 The next item of business is a statement by Nicola Sturgeon on a Covid-19 update. 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. Thank you, Presiding Officer. At the outset today, I want to confirm that there will be no changes this week to the Covid levels of protection that currently apply to different parts of the country. I'll say more about that later and also look ahead to the more substantive three-weekly review that I will set out to Parliament a week today, which is as scheduled ahead of 28 June, when the next schedule change and a move to level zero for the whole country was expected to take place. Firstly, I'll give a general summary of the current course of the pandemic, starting with today's statistics. The total number of cases that were reported yesterday was 974, which is 5 per cent of the total number of tests. That means that the overall number of confirmed cases is now 248,515. 137 people are currently in hospital, which is nine more than the number yesterday, and 17 people are receiving intensive care right now. That is the same number as reported yesterday. I also regret to say that two further deaths were reported yesterday, and that takes the total number of deaths registered under the daily definition to 7,683. Once again, I want to send my condolences to everyone who has been bereaved over the course of the pandemic. I will also provide an update on the vaccination programme. However, because of a technical issue at Public Health Scotland this morning, I would ask members to note that the figures that I am about to give are likely to under-report yesterday's vaccination performance. However, on the basis of the information that I have at this stage, I can confirm that as of 7.30 this morning, 3,531,461 people had received their first dose of the vaccine, which is an increase of 13,793 since yesterday. In addition, 23,347 people received a second dose yesterday, and that brings the total number of second doses now to 2,470,181. However, I would ask people to remember that those figures are likely to under-report the number of vaccinations that were carried out yesterday, and we will update that as quickly as possible. As is clear from the update that I have just given on the range of statistics, cases continue to rise. 6,651 new cases have been reported over the course of the past week, and that compares to a total of 5,475 in the week before that. Cases have risen by more than one-fifth in the past week, and they are now more than five times higher than the situation in early May. That reflects the fact that the faster transmitting delta variant is now common across Scotland and accounts for the overwhelming majority of new cases being reported at that stage. It is important to point out that, given the risk, for example, of long Covid, we should never be complacent about a rising curve of infections. However, as I have indicated before, we hope that vaccination is increasingly protecting people against serious illness. If that is indeed the case, our experience of the virus will become different, and our ability to cope with it in a less restrictive way will become much greater. That is why we continue to very closely monitor the extent to which the rise in new cases is, or is not, leading to a commensurate rise in the number of people who fall seriously ill and require hospital treatment. Our early data on that point is encouraging, and I will say more about that shortly, but we still need further analysis, in particular, to fully understand the impact of the delta variant. To that end—a new study that was published yesterday by Edinburgh University was instructive, and I recommend that members read that—on the one hand, it suggests that the delta variant is associated with a higher risk of hospitalisation than other variants, but on the other hand, it suggests that double dose vaccination continues to provide a high level of protection against infection with and hospitalisation from the virus. That was underlined by another study that was published yesterday by Public Health England, showing extremely strong protection against hospitalisation after two doses of vaccine. In short, all the evidence so far suggests that, while it has not yet been completely broken, vaccination is weakening the link between the rise in new cases and a rise in hospitalisations. There is much in those studies about the impact of vaccination for us to be optimistic about. As I indicated earlier, that is reflected in our own hospital data, which, of course, is published on a daily basis. The number of people being admitted to hospital with Covid has fallen from around 10 per cent of reported positive cases at the start of the year to around 5 per cent now. In addition, since around the start of May, new cases have increased at a much faster rate than hospital admissions. We are also now seeing some evidence that the people who require hospital care are on average younger than during previous stages of the pandemic. In the latest week, for example, the highest number of new admissions was seen among people in the 30s and 40s. The next highest number was of people in their 20s. Before the vaccination programme started, people over the age of 50 usually made up the highest number of new admissions to hospital. Let me stress that we should not be complacent about hospitalisation for anyone no matter what age they are. However, the fact that more of the recent hospital admissions are in younger age groups may mean that fewer of the people being admitted to hospital are becoming seriously ill or requiring intensive care. That might also help to explain my next point. Hospital occupancy, which is the total number of people with Covid in hospital at any given time, is not rising at the same rate as either hospital admissions or cases of Covid. Indeed, while there has been an approximate five-fold increase in cases since the start of May, hospital occupancy is around just double what it was at the start of May. What that suggests is that people are being discharged more quickly and spending on average less time in hospital than patients were in earlier phases of the pandemic. While that is encouraging, it is important to stress that further analysis is needed to confirm that. That brings me to the judgments that we require to make now and next week. In short, we are hopeful that vaccination is changing the game in our fight against this virus and perhaps in a very fundamental way. However, the emerging evidence still needs close analysis and more fundamentally—perhaps that is the most fundamental point of all today—we do need time to get more people vaccinated with both doses. In the race between the virus and the vaccines that we have spoken about often, we are increasingly confident that vaccines will win the race, but we must not allow the virus to