 The next item of business is a statement by Nicola Sturgeon on Covid-19 update. The First Minister will take questions at the end of her statement, and so there should be no interventions or interruptions, and I call on Nicola Sturgeon. Thank you, Presiding Officer. In the statement, I will update Parliament on the Scottish Government's assessment of the course of the pandemic now and on the decisions that flow from that in relation to the levels of protection that will apply to each local authority area from Saturday. In addition, I indicated at the end of last week that I would give an update on the situation in Glasgow by no later than Wednesday, and I can confirm that I will also do that today. However, before any of that, I will report on today's statistics. The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 478, which is 3.1 per cent of the total number of tests conducted, and the total number of confirmed cases, therefore, is now 236,389. 106 people are currently in hospital, which is four fewer than yesterday, and 10 people are receiving intensive care, which is two more than yesterday. I am also relieved to say that no deaths were reported yesterday, and that means that the total number of deaths registered under the daily definition remains at 7,669. However, again, I want to convey my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one. I will also give an update on the vaccination programme. As of 7.30 this morning, 3,267,290 people had received their first dose of the vaccine. That is around 72 per cent of the adult population, and it represents an increase of 16,152 since yesterday. In addition, 30,978 people received a second dose yesterday, and that brings the total number of second doses now to 2,075,231. The total number represents around 46 per cent of the adult population. The decisions that we have arrived at today are difficult and complex ones, and this reflects the fact that we are currently at a delicate and fragile point in what we very much hope is a transition to a different way of dealing with this virus. In summary, we do believe that vaccinations are opening the path to a less restrictive way of dealing with Covid, one that is less driven by case numbers. However, because not all adults have been fully vaccinated with two doses to date, we are not quite there yet. As we make this transition just to compound the challenge further, we are also dealing with a new faster spreading variant. This is, of course, a new development that has arisen since we set out our indicative route map back in March. All of this means that, at this critical stage, to avoid being knocked off course completely, we must still air on the side of caution, and I will share more detail of all of this now. The considerable downside that we face just now is the Indian or April 02 variant, which was renamed last night by the World Health Organization as Delta. This variant is spreading faster than previous variants of the virus, and we now believe that it accounts for well over half of our new daily cases. Because of that, Scotland's R number is almost certainly above 1 right now. As we know from past painful experience, that makes our situation highly precarious. Indeed, many public health experts are warning that the UK could, and I stress now, be at the start of a third wave of the virus. Obviously, it would be wrong to completely ignore that warning. However, and this is the considerable upside, we now have a significant advantage that we did not have in the first or the second wave. We are increasingly confident that the vaccines are effective, though we are closely monitoring the vaccination status of people admitted to hospital. However, we now have evidence that the link between cases and serious illness, hospitalisation and death appears to be weakening. For example, since January in Scotland, the proportion of new cases that lead to hospital admission has reduced on current estimates from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, although it is important to say that we are still assessing the recent impact of the new variant. In addition, the length of time people are spending in hospital has also been reducing quite markedly since the new year, though again we are monitoring this data closely and carefully. The emerging evidence is providing us with a firm basis to believe that, in this next coming phase of the pandemic, we will be able to deal with the virus differently and less restrictively. However, and this is why I have described our current situation as a transition, although we are vaccinating as quickly as possible and trying to speed up as much as possible, there is still a sizable proportion of the population not yet fully vaccinated. Full vaccination is vital. Protection against the delta variant after one dose is not negligible, but it is not substantial either. It is after two doses that the protection becomes much stronger. As cases continue to rise significantly for too long a period of time, while significant numbers are not fully vaccinated, we could still see a significant burden of illness and death and severe pressure on our NHS. It might also be worth pausing to reflect at this stage on what protecting the NHS, which has been a key aim throughout this pandemic, means in the current context. After coping with the pandemic for more than a year, the NHS is now seeking to get non-Covid treatment back on track. That means that protecting the NHS cannot just be about preventing it from being completely overwhelmed, although that is vital. It must also be about protecting its ability to get services back to normal. Even though the health service coped earlier this year when more than 2,000 people were in hospital, albeit, I should say, with enormous pressure on the workforce, that should not be our benchmark. Anything remotely like that again would set back our efforts to get the NHS operating normally again. That is a key and difficult moment. We remain on the right track overall. I remain confident that, with cautious, albeit difficult decisions now, we will enjoy much greater normality over the summer and beyond. None of our decisions today, even in the face of rising case numbers, take us backwards. Although I know that it is hard to think in those terms more than a year into a pandemic, that represents real progress from the start of this year. Back then, remember, a new variant in rising case numbers did take us backwards into a full lockdown. That is not the case now. Because of the vaccination programme, we can still look ahead with confidence. That is the difficult part. In areas where cases are relatively high or rising, our judgment is that a slight slowing down of the easing of restrictions to allow time for more people to be fully vaccinated will help to protect that progress overall. That leads me to the decisions that we are setting out today. It is important to recognise that the picture across the country is not uniform, and so our decisions are not uniform either. That is the benefit of the level system. We do not need to apply a one-size-fits-all approach with the same levels of restrictions in areas with low or more contained case numbers as we do in areas with high or rising