ensure that the distribution is sufficient but it is not a problem with supply that led to the issue on the website thank you that concludes the First Minister's statement Covid-19 update I inform members members may find it helpful to know that the parliamentary bureau has met six times since Sunday since Thursday six times since Thursday all purpose of ensuring that the Parliament has the appropriate opportunity to scrutinise the Scottish Government on any significant announcement about Scotland's response to Covid-19 the bureau agreed to propose that the statement in question session today be extended till I was many members as possible to put questions and through these discussions the Government is fully aware that as far as possible I want to ensure that members have the opportunity to scrutinise the Government's response to on-going developments relating to coronavirus and to represent their constituents and this may include meetings on Mondays and Fridays to maximise those opportunities the bureau will continue to monitor the situation closely and on a daily basis not just during the remaining two weeks of this term but also during the recess when the Parliament can be recalled as required and we'll now move on to the next item of business which is topical questions but can I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face coverings should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus I call it question number one actually Mr Balfour I'll give you a moment until the chamber quietens down a little thank you we'll just give colleagues a moment