get too far ahead of it. The vaccination programme is going exceptionally well. It is being rolled out just as quickly as supplies allow, but there is still a significant proportion of the population that is not yet fully vaccinated with two doses. To be blunt, that remains our biggest vulnerability at this stage and it is quite a significant vulnerability when cases are rising at the pace that they are. We need to buy sufficient time for the vaccination to get ahead and to stay ahead of the virus, and that is the reason for caution to be exercised at this juncture. Those issues are also being weighed up by the UK Government and by the other Governments across the UK. The UK Government just yesterday announced a four-week delay to its plans for lifting Covid restrictions in England. The Scottish Government too will continue to adopt a cautious approach. I have already confirmed today that no changes will be made this week to the levels that apply in any part of the country. Our next full scheduled review of the protection levels will take place next week, and that will consider whether any changes are possible from 28 June onwards. The date when we had hoped we would see the whole country move down to level 0. I will confirm our decision to Parliament next week following that review. However, given the current situation and the need to get more people fully vaccinated before we ease up further, it is reasonable to indicate now that it is unlikely that any part of the country will move down a level from 28 June. Instead, it is more likely that we will opt to maintain restrictions for a further three weeks from 28 June and use that time to vaccinate with both doses as many more people as possible. Doing that will give us the best chance later in July of getting back on track and restoring the much greater normality that we all crave. To that end, we will also do three other things next week, and I will report on all of this this time next week when I stand here to give a statement. If our decision is to retain current levels for a further three weeks, we have to go through the proper process to arrive at that decision. However, if that is the decision, we will consider whether any minor changes are possible. I am very aware that, as restrictions have eased, perceived anomalies have arisen. I understand how frustrating those can be, even though there will often be a rational explanation for what might appear to be contradictory. I can assure members that, as part of our on-going review of the regulations and rules in place, we will consider whether any changes should or could be made to address such issues. More fundamentally, though, we will publish two pieces of work next week to coincide with the outcome of the review that will look ahead—hopefully not too far ahead—to the restoration of a much greater degree of normality. The work will be of interest to everyone, but it will have particular interest for the businesses and sectors, including much of our arts and culture sector, for example, that still face the greatest uncertainty about what the future looks like. First, we will publish a paper setting out what we hope life will look like beyond level zero, as we get to the point where we can lift all, or at least virtually all, of the remaining restrictions. That is important because, while we have had to pause the route map, we still hope that vaccination will allow us over this summer to move beyond level zero and back to a much greater degree of normality. Secondly, related to the first, we will publish the outcome of our review of physical distancing. Given the uncertainties of the current situation, in particular the greater transmissibility of the delta variant, we have taken a bit longer to consider that than we had originally planned. However, I know how important that is for many businesses in hospitality, certainly, but also for theatres and cinemas and the arts more generally, as they all consider how they can operate sustainably over the medium to long term. In summary next week, we will, in all probability, although that has to be confirmed after our full review, pause the further easing of restrictions while we press ahead as fast as possible with vaccination and, in particular, with double doses of vaccination. However, we will also look ahead in more detail to what we still hope will be possible later in the summer. I know that the current situation is difficult and frustrating for everyone. We all want to see the back of all restrictions as soon as possible. However, while the setback is not easy and it is not welcome for anyone, it is worth remembering that we are living under far fewer restrictions now than was the case just a few weeks ago. The current situation is not what any of us want, but, equally, the current situation is not locked down as experienced at earlier phases in the pandemic. Vaccination is, with every day that passes, quite literally helping us to change the game. On that point, as well as doing all we can as quickly as we can to fully vaccinate the adult population, we are also making preparations for the possible vaccination of 12 to 17-year-olds should the advice that we get from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommend that. I can tell the chamber that we are also expecting advice from the JCVI in the coming weeks about whether or not booster vaccinations will be needed during this autumn, so plans are also under way to deliver those if necessary. The Government has an obligation when we take very seriously to ensure that the vaccination programme is delivered as quickly and as fully as possible, and I give an assurance that we will continue to work with health boards and others to meet that obligation. Despite the difficulties of the current situation, it is vaccination that still offers us real hope for the weeks and months ahead. Getting people vaccinated is first and foremost the responsibility of Government, however it is also one of the ways in which we can all play a part. I will end today by highlighting again the three key things that we all need to do to help to keep us on the right track overall as we emerge from the pandemic. The first of those is vaccination. Please make sure that you get vaccinated when you are invited to do so and please make sure that you attend for both doses. All of the evidence tells us that that is absolutely crucial. If you need to rearrange an appointment or if you think that you should have had an invitation by now and you want to check up on that, you can go to the vaccination section of the NHS Inform website. If you had your first dose of the vaccine eight weeks or more ago, check on the website to see if you can bring your second dose appointment forward. From next week, health boards will start to routinely reschedule second doses to bring them into the