numbers. However, a variable system also has its downsides. It is more complex and it is impossible to remove every anomaly. It is not without risk and, of course, it can lead to a sense of inequity. That is why it is important to set out as clearly as possible why different areas are subject to different restrictions while recognising that those decisions are complex. Let me turn to those decisions. Given that it has been in a unique situation for the past couple of weeks, I will talk about Glasgow first and separately. I reported on Friday that the situation in Glasgow appeared to be stabilising and I am pleased to say that that remains the case. Indeed, case numbers have fallen slightly in recent days from 146 cases per 100,000 people to 129. That provides further evidence that the major public health interventions that we have seen in the past few weeks are having an impact. In addition, although hospital admissions are rising, the vaccination effect means that they are not, at least at this stage, increasing as fast as they might have done from a similar level of cases earlier in the year. It is also important, of course, that we consider the harms caused by the virus alongside the other harms that the on-going restrictions cause. Those include wider health harms, social harms and economic harms. Those wider harms are not insignificant in Glasgow, given that it is now more than eight months since, for example, we were last allowed to visit each other in our homes. Taking all of that into account and with the support of the national incident management team, I can confirm that Glasgow City will move down to level 2 from midnight on Friday into Saturday. That means that people in Glasgow, as has been the case in most of the rest of Scotland since mid-May, will be able to meet in homes in groups of no more than six from a maximum of three households. It also means that indoor licence hospitality can reopen and that people can travel again between Glasgow and other parts of Scotland. A number of venues will also be permitted to reopen and outdoor adult contact sports can resume. Those changes are significant. As someone who lives in Glasgow, I know that they will make a huge difference to quality of life. However, I ask everyone to remember that, although stable and starting to decline, cases in Glasgow do still remain high, so please continue to be cautious in particular. That applies to all of Scotland, particularly while we enjoy some better weather. Although limited indoor meetings are now possible, it is still better to stay outdoors where possible, and in level 2 groups of up to eight people from eight households can gather outdoors. The last eight months and perhaps the last couple of weeks in particular have been really tough for Glasgow, so I want to thank everyone who has cooperated with all the public health measures and stuck to all of the rules and guidelines. I will now turn to other parts of the country and set out the difficult part of the statement. There are a number of other local authority areas in addition to Glasgow that are not currently meeting the criteria for level 1, either in case numbers or test positivity. Indeed, if we looked at just the raw numbers, it could be argued that some of those areas should be in level 3. However, our judgment based on the emerging evidence of the impact of vaccines that I spoke about a moment ago on hospitalisation and our assessment of local factors and public health interventions is that level 3 would not be proportionate at this stage. However, it is also our judgment that, with case numbers as high as they are in those areas and with a substantial proportion of adults not yet double-dosed, it is safer and more likely to protect our progress overall if we hold those areas in level 2 for a further period. In addition to Glasgow, that applies to Edinburgh and Midlothian, Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, the Three Aershires, North and South Lanarkshire and Clackmannanshire and Stirling. I know that this will be very disappointing for people in those areas. For those local authority areas, I should say that we will be providing support to soft play and other closed sectors that are expected to open or operate in a different way from 7 June, and full details will be provided by the finance secretary tomorrow. However, it is important to stress that this is a pause, not a step backwards. Level 2 is not lockdown. It does have an impact on opening hours of pubs and restaurants and the numbers that can attend certain events, but we can still meet indoors in limited numbers and outdoors in groups of eight from eight households. Hospitality remains open indoors and outdoors, so does retail, and there are no travel restrictions in place. Taking a cautious approach now, while more people get fully vaccinated, gives us the best chance of staying on the right track overall. To everyone in those areas, please continue to be careful, follow all the important guidance on hygiene, distancing and face coverings, keep getting tested and come forward to be vaccinated as soon as you get the opportunity. In more positive news, there are many parts of mainland Scotland where cases are at very low levels and are broadly stable, or where case numbers might appear to be rising, but we are assured that they relate to clusters that are being managed. I can confirm that the following areas will move to level 1 from 1 minute past midnight on Saturday morning. Those areas are Highland, Argyllun Bute, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Murray, Angus, Perthyn Cynroth, Falkirk Fife, Inverclyde, Easton West Lothian, Weston Bartonshire, Dumfriesen Galloway and the Borders. The full detail of what that means is set out on the Scottish Government website, but the main changes are as follows. The limits on meetings in indoor public places increase to eight people from three households and outdoors to 12 people from 12 households. 100 people, as opposed to 50, can attend weddings and funerals and places such as soft play and fun fairs can reopen. Again, I know that those changes will be welcomed, but please continue to be careful. That applies to all of us right now, and in particular it applies that meeting outdoors involves much less risk than meeting indoors. Finally, Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles and a number of small remote islands are already in level 1. Those communities are continuing to report extremely low numbers of new cases, and in many cases, a higher-than-average proportion of adults have received both doses of the vaccine. Those areas will move to level 0 again from a minute past midnight on Saturday morning. Full details of what those changes mean can also be found on our website, but, for example, it means that people can meet indoors in groups up to four households. Local licensing laws apply in hospitality. There is no set nationwide closing time, and it means that the maximum attendance at weddings and funerals will be 200 rather than 100 at level 1 and 50 at level 2. Again, as well as asking islanders to exercise continued care, I remind anyone travelling to any of the islands to use a lateral flotest before doing so. That way, you will minimise