eight-week cycle rather than the 12-week cycle. Getting vaccinated is in our best interests. It makes it less likely that it will become seriously ill from Covid but it also helps us to protect each other. When it is your turn, please get the jags. Secondly, please get tested regularly. Free lateral flow tests are available through the NHS Inform website so that you can take a test twice a week. You can have them sent in the post or you can collect them from local and regional test sites. Also now, lateral flow devices can be collected from community pharmacies. If you have not ordered the test yet, I would strongly encourage you to do so. The more of us who take tests regularly, the more cases we will find and the more we can break chains of transmission. If you test positive, please make sure that you self-isolate and get the result confirmed through a PCR test. That is important. If your children are asked to self-isolate by their school, please ensure that they do that. That means staying at home, not just away from school. I know that it is hugely frustrating when that happens and I want to assure parents that, as part of our wider work, we are considering whether, to what extent, the requirement for young people to isolate can be significantly reduced in future, particularly as we look ahead to a new school term. For now, to anyone who is currently helping a child to self-isolate, I thank you. I know that it is frustrating and hugely disruptive, but it is also an important way at this stage to help to keep schools as safe as possible and, of course, to keep as many of them open as we head towards the summer holidays. Finally, I ask everybody to continue to stick to the rules where you live and follow the public health advice. This is still important. The virus is still out there and, for all the success of the vaccination programme, it is still resulting in hospitalisation for some people. Of course, long Covid is still a risk. Please meet outdoors as much as possible. No environment is ever entirely risk-free, but meeting people outdoors poses much less risk than meeting indoors. However, if you are meeting people indoors, please stick to the limits and make sure that the room is as well ventilated as possible. That obviously includes meeting indoors to watch football over the next few weeks. Please continue to follow advice on distancing, hand washing and face coverings. In summary, we continue to ask everybody to get tested, to get vaccinated when you are asked to do so, and to continue to follow the public health guidance. If we all do that, it is not easy, it is tiresome for everybody, but if we all do that, we will help to get things back under control while the vaccination programme continues to do its work. That will help to keep ourselves and each other safe. I really hope that, notwithstanding the current frustrations, it will allow us to move to much greater normality with far fewer restrictions as we go further into this summer. Thank you. 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. I would be grateful if members would like to ask a question or to press their request to speak buttons now. I call Douglas Ross. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. People all over the country will be frustrated at the news that restrictions may continue for weeks or even months. We had all hoped for a summer of freedom, but, instead, the stubborn virus is determined to keep us scunnered instead, because we are all thoroughly fed up with Covid and the damaging consequences that it is having on jobs, on businesses, on people's mental and physical health. The vaccine remains our best hope of beating Covid. Our NHS, our volunteers and our armed forces are already pulling off incredible feats to vaccinate the numbers that the First Minister has outlined. We need to target as many resources as possible in their direction to ensure that the vaccine wins race against the virus. First, when is the Government projecting that all adults will have received both doses of the vaccine? Secondly, that on-going uncertainty is crippling to businesses, especially those who still do not know when they will be able to fully reopen. It is also hurtful for people planning major life events who still do not know if they will be able to have more than 50 people at their wedding. Just as I asked the First Minister last week, will she consider lifting the capacity constraints on weddings, especially in areas in level 2? Yesterday, the national clinical director suggested that this new variant could delay lockdown exit by up to 10 weeks. Can the First Minister tell us that the Government is seriously considering delaying the move to level 0 until September? Finally, but crucially, figures published today by cancer research show a ticking time bomb in cancer care. Around 4,000 fewer people have started cancer treatment and 1,000 fewer have commenced breast cancer treatment alone. Those figures must set alarm bells ringing. The cancer care crisis will continue to spiral without urgent action. When will the First Minister publish a catch-up plan for cancer care and will she consider our proposals for a clinician-led NHS remobilisation task force to bring treatment times under control? I would ask members and those watching to pay attention to what I said. The situation that we are in just now is frustrating enough for people. It is difficult enough for everybody to watch. Without inadvertently, I am sure that I am putting words in my mouth that I did not use. I did not say at any point today—this is relevant to Douglas Ross' question about September. At no point today did I say that I thought that restrictions would be in place for a period of further months. I did not say that. I have tried all along not to commit to firm dates way into the future that nobody can be certain can be delivered. I got real criticism earlier this year for not saying that 21 June would be freedom day, because I did not think that it was responsible to do that. I am not going to give false guarantees, but equally it is important not to suggest that I have said something that I have not. What I have said firstly today is that we are not lifting any restrictions this week. It is likely—although we have to go through the proper process of arriving at that—that next week we will pause further easing for a further three-week period in order to allow more people to be vaccinated. I hope that that will allow us through greater vaccination to lift restrictions and not just get to level 0, but I hope beyond level 0 later this summer. Can I stand here and give a 100 per cent guarantee of that? No, I cannot, because this is an unpredictable virus that is behaving in times and unpredictable ways, but that is what we are working towards. We know through vaccination that that is the best route to get there. Those situations are difficult enough without any of us trying to suggest that I have said something that I have not said. I think that it is important to understand that. On vaccination, we have set the target to offer everybody a first dose of the adult population, a first dose by the end of July. In actual fact, by the end of next week, everybody in the adult population will have been offered their appointment for the first dose. In fact, many in the 18 to 29-year-old age group will be getting those appointments by text and by email already, but letters to the remainder will go out over the course of next week. Appointments will be scheduled for the entirety of the adult population that has not already had their first dose by the end of next week. Of course, second doses we are seeking to do within eight weeks now of the first dose, so we can work from that. The outer limit is seeking to get the adult population vaccinated with a second dose. Obviously, supplies remain our biggest constraints, so all of that is subject to sufficient supplies, but we are doing that as quickly as supplies allow. On weddings, I have said that we will look next week at whether there are any changes we can make, albeit that we may be staying within the same levels. I understand, absolutely understand, the heartbreak for people wanting to get married, planning and having to reschedule weddings. We will look to see what flexibility we can give within the clinical advice that we are setting. I will say as much around that next week as is possible. Finally, on NHS care remobilisation generally, but cancer in particular, the health secretary will set out the remobilisation for the health plan. We committed to doing that within the first 100 days of our administration. Many cancer procedures were among those that kept going during the pandemic, giving the urgency, but we know that there are some people who will not have come forward with concerns about symptoms, so we need to get that back on track. My final point is that one of the reasons that we need to be cautious right now is that, when we talked at an earlier stage of the pandemic about not overwhelming the NHS, we assumed then that almost the entire capacity of the NHS was available for Covid. We do not want to get anywhere near that right now because we want our NHS to be getting on with the non-Covid treatments, catching up on the backlogs and getting treatment back to normal. That is a really important factor as we try to take the decisions that we face over the next couple of weeks. I thank the First Minister for her advance site of her statement. Like her, I extend my condolences to the two families who have lost a loved one and all those who have suffered a loss throughout the pandemic. In order to maintain public trust and confidence, we need consistent communications, consistent decision making, adequate support for businesses and employees, alongside a robust vaccination programme and hotspot protocols. I accept what the First Minister just said about the three-week delay or eight-week delay in terms of speculation, but there have been mixed messages that I think do not help to maintain public trust. We have also seen inconsistent decision making. Why is it okay to have 3,000 fans, for example, at a fan zone, but parents cannot attend a nursery graduation outdoors? I agree with the First Minister on the need to extend furlough, but does she also accept that we need much more significant business support, particularly in those areas with further restrictions and better communications with individual sectors? If we have a three-week delay from June 28, that takes us to July 19, can we have a commitment that we will have next to all 40 pluses double-dosed by that date and every 18-year-old single-dosed by that date, so that we can truly ramp up our vaccination programme? Will she publish the hotspot protocols that were promised just a couple of weeks ago? Does she accept that, ultimately, we will have to learn to live with the virus and that the plans that she will publish next week will include how we can live with the virus as safely as possible? Let me try to take those as briefly as possible in turn, if I can read my own handwriting with my glasses on for a second. I will do my best, as I have done all along, to communicate as clearly as I can and as regularly as I can with the public. The more we start to ease restrictions in an increasingly complicated environment, I will say just as an aside that Anasarwar's deputy has regular intervals during this pandemic trying to stop me communicating directly with the public, so perhaps he should maybe have a word with her as well as with me. Moving on, I recognise that, as we come out, the easiest communication message in the world is to say to people, do not do anything, do not leave the house. As you try to lift restrictions, two things arise. The potential for genuine contradictions that we just get wrong and we have to be prepared to fix them as we go, and I give an assurance that we will seek to do that. The second thing that arises is for things where there is a rational explanation to appear contradictory. The example that has been used of the fan zone in Glasgow, people are going to watch football over this period. The fan zone provides a relatively safer way for some people to do that, outdoors with lots of physical distancing and a highly regulated environment. On the nursery graduations, I have asked over the course of the last few days the education advisory subgroup to look again at this. Their advice is still to continue with the position. One of the reasons there is that we know that, if there are cases identified in an educational setting, often it can disrupt the whole setting with many young people and teachers having to isolate, and many early years establishments run right through this summer. Often there are rational reasons for what appears contradictory, but that does not make it easy for people to understand. I do not have the magic solution to all that, but I will do my utmost to try to make sure that our decisions are consistent and that we set them out as clearly as possible. If we get things wrong, we will fix that as we go. On business support, we will continue to give as much business support as we have the wherewithal to give. We are making representations to the UK Government around furlough and around further support in other ways, but we will continue to maximise the support that we can give within our own resources. On vaccination, we are literally going as fast as supplies allow. If we cannot reach milestones on vaccination, it is only going to be because we do not have the supplies to do that. I have set out in response to my earlier question the milestones that we are working to, the fact that all over 18-year-olds will