the risk of taking the virus to any of those communities. I appreciate that today's decisions well feel like—indeed, they are—a mixed bag. That reflects the fact that we are in a transition phase. The vaccines do make the outlook positive, but the new variant means that the road ahead is still potentially bumpy. So caution is necessary. That said, no part of the country is going backwards today. Before the vaccines, that would have been impossible on case numbers like those, but the vaccines are changing the game, and that means that we can still be optimistic, very optimistic about our chances of much more normality over this summer and beyond. Indeed, in the days ahead and while it might still feel a way off for many of us, we will publish more detailed work on what we expect life beyond level 0 to look like as that greater normality hopefully returns. Indeed, one reason for proceeding with more caution now is to make it easier in future to resume that progress to level 0 and then beyond. My last point, and this is the one that I will finish on, is that, as always, all of us have a part to play in beating the virus back. Please get tested regularly. Free lateral flotests are available through the NHS informed website. I would encourage again everyone to order these and test yourself twice a week. The lateral flotests give results in about half an hour, so they are a very quick and useful way of finding out if you might have the virus, even if you do not have any symptoms. Essentially, the more we all get tested, the more cases we find and the more we break chains of transmission, so getting tested regularly is a way for all of us to contribute to the collective effort. Secondly, make sure that you get vaccinated when you are invited to do so. That includes going for second doses. To repeat what I said earlier, second doses are vital in providing substantial protection against the virus and, in particular, the new variant of it. If you cannot make an appointment and there will often be good reasons why that is the case, please make sure that you rearrange it. If you have not received an appointment letter yet and think that you should have, you can go to the vaccinations page of the NHS informed website to arrange your appointment. Getting vaccinated is in all of our own best interests. Whatever age we are, it makes it much less likely that we will become badly ill from Covid. However, it is also part of our wider civic duty to each other. It means that all of us can help to suppress the virus and reduce the harm that it causes. That will allow us to get to that phase of being able to deal with this in a more, a less rather restrictive way than has been the case. Finally, I ask everybody to please continue to stick to the rules where you live and follow the public health advice. Physical distancing, hand washing, face coverings—all of this is still important for now—these basic precautions will reduce our chances of getting or spreading the virus. In summary, please get tested regularly, get vaccinated when you are asked and continue to follow the public health advice. If we all do that, then, despite a pause for part of the country today, we can keep on the right track and we can then make progress over the summer to living much less restricted lives. Let me end by thanking again everyone across the country for helping us to do exactly that. The First Minister will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 40 minutes for questions after which we will move on to the next item of business. It would be helpful if members who wish to ask a question were to press their request to speak buttons now. I call on Douglas Ross. I had hoped to say that today's statement is, at least broadly, a move in the right direction, and for the people of Glasgow, the move to level 2 from Saturday will be a most welcome step. To bring to an end 277 days of our largest city living under some of the toughest restrictions, but for people all over the country in 14 of the 32 local council areas, today's statement is a disappointing setback. Half of the country will move forward while the rest remains stuck in Limbo, with no clear idea of when the restrictions will ease. We understand the need for caution, but we also believe that more emphasis needs to be placed on the impact of those restrictions on businesses, on jobs and on people's mental and physical health. We believe that a more local approach is necessary, with targeted interventions to tackle local outbreaks instead of sweeping measures. The approach of council-wide restrictions is now out of date. It was designed before we had an effective, successful vaccination scheme. The First Minister herself said in her statement that 72 per cent of adults in Scotland have now had the first dose of the vaccine and 46 per cent of adults in Scotland are now protected with both doses of the vaccine. The First Minister also said today that we don't need to apply a one-size-fits-all approach, but it seems that that's exactly what's happening. Keeping whole councils or cities in level 2 is not targeted, it's not a local approach. Let me ask the First Minister. Will she consider moving to an approach of targeted interventions instead of council-wide restrictions? I'm sorry that some SNP members feel the need to heckle, but we have had 20 minutes of a statement from the First Minister on an extremely important issue for our country, and it's now appropriate—we don't get this on the BBC, I know—it's now appropriate for opposition politicians to question the Government. That is healthy in a democracy. I also ask the First Minister what plans are in place to speed up vaccinations for areas with local outbreaks beyond the measures that are already set out. What further support can businesses expect? While the finance secretary will update Parliament tomorrow, has the First Minister looked into the issues that I raised last week from the Glasgow chambers of commerce, for example, and said that funding promised has not been delivered to businesses? Can the First Minister inform the public what evidence there is of an imminent severe pressure on the NHS, as she outlined in her statement? Finally, how will the Government ensure public compliance with the restrictions that have been set out, when, after more than a year of their lives being upheaval in their lives over the past year and with hospitals at such a low rate, people really are at the end of their tether? The first thing that I would say is that whether people in this chamber or indeed across the country agree or disagree with the decisions that I have taken, and it is perfectly legitimate to question them and indeed to disagree with them, I hope that everyone will accept that I don't take and the Government doesn't take any of those decisions lightly. I am absolutely long for the day that I can stand here and say that no more restrictions are required anywhere in Scotland. There is no part of me that wants to hold us back from that for a single second longer than is necessary. However, it is really important at this juncture if we are to keep our progress moving overall in the right direction that we are cautious and careful. I have been criticised and again it is