either have had their first dose or the appointment for the first dose by the end of next week. We are then bringing forward second doses, and we will go as fast as supplies allow while planning for extending the vaccination programme into other cohorts. I will certainly look to publish any protocol that we have published. Sometimes, those things are highly technical, but we will publish what we can to give us much transparency. Finally, on living with this virus, I am always a little bit hesitant to use that language, because, for some people, the virus has meant losing loved ones. The virus will mean long-term health complications. For those of us who are lucky enough not to have had the virus or not to have had close members affected using language like we just have to learn to live with it, it can sound to be oversimplifying it. However, as we vaccinate more people, and if that link between cases and serious illness continues to weaken and hopefully break, then we go into a fundamentally different way of dealing with this virus, where we have far, far less restrictions, and hopefully no meaningful restrictions at all. That is what the paper that I have referred to about living after level 0 is designed to look at, and we will publish that next week to coincide with the statement that I will make then. The recent exponential growth of Covid cases in Scotland is a cause for concern, and there is a risk of yet more people dying or suffering from long Covid before their vaccination roll-out can be completed. The Scottish Greens have supported a cautious approach throughout the pandemic, and I welcome the decision to delay lifting restrictions today. The travel industry is already advertising and selling holidays, actively encouraging people to travel even to amber list countries for non-essential reasons, not just for family reunions despite the risk. Will the First Minister accept that if we want to end restrictions in a safe and permanent way, non-essential international leisure travel will have to be the last thing to return to normal? I have been very clear all along. It has not been an easy message. It has been particularly difficult for the travel industry, and rightly it has raised questions about that. I have said all along, and I will continue to say that right now people should not travel overseas for non-essential reasons. The biggest risk that we face is the importation of new variants, where we are living with a new variant right now, and that is what is making things so difficult right now. I have spoken in the past, and I will not go into more detail right now about my intense frustration at the lack of more robust controls around the UK border more generally. I think that we are paying a price for that right now, if I can be very blunt about it, but we need to continue to be careful and cautious. That is tough. It is likely to be one of the last things to go back completely to normal international travel, but if we continue to be cautious around non-essential travel—and I know that, for many people, going overseas is a bit family reunion, which many people will see as essential—for non-essential reasons, if we can limit international travel, we would give ourselves the best chance of avoiding new variants and getting that current situation back under control. Last week, in response to me, the First Minister said that she would look at speeding up the reopening of services for adults with special needs. What was the outcome of that work? Today, universities are seeking early guidance for the return of students in the autumn. When will that Government guidance be published? Finally, the First Minister said that it is likely that restrictions will not be eased for five weeks. I want to explore how certain that is. If hospitalisations do not go out of control and vaccination progresses, will she ease restrictions earlier than those five weeks? I will ease restrictions as quickly as I think that it is safe and responsible to do that. Nobody has any interest in keeping any restriction in place for any longer than is necessary. On the issue of adults with severe learning disabilities or vulnerable adults more general, the guidance that is in place for some time allows local authorities or local partners to open up services as they consider that it is safe to do so. There has been communication with the Government and local partners to encourage the opening up of those services. I will ask the relevant minister to write to Willie Rennie with a full update on the work that has been done there to get those services back to normal as quickly as possible. On international students, we are going to offer vaccination to international students coming this year, which is an additional protection that will be important. We will continue to work with universities and colleges to make sure that the right overall guidance is in place as quickly as possible to ensure as much protection as we can for what we know from our experience last year is a risk as we go into the autumn and we will keep Parliament updated on all of those things as they develop. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I refer to the delayed publication of the review into physical distancing, which I understand is impacting on businesses in my constituency, such as the Villilian cinemax family run and owned, and amateur performers such as Pipe and Silver Bands and even a choir, none of which can even rehearse outdoors. Can I ask if particular consideration will be given to both businesses and the performing arts, both amateur and professional, when that review is published and if I can give them some guidance as to when that review into physical distancing might be published? It will be published a week today, which I said in my original statement to coincide with the statement that I will give next week. It will look at physical distancing more fundamentally. Again, as I said in the statement, that will not be exclusively of interest to the arts and culture sector, but it will be of particular interest. I want to recognise today how difficult it has been for arts venues and how difficult it continues to be, because they are one of the sectors with the least certainty about what the future looks at. We had hoped to have published the review on physical distancing before now, but, as I hope, people will understand, we have been trying to develop an understanding of the degree to which this delta variant is more infectious and more transmissible, so it did not seem sensible to publish that while we were still trying to understand that. We will publish it next week. It may not be able to answer every question with 100 per cent certainty, but, like the work that we will publish on what life looks like after level 0, it will give more of a sense of what kind of environment businesses