perfectly legitimate for people to do so, for erring on the side of caution at various points over the past 14 months or so. I do not pretend that the decisions that I or the Government have taken have been perfect far from it, but every time we have erred on the side of caution I think time has told that that was the correct or necessary thing to have done, and it is important that we do so now. We are not taking a one-size-fits-all. If we were taking a pure public health approach to this and indeed there will be some public health voices who might prefer that this is what we are doing today, we would simply have held the whole of the country in the levels that they are at right now on some of the raw figures. It can be argued or could be argued that some areas should be at a higher level. We are taking all the different factors into account, not least the progress with vaccination. If I can give just one example to illustrate that point in Highland, you look at case numbers in Highland right now and they look as if they are going in the wrong direction quite fast, but we know that there is a particular issue particularly around the Fort William area. We know that it is being managed, so we are not applying higher restrictions to Highland overall. We are allowing the public health interventions to do their work just as we did in Clackmannanshire and in East Renfrewshire in the last few weeks. We are taking a targeted approach, but we also have to recognise travel patterns and the interactions between different areas. This is not perfect, it is not ideal, but we are taking the most proportionate and balanced approach that we can. Just briefly to refer to some of the other points, you do not have to go very far to hear public health experts warning against a lack of caution right now, but also pointing to the fact that, while the vaccination is proving to be effective, all the news on vaccination is good, but we still have around 50, slightly more than 50 per cent of the adult population that have not had both doses and, while that is the case, we remain vulnerable to this new faster spreading variant. That is why we need to be cautious. Vaccinations are speeding up. Again, just for example, today we have reported just under 31,000 second doses. Yesterday, that was 21,500, so we are speeding up on vaccination and continuing to do that and to make it more flexible as well. I did not say that the health service was at imminent risk of severe pressure. What I said was, and this is again based on public health advice, is that if we do not act with caution, it is possible that, from that unvaccinated or rather not fully vaccinated pool, we would still start to see hospital numbers go up. The other key point that I made was that, while earlier this year the NHS coped at 2,000 Covid patients at peak, we do not want to get back to anything like that because that means that the health service virtually cannot do anything else. We are trying to get the health service back to normal. I am sure that I have missed some of the points here. I will end with this. I do not want to keep a single part of this country in tougher restrictions or any restrictions for longer than necessary, but I have a duty to continue to navigate us through this safely where necessary cautiously so that we can keep our progress on overall. The very last point in response to Douglas Ross. Level 2 is still tough, I do not pretend otherwise. It is not lockdown though, and we do not do anybody any favours by suggesting it is. We can go into each other's homes, we can see hospitality, stay open indoors, so there are significant steps forward there that are important for businesses and for the mental and physical health of the population. This is largely welcome news for people in Glasgow and many across the country, but I know that for many in those parts of Scotland that are expected to move down a level this news will come as a bitter blow. I want to focus on our response in the hotspot areas, and it is paramount that we now design proper protocols for what happens in current and future hotspot areas learning from the Glasgow experience. Those protocols must include walk-in vaccination centres for everyone aged over 18, the mass roll-out of PCR tests, increased support for local businesses and greater access to isolation support grants. That must be our first point of call in future outbreaks, not further lockdowns that damage the economy and have a negative effect on people's mental health and wellbeing. Glasgow has been a hotspot area for now almost three weeks, but it remains the second lowest level of vaccine uptake of any local authority across the country, and we still do not have walk-in vaccination centres for people aged over 18 and above. At the same time, we are hearing daily stories about unattended appointments and large-scale appointments. What urgent investigations have the Government done? What steps are being taken to address large-scale missed appointments? What urgent actions have been taken to make sure that we can increase the performance of vaccine uptake in those hotspot areas? When will we have walk-in vaccination clinics for people aged 18 and over in hotspot areas? Will the First Minister commit to publish hotspot protocols for future outbreaks? Those are all perfectly reasonable and legitimate points if I can run through them, hopefully more briefly than I did in my previous answer, Presiding Officer, one by one. Over the past few days, I have heard people not, again, not surprisingly say, in relation to Glasgow, why are not we going door-to-door with testing? Why do we have drop-in vaccination clinics? Why do we have such tests? All of that was happening in Glasgow and has been happening in Glasgow over the past couple of weeks. That is why we believe that we are seeing the situation in Glasgow not continue with exponential rise but stabilise and now start to decline. The lessons in Glasgow are important and it is important that they can be applied and are applied elsewhere. I am going to use a different word just because it is the one that we are using in Government. There is a toolkit being prepared that is taking the lessons and learning from Glasgow and making that available to all other health boards. The health secretary is meeting with all health board chief executives tomorrow to talk about the importance of that as well as the wider issue. I am sure that it is technically in many respects but I am certainly more than happy to look at how we publish something that is available to the public to know what should be expected. Not when hotspot areas become hotspot areas, but when there is any emerging evidence that that is the direction of travel. A couple of things that I know that people do understand in vaccination. We need to firstly make sure that we have the supplies to do everything. Supply continues to be our biggest constraint but it is even more complicated than that because we have different vaccines and they can be used differently for different age groups. In terms of Pfizer, for example, which is being used for the younger age groups, that is where supply is tighter than it is with AstraZeneca, so we have to balance all of that. Secondly, but