and individuals will be operating in as we, hopefully, get back to greater normality. Yesterday, I wrote to the First Minister that it is a final plea on behalf of parents and guardians so that they contend nursery and school graduations and sports days. Parents are understandably frustrated by the growing number of inconsistencies in the current Covid restrictions. Can I ask the First Minister if she will consider the suggestions in my letter such as outdoor only events so that parents can attend these important occasions? I absolutely recognise how important this issue is, and I feel for parents who are in the position of not being able to mark the transition in a young person's life in the normal way and nobody in any way, shape or form, underplays the significance of that. I have been looking at this issue, as people would expect, particularly closely over the past week. I have asked the advisory group, the subgroup of our advisory committee, which looks particularly at education and young people's issues. Their advice still is to restrict gatherings of this nature. This is not the only reason, but one of the reasons is around the protection for educational establishments overall, to try to minimise the potential for whole nurseries or early years establishments having to close. We look at those things on an on-going basis. It is important to say that this will not be of comfort to everybody. I know that nursery graduations have not been cancelled. I know that many nurseries are looking at different ways to do this. I have heard of nurseries in the past few days that are filming ceremonies and allowing parents to watch online, which is a poor substitute. Others are having sessions with photographs of children that are provided to parents. Some are arranging staggered pickup times so that individual parents can see their child get a graduation certificate and take photographs of them. There is a lot of thought and care being given to that. I wish that we could just take away all of those restrictions, but I have to have mind to the advice that is coming from the experts on this and the reasons for it. I want to ask what preparations are being made to reassure the international community that COP26, due to take place in Glasgow November, can be held safely considering the logistical challenges of the pandemic and the potential emergence of further strains. I thank Michelle Thomson for her opportunity. I have had to welcome Michelle Thomson to the chamber, as she has asked a question. I give an assurance that we are working very closely with the UK Government, Glasgow City Council, public health bodies and the UN to deliver a safe and successful and as far as possible in person COP26 in November. We recognise that there are significant challenges to public health, but there is also an urgent overriding need to agree action to tackle climate change. All possible Covid security measures are being explored. Vaccination, test and protect will be key. At the G7 summit just a few days ago, the UK announced the provision of vaccines for COP26 delegates, which are otherwise unable to access them. They have engaged delegates on Covid plans as well. Scottish Government ministers and officials are closely involved in planning for all COP26 Covid measures and all aspects of event delivery. As we get closer to the time of COP, we will keep Parliament fully updated on arrangements. Jackie Baillie to be followed by Liam Kerr. My constituent Emma Gilday is being denied the opportunity to see her four-year-old daughter Remy graduate from nursery. A small number of parents and children outdoors in a garden, socially distanced, observing the rules for an event at a nursery to mark the transition to primary school, not allowed. Attendance at school sports days, not allowed. 6,000 fans a day at the Euro 2021 fan zone with alcohol and no mandatory testing, but that is allowed. All schools are operating full-time. The lack of logic and consistency in the application of the rules is causing confusion and upset. I hear the First Minister saying that the guidelines have been reviewed. Perhaps we could consider inviting parents to test before they go attend one of those events. Will she undertake to publish the evidence that informs any decision about restricting access to nursery graduations and school sports days? The advisory subgroup, what more we can publish to explain the basis of their advice to ministers, is their advice that we are going by. If I did not do that perfectly, legitimately, Jackie Baillie would no doubt be questioning that as well. The tone of Jackie Baillie's question, I do not know whether it is intended to suggest that somehow I do not care about all of this. I care deeply about all of this and nothing very few things are more upsetting for parents than to miss a milestone in their child's life. We all understand that. We are trying to get as much back to normal as we possibly can and we will continue to do that, but we have to do that in line with advice for the reasons that I think everybody understands. Liam Kerr, to be followed by James Dorn. Over the last week, Dundee has seen a surge in cases. The latest figures show 294.7 cases per 100,000 people. That is twice the national average and substantially higher than, for example, Glasgow's 156.5 cases per 100,000. It is also in the top five highest council areas for newly reported positive cases. Other areas, such as Glasgow, have seen targeted measures such as walk-in vaccination centres. Dundee operates one centre for those who have gone longer than 12 weeks after first dose, so will this be extended to those who have not been vaccinated at all? If not, why not? The local public health teams in Dundee will be deciding on the appropriate response in exactly the same way that the local public health team in Glasgow did that, and they have the support of the Scottish Government for any assistance or resource that they need to implement any of that. As I said in my original statement, all health boards from next week, although people can go on already to the NHS informed website and look to bring second dose appointments forward, but from next week routinely health boards will be bringing appointments that are on a 12-week cycle forward so that they meet the 8-week cycle as part of our efforts to speed up second dose vaccinations. Local health boards will use surge testing, walk-in clinics as they think appropriate. I am sure that the local health teams in Tayside, as local health teams in Glasgow did very effectively a few weeks ago, will keep local members updated on that, and we will be very happy to answer more detailed questions from them. James Dornan, to be followed by Pauline McNeill. Thank you, First Minister, for the statement. You mentioned it earlier on in response to another member, but did you