most importantly, we know that the most vital thing that we do, getting over 18s with our first dose is important and appointments have already started in Glasgow with that and we will look as supplies allow at having drop-in clinics but getting people who have had their first dose with their second dose is what increases substantially the level of protection from the vaccine. That is why, over the next few weeks, there will deliberately be an emphasis on completing second doses. All of this is important, all of this is work that is under way and we continue every single day to do what we can. Back at the start of the year, I was not the only one who did this but used the terminology of the race, the vaccine against the virus. We are going as fast as we can with the vaccine and we have got to continue to look for ways to speed up. Unfortunately, the virus keeps learning to run faster and that is the big challenge that we are up against right now and that is what makes these decisions still as difficult as they are. I call Lorna Slater to be followed by Willie Rennie. The First Minister is aware just how challenging the pandemic has been on household budgets. Many people have spent much of the last year on the furlough scheme, earning 80 per cent of what might have been an already low wage. Others have lost their jobs completely, with little hope of finding another. The eviction ban has been a lifeline for people, but that protection has been swept away and many face eviction now if they can't cover their rent. The job prospects of a recovery just aren't there yet. Will the First Minister give urgent consideration to reinstating the eviction ban across the whole country for as long as Covid restrictions remain in place? Yes, we will keep all of those things under consideration. The ban on evictions of course was extended for level 4 and level 3 areas, but as of Saturday, no part of Scotland will be in level 3, so we need to continue to consider the nature of our response. I don't underestimate that, because we have extended it on more than one occasion. The importance of the eviction ban, but it is also important that we do as much as we can to help people with the causes of rent arrears and to help them to deal with those rent arrears. For example, the loan fund that we set up to help people who are having difficulty paying their rent is important as well, getting more money into people's pockets through help for low-income families. That needs to be a package of measures, and we will continue to keep that under on-going review. Willie Rennie, to be followed by Elena Whitham. The limited easing is positive for many. I am deeply concerned about the lack of services for adults with special needs. After a year, it has certainly taken its toll on them. One family told me that we feel completely let down and abandoned. Does the First Minister agree that if we can open up pubs in football fan zones, we should be restarting community services for adults with special needs? I absolutely recognise how difficult this has been for everybody, but particularly for people who already were vulnerable and adults with special needs are definitely in that category. I know that Willie Rennie does ask people to, as far as possible, in a really difficult circumstance, take good faith that we are trying to manage those issues as carefully and as sensitively as we can with safety paramount. I think that we are in a phase where more of services that Willie Rennie is talking about get back to normal. I understand why people compare events with services like that. Often, there are very different issues at play, and it can be an oversimplification to do that, although I understand why people do. We want to get all of the services that are most important for people back as quickly as possible. If I can widen the point slightly to the NHS, it is why I do not think that we should be complacent about saying that, while we have only got 100 in hospital today, we know that the health service can cope with 2,000. We do not want to get anywhere near that, because that means that we have to pull back again on non-Covid services. Some of the caution today is about trying to open up as much of the normal service provision across the piece as we possibly can. Given assurance that adults with learning disabilities and groups with vulnerabilities remain absolutely at the top of our list of priorities. To ask the First Minister if the Scottish Government has assessed the impact that Covid-19 and the resultant isolation has had on those with mobility issues and whether more physiotherapy services are needed, particularly for our elderly citizens and those with disabilities, to stop possible early and preventable admittance to care home settings. Thank you very much. This is the first opportunity that I have had to formally welcome Elena Wittam to Parliament. It is good to see her here. The Covid pandemic has, as I was just reflecting on to Willie Rennie, had an effect on everyone but on everyone in different ways. That undoubtedly includes the impact of decreased activity on mobility and independence. The rehabilitation framework highlights the importance of access to rehabilitation and self-management for everyone. That includes access to specific services such as physiotherapy and the importance of supported activities in a local community and supported self-management across the health and care system. Again, those areas remain priorities for us to support and get back to normal as quickly as possible. Miles Briggs to be followed by Christine Grahame. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I welcome you to your position. First Minister, I have been contacted by a number of constituents who have told me that their emergency accommodation in guest houses and service departments here in the capital will be terminated as of yesterday, with no information about where they will be going. In breach of the four-week notice, councils should be providing. During the pandemic, welcome steps have been taken to provide accommodation for homeless individuals and families. What is the Scottish Government's position on the critical issue? Will the First Minister also agree to ministers bringing forward a statement on post-pandemic homelessness strategy and policy before this Parliament breaks for summer recess? I am more than happy to look at the detail of Miles Briggs once to send it to me. Obviously, it is principally a matter for the council, but I am happy to look at it in terms of what the Scottish Government might be able to do more generally. We, at the start of the pandemic, through a lot of joint working, made significant inroads into reducing homelessness and rough sleeping, and it is absolutely essential that we continue that as we come out of the pandemic. That is a key area of work that the Government is taking forward. We will publish updated plans on that as quickly as possible, but on the specific, as I say, happy to look at the detail and reply in more depth if that is necessary. Christine Grahame, to be followed by Jackie Baillie. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I welcome an announcement, First Minister, that borders will be moving to level 1, but I want to focus on the vaccination roll-out, because if our constituents fail by the national vaccine helpline and the missing appointments process, can I ask therefore that an assessment is made of the efficacy of those processes, including asking the public what their experience was? It is a minority, a small minority, but it is very stressful for that minority. I think that it is stressful for any individual who, for whatever reason, is finding it difficult to access their appointment. I think that it is a minority, but if you are in that position, that does not matter to you to hear me say that it is a minority. The overall programme is working incredibly well, and that is not just me saying that, that can be seen from the figures that we are reporting every day. As we go through the programme, we are trying to make changes where we can, if those can improve the experience for people. We are trying to make it more flexible. The walk-in vaccination clinics that have been operating in Glasgow, for example, I think that we want to see more of that flexible walk-in approach taken across the country. That said, we also need to make sure that the systems that we have in place, we stick with them to get through the programme as quickly as possible. Of course, it will be important that we reflect when we get to the end of this first programme, since I suspect that this will not be a one-off vaccination programme, that we do take stock, that we hear the experiences of people and that we try to evolve and develop the system in future if we have not been able to do that as we go along. I do notwithstanding the difficulties that some individuals are having, I want to pay tribute to people who are working so hard to deliver this programme in every single community across the country. Jackie Baillie, to be followed by Willie Coffey. Can I also welcome the announcement about Western Barcha and Argyll and Bute moving to level 1? The majority of people are getting their vaccinations and that is welcome. Unfortunately, that is not the experience of some of my constituents as well. Some people are waiting more than 12 weeks for their second dose. At one clinic, people were sent home because supplies of Pfizer had run out. People in Western Barcha were told to go for their vaccination to the Hydro, or Easterhouse, breaking the law by travelling into a level 3 area. As the First Minister accelerates the programme across the country, can she try to ensure that vaccinations are delivered as locally as possible? Just to reassure Andy in that position, it is not breaking the law to travel to another area for an essential purpose, which is getting a vaccine. Of course, that is not what we want in the bulk of cases. Issues of supply—we are restricted by supply, and that is one of the factors that, unfortunately, is outwith our control. We are trying to strike the right balance. It is never going to be a perfect balance between very local access for people and mass vaccination clinics that get people through as quickly as possible, but there will be some people for whom travel to a mass vaccination clinic is not desirable or possible. Therefore, that is why people have the ability to reschedule and rebook appointments. With a programme of this scale being introduced and implemented at this pace, I wish I could say otherwise, but it is not going to be absolutely perfect on every occasion for everybody. There are lots and lots of people, in government, although that is the least of it across the country, working hard to avoid difficulties for individuals. The programme is going well, and we continue to try to iron out and improve any issues that individuals are experiencing, and that process will continue. Can I ask the First Minister for an update on the take-up of vaccine registrations for the over-18s in Ayrshire? What action has been taken there to combat no-shows, given the recent increase in case numbers in parts of the county? The First Minister? We have seen good uptake of registration of 18 to 29-year-olds across the country, but in Ayrshire, using the online portal, I am sure that I can get the precise figure for Willie Coffey, but I am not aware of any particular difference between the Ayrshire figure and the figure for Scotland as a whole. NHS Ayrshire and Arran has also written to all those who did not attend their appointment to invite them to arrange a subsequent appointment, a second letter to all those who did not attend their appointment, and has been sent nationally again inviting them to reschedule. There has been a dropping clinic for those who missed their first dose. There was one on 23 May at Co-winning Academy, and I know that the health board is planning a further drop-in session as well. Additionally, it is carrying out outreach vaccinations to support their inclusivity plans. That is an on-going process. Nobody who does not turn up for their vaccine appointment will simply be forgotten. There will be considerable efforts to try to reach out and get people who have missed their appointment to reschedule, re-book and come forward for vaccination. I would encourage all members—as I know all members already are—to continue to play their part in encouraging constituents to do that. Rachael Hamilton, to be followed by Gillian Martin. Many colleagues today have raised the issue about no shows. I notice that the First Minister did not respond to Anasawa's specific question. Will she and her Government commit to streamlining and improving the system of booking and rearranging appointments, given that many people now have work and family commitments whilst restrictions are easing? Will she commit to publishing the data so that better decision making can be made to ensure that no shows are kept to a minimum as we enter this crucial stage in lockdown easing? My apologies if I did not respond to her question earlier on. I am in some of these questions getting asked understandably multiple questions and I am trying to answer as many of them as I can while I have the BDI of the Presiding Officer urging me to be briefer. On do not attend, we are working on an on-going basis to try to understand the reasons for people not attending and to address that. There is more of an approach as we go down the age bands for flexible drop-in appointments rather than booked appointments. The online portal for registration is also helping to make sure that people's address details are fully up-to-date. To reassure people, health boards are also on a daily basis overbooking appointments so that if there is a percentage of people not turning up, that is not reducing the overall number of vaccinations that they are doing in a day. You can look at the daily numbers right now. We are seeing the expected daily numbers notwithstanding a proportion of DNAs, but for protection purposes we want to get that down. We publish a lot of information on vaccination. I will look to see what more we can publish as we go through this programme. Our vaccination rates are broadly in line with the rest of the UK. We are all dealing with these challenges. We are all dealing with them in slightly different ways, but we are continuing to make progress and learn and evolve the system as we go. Gillian