tell us what you think that the UK Government's delay in tightening the borders contributed to the delta variant getting loose in the UK? There is no doubt—I am not the only person who will say this—that the lack of very robust border controls in recent months has been a factor in the situation that we are dealing with right now, and that is deeply frustrating. We are where we are, so we have to all of us take our responsibility for navigating our way through that. If we cast our minds back to mid-Febru, the Scottish Government decided to insist on mandatory managed quarantine for all direct arrivals into Scotland, regardless of what country they came from, so that would have included India. At that time, despite our pleading, the UK Government only insisted on managed quarantine for red-listed countries, and it took until the latter part of April to put India on the red list. I have said many times that people have heard me say that that left us with a serious vulnerability of people coming into the UK to English airports and travelling to Scotland and therefore not being caught by our managed quarantine arrangements. We pleaded with the UK Government to put common provisions in place across the UK, but we also pleaded with them to introduce a situation where people coming into an English airport but intending to go to Scotland would be made to quarantine at the point of arrival. Michael Gove, I think, wrote to the transport secretary back in February refusing point blank to do that. He wouldn't, and I'm quoting, legally treat people differently in England based on their final destination within the UK. So I do have a deep frustration about this, but we are where we are and we have to deal with this, but there is no doubt at all that two lax border controls around the whole of the UK have played a part in where we are right now. Pauline McNeill, to be followed by Jim Fairlie. Why is it that you can have a live band with singing in the Glasgow fan zone in Glasgow, but not at a wedding, in a pub or even outdoors in another music venue? On behalf of musicians in the wedding sector, pubs and clubs, can I ask the First Minister to set out clearly the public barriers to singing and dancing at weddings and in pubs? When can you set out the conditions that would be required to allow this? Would you consider a proposal that I and others from the industry are putting together on the mitigation that the industry could support? Would you engage with this, First Minister? Consider a pilot event that other countries and other cities have done. Give musicians and publicans and weddings hope that there is a road map that we can work together on and trust. I would be very happy to engage in ministers and clinical advisers. We will be happy to engage in that. We of course want to get all parts of economy and society back to as much normality as quickly as possible. There is a very significant difference between things happening outdoors and indoors. I think that people understand that in terms of outdoors. That was set out previously when we published one of the updates to the route map. There is a process that organisers can go through to get permission for bigger tendencies at events. It is effectively the process that has been gone through for some of the activity around the Euros in Glasgow. Those things are difficult. Those things demand very close consideration, because we have to mitigate as much as possible the risks of transmission as far as possible while recognising the realities of some of the things that we are dealing with. We will engage on an on-going basis as we try to get all of that back to normal as quickly as we can. I would like to thank the First Minister for her statement today. First Minister has mentioned long Covid several times in her statement. I have a constituent who is suffering badly from it. I am aware that the Scottish Government is looking at how best to help sufferers of long Covid. That may well be in the form of clinics once we know what the specialities are that are best suited to the best outcomes. In the meantime, is there any other support that the Scottish Government can offer sufferers either practically or financially? I thank Jim Fairlie for an important question. We feel as if we have been living with Covid forever, but it is only just more than a year. It is a relatively new illness, and clinicians and experts are still developing their understanding of it, what effect it has on people, so that we can then ensure that people, including those with long Covid, get the best possible care and support. The NHS delivers services tailored as far as possible to the individual needs of people who are experiencing long Covid already. In consultation with clinicians and patients, we have developed support for primary care teams to identify and assess and support people with long Covid. We are also working with Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland to develop their long Covid support service, which complements the work that is being done by the NHS. We also encourage employers to apply fair work principles to support those with long Covid and to make current full use of the furlough scheme. As our understanding of long Covid develops, so too will the services that we are able to put in place to support people on that in time will include specialist services, but this is a process of understanding the impacts and helping people as much as we can as we go along. Rachel Hamilton, to be followed by Gordon MacDonald. Constituents planning essential travel have contacted me regarding delays in processing their Covid vaccination status through the NHS informed system, causing concern that their travel plans will have to be delayed or cancelled. I would like to ask the First Minister what steps her Government has taken towards developing an app-based vaccination certification scheme, and can she also update me on the progress of the publication of no-show data for Covid vaccination appointments, which, on 1 June, she said that she would look into? On the essential travel, we tell people that it can take up to 21 days to get a certificate so that they should make sure that they apply in good time. I am not aware of any delays beyond that, but I am happy to look into that. As I said earlier on, we are encouraging people not to travel overseas unless it is essential, but when it is essential, they have the ability to do that. There are still a relatively small number of countries asking for proof of vaccination. We are continuing to work in having dialogue with other UK nations about the development of further more developed solutions to that as we go forward. With my apologies, I was conferring with the health secretary not to pick up the last part of the question, but I will check the record and get back. I think that it was