Martin, to be followed by Pauline McNeill. South Africa has reported that it is entering a third wave and has re-imposed lockdown restrictions. We have also heard reports from Poland, France and Germany. This week, Professor Ravi Gupta warned that the UK could be heading for the same. I was particularly concerned to see images of people not adequately socially distanced at airport queues over the past week. Can the First Minister reiterate the importance of isolating when returning from abroad, particularly from red-list countries? Can she give details on what quarantine arrangements are in place for those who work abroad, particularly in oil and gas? I am happy to write to Gillian Martin with specific details about oil and gas. Generally, we ask people to comply with the rules that are in place for red amber and green list countries. We continue to discuss with the UK Government on an on-going basis how we ensure that the controls at the borders are as tight as they need to be. I will not go into detail, but I have spoken about the frustration that I have had about that in the past, and we continue to try to make sure that we have as tight a system as possible. Gillian Martin is absolutely right to draw attention to the fact that this global pandemic is not over. The WHO are at pains almost on a daily basis to remind countries that we are not out of this yet. The UK as a whole is in a relatively strong position because we have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world right now, but we also have the new variant, the new Indian or Delta, as it is now called, variant spreading quite significantly. There are upsides, as I said, but there are also significant challenges, and that means continuing to abide by all of those rules, particularly around international travel, is important. My advice remains to people unless it is essential to not travel overseas right now, because that is another important way that we can reduce the risk that the new variants of the virus pose to us. Pauline McNeill, to be followed by Stuart McMillan. Does the First Minister agree that it is time for a specific recovery plan for Glasgow, a city that has been in lockdown for nine months? Serving people beyond its boundary has metropolitan status, where the economic damage has been deep, and the vaccine roll-out has not matched the density of our population with high levels of the virus. I plead with the First Minister to recognise that Glasgow will continue to be in trouble. It is such an important city for the west of Scotland as a whole, and already 90 per cent of businesses did not qualify for additional support, and it did not get the impression that that had registered with the Government when it was raised last week. I hope that Pauline McNeill will recognise that I am not somebody who needs to be reminded of the importance of the city of Glasgow. It is my home, and it is also where my constituency is. I know personally, but I know on behalf of my constituents how important it is that we get Glasgow out of the current situation, back on track, and then in the medium to longer term work with the City Council to support economic recovery. The Deputy First Minister has had discussions with the City Council. Their preference is that the Government works to support them in the recovery plans, and that is what we will do. The measures that we have taken in Glasgow have very specific bespoke measures over the past couple of weeks, which, as I was saying earlier on, will now inform learning in other parts of the country, have been effective. We are back on a better track in Glasgow, but there will continue to be a need for economic support for a significant time to come, and that is where we will continue to work with the City Council. Stuart McMillan, to be followed by Rona Mackay. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. First of all, I welcome that the Inverclyde is moving to level 1, but can the First Minister indicate what update has been provided to the cruise line sector with regard to the easing of travel restrictions bearing in mind how important that sector is to my Ginoocon Inverclyde constituency? If Stuart McMillan will forgive me, I know that that is under consideration at the moment, but I am struggling in the moment to remember whether we have taken a final decision and notified that yet or still in the process of doing that, so I will check that after I am out of the chamber for the statement and write to him. Obviously, the cruise sector is important economically, important for people who enjoy taking cruises, but we also know from experience that the outset of the pandemic that cruises can pose a high-risk environment as well, which is why continued care and caution around the mitigations that are necessary will be required, but I will come back to Stuart McMillan as soon as possible. Rona Mackay, to be followed by Jamie Greene. Figures released this week reveal an increasing number of assaults on police linked to coronavirus. Will the First Minister join me in condemning this sort of important behaviour and in thanking police officers and staff who have done a tremendous job throughout the pandemic, despite the extremely challenging circumstances? Yes, 100 per cent. I would very much like to take the opportunity to thank police officers and, indeed, police staff for the incredible job that they have done throughout a year, more than a year now, that has posed significant challenges for them. There is never any excuse for assaulting in any way, shape or form a police officer, but some of what we have heard in recent days is particularly inexplicable and beyond the comprehension of decent people everywhere. This has been a really difficult time for the police having to police sensitively, as they have done the regulations in place, to help people in a range of different ways, and they deserve our gratitude for the wonderful job that they have done, often putting themselves at risk in the process. Jamie Greene, to be followed by James Dornan. I echo the comments that were made by the First Minister, but constituents in my region moving from North Ayrshire to Inverclyde to Renfyrshire to Weston-Bartonshire are moving from Tiers 2 to 1 to 2 to 1 again. To avoid any potential public confusion, can I ask if travel restrictions will remain in place across Tiers? What specific advice has been given to Police Scotland on how they ought to enforce today's latest restrictions? The areas that the member has just mentioned—yes, that does involve going from level 1 to level 2 areas and back again—is because we are not taking a one-size-fits-all approach. If I was to follow the advice that Douglas Ross was giving me earlier on, there would be many more subdivisions of that, and people perhaps within Inverclyde or within one of the Ayrshire councils would be going from different levels of restriction within the council area. In a sense, Jamie Greene is illustrating my point that the easiest thing to do is to have a one-size-fits-all, but it is not the most proportionate thing to do. In a public health sense, it is not an absolutely necessary thing to do, so we are trying to be as targeted as possible, but we also try to recognise the travel patterns that exist. There are no travel restrictions in place underneath levels 4 and level 3, and that means that people are able to travel freely, but it also means that, as we give people rightly the ability to do more, we all have to exercise more responsibility and take care. It is not easy, but this is the very nature of having a situation that is not blanket one-size-fits-all, and it is also illustrating why you have to do it at a sensible level and not in the way that I think that Douglas Ross has been advising me to do. James Dornan, to be followed by Neil Gray. In light of the news around the Janssen windows vaccine being approved for use in the UK, can the First Minister give an indication of whether vaccination centres in Scotland will use it and who is most likely to be a priority for receiving it? It is very good news that the Janssen vaccine has now been authorised for supply in the UK. We are expecting that we will secure around 20 million doses overall for the UK, with Scotland receiving a proportionate population share of all vaccines that are procured. We would anticipate, although that is not certain yet, that some doses of the vaccine will be available for use in Scotland later this year. If that is the case, we will incorporate that into our modelling. Of course, we are basing our modelling right now on the supplies of the vaccines that we know are available and are already flowing through the supply route, and that is what we will continue to do. Neil Gray, to be followed by John Mason. I thank the First Minister for her statement and understand the balanced decisions that the Government had to take today, particularly around North Lanarkshire, has moved from level 2 to being delayed. Although it was clearly preceded by caution, can she advise whether the two-metre rule is under review as we move through the level? That is of particular concern for churches in Erdyn Shots who have been in touch with me. Can she also advise what support is available for people who are apprehensive about re-adjusting to changes of restrictions as we move forward, a particular concern that is highlighted by mental health charities? I thank Neil Gray for two very pertinent questions. I set out two or three weeks ago now that we intend to have an overall review of physical distancing. We have not concluded that yet. When we do conclude that, we will publish the outcome of that as we go further into the summer. If we stay on track, as I hope we will, then I hope that we will be able to reduce the distancing requirements. If not immediately in all settings, many settings in all churches have a particular interest in that. It is very much something that is under review on the second point. I understand that I know people in my own life who have that tentative feeling about getting back to normal again. It can make people anxious and stressful. What I would say to people is take comfort from the fact that we are continuing to take a cautious approach to this. If you have had your two dosies of the vaccine, you have significant protection against the virus, but it makes sense to continue to be cautious about face coverings, hand hygiene and distancing for the moment, because those are the things that we know help to keep people safe from getting it and transmitting the virus. John Mason, to be followed by Paul O'Kane. The fan zone for the European Championships was mentioned earlier on. I wonder if the First Minister can reassure my constituents who live near Glasgow Green and are a bit nervous about so many people coming into the area? I can understand people's nervousness. Many of my constituents live reasonably close to Glasgow Green as well. Those are difficult decisions. On the one hand, all of us want to be able to see Scotland play in the Euros and to see the Euros more generally, to have fans in the stadium, to have the ability of fans to enjoy the tournament more generally. We also want to see events start again and to have the assurance that they can happen safely. On the other hand, I know that people, perhaps those to whom football is not as important as it is to many, think that, if I am still under restrictions, why do we have large scale events? We are trying to get the balance of all of this as right as we can. We are working closely with the event organisers on preparations for the proposed fan zone. The situation with the virus will be continually reviewed in the run-up to the Euros, taking into account all of the latest evidence and information. However, the action that we are all taking is not about allowing a football tournament to go ahead, it is about allowing us to get everything or as much as possible in our society back to normal. The arrangements for the proposed fan zone have lots of mitigations in place to minimise the risks of transition. If not today, there will be a meeting tomorrow around that and those matters will continue to be kept under review. We want to allow fans to safely enjoy the Euros and, hopefully, enjoy being the operative word. We will work hard to make sure that that is the case. However, public safety and protecting people against this virus continue, of course, to be our overriding priority. The news today is that the North Ayrshire will remain in level 2 and will be disappointing for local people and businesses. I have been contacted by people in my region aged between 13 and 39 who are anxious that they have not yet been called for vaccination, despite the encouragement of people in the age group aged between 18 and 29 to register. We heard last week from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport that the online portal that is used for 18 to 29 Euros has been urgently looked at to be extended to the 30-plus age bracket. It would be useful to understand from the First Minister if she will urgently consider looking at that online registration and, indeed, could there be a more standard online booking process and, of course, the walk-in provision for areas of concern that are remaining in level 2 at the moment? First Minister, I welcome Paul Cain to the chamber. We certainly are considering extending online registration and, as we perhaps go into another round of the vaccination programme, online booking. Those developments will be kept under review, but in terms of over 30s, those appointments should all have been scheduled. If anybody in that age group has not had a letter, rather than wait for an online registration system, I would encourage them to go through the vaccination page to check what has happened and, if there has been a missed appointment, to get that appointment scheduled as quickly as possible. We will consider extending it, but that is not the solution to anybody right now in that age group who has not had the appointment that they have been expecting. That concludes the Covid-19 update. I will take this opportunity to ask that members continue to observe social distancing measures, including when entering and exiting the chamber. Please only use the aisles and walkways to access your seat when moving around the chamber. The next item of business is a debate on motion 144 in the name of Humza Yousaf on health recovery. I will take a moment to give members time to move.