to do with the technology in place and how we are developing that. I will get back to the member on that as quickly as possible. Gordon MacDonald, to be followed by Dean Lockhart. Many people have been shielding for a very long time and are now experiencing anxiety as restrictions have eased. Their anxiety levels can only have increased further following yesterday's announcement in England about the lifting of restrictions being halted and that the current Covid levels are possible to remain in place in Scotland for a further three weeks. What advice can the First Minister provide for my constituents who are previously required to shield? In levels 0 and 1, we ask people at the highest clinical risk to follow the same advice as the rest of the population to continue to take care. There is extra advice for people who are living at higher levels of protection and we continue to review that based on the up-to-date evidence. We have also prioritised adult household members of people on the shielding list for vaccination and encouraged them to take up the offer of free test devices for extra reassurance. Almost 92 per cent of people on the shielding list have now had both doses of the vaccine and I hope that the protection that it offers will make people over time feel less anxious about returning to some form of normality. I am acutely aware of the impact that shielding has had on people's mental health and wellbeing and we do not intend to ask people to shield in the same highly restrictive way that we saw in March 2020. Dean Lockhart, to be followed by Siobhan Brown. When the Scottish Government announced its draft guidelines for physical distancing in the hospitality sector in April this year, there was widespread confusion and concern that the measures were impossible to implement and had been published without meaningful consultation with the sector. What consultations has the First Minister had with the hospitality sector this time around in relation to the update to physical distancing to make sure that the same mistakes do not happen again? I think that if memory is serving me correctly here and no doubt I will be corrected if I am getting this wrong when the concerns that the member referred to were raised, some within the industry, went public to say that those concerns were unfounded, and it was a misreading of the guidance. As I recall, it possibly was the Scottish Beer and Pub Association that did that. We will engage as we go to try to make sure not just that the arrangements that we are asking people to follow are in line with clinical advice but that they take account of the practicalities that businesses are operating within. I do not expect in a situation as difficult as that for any guidance or any set of regulations to please everybody, because this is a really difficult situation, but we continue to work hard to make sure that we take account of the views that people express. Recently, I had a constituent who had to self-isolate in a hotel for 10 days upon her return to Scotland. My constituent requires a gluten-free diet. Can the Scottish Government confirm that any person entering Scotland who has to self-isolate in a hotel can cater to all dietary requirements? We will continue to do what we can to ensure that that is the case. We liage regularly with the quarantine hotels in Scotland to ensure that the dietary needs of individuals are met wherever that is reasonably practical. People are asked to notify any allergies or dietary requirements that they have in advance. The managed quarantine services contract overall is managed by the UK Government, but we will continue to liaise in the way that I have set out to make sure that all of those issues are taken account of. John Mason, to be followed by Paul Sweeney. Thank you. The fan zone and the euros in general have been mentioned a number of times already. Can the First Minister give any update as to how she feels the first four days have gone, especially in relation to Covid? Before I do that, let me say again, as I have done before, I understand why people in some cases will be nervous about the fan zone. In other cases, we will just think that it shouldn't be going ahead given that we are still living under other restrictions. As I said earlier on, we know that people are going to watch football, we are trying to provide environments in which that can be done as safely as possible. The fan zone is a highly regulated environment—outdoors and a big, big space—with lots of mitigations in place. So far, behaviour and compliance have been very good. I know that the health secretary visited it over the weekend. Organisers Glasgow Life report a good atmosphere on site, a mix of demographics, including families and children. With all mitigations in place, including the testing advice that we are giving people, we are confident that it is low risk based on public health advice. There is a review team being set up at the initiative of the health secretary to make sure that we can take account of any emerging evidence that might change our approach as we go through the tournament. However, wherever people are going to watch football right now, it is really important that they follow public health advice. That is true at the fan zone, but that is a big outdoor space. It is particularly true if people are gathering in other people's houses or in pubs that we take care to make sure that all of the advice is being followed. First Minister made points about the impact of international travel on the highly transmissible delta variant and the constraints therein. However, has the First Minister considered all provisions in part 7 of the Public Health Scotland Act 2008 and what potential further measures could be introduced, particularly about making it a statutory offence to not comply with quarantine rules and perhaps use that as a means of communicating more effectively to tighten up international transmission into Scotland? On an on-going basis, all the possible levers are open to us. I will write to the member specifically about the provisions of the act that he refers to. It is important that we make sure that the managed quarantine arrangements that have been in place, although they have been changed along the way since mid-February, that the exemptions are very limited and very restrictive. It is important that we do what we can to make sure that any arrangement that we have in Scotland is as robust as possible and that we are open to making further changes. That will not take away the vulnerability that I spoke about, which is people coming into Scotland via other parts of the UK. The risk remains that, even if we apply tighter restrictions here and if there are less restrictions elsewhere, that vulnerability remains. Counted intuitively, as some people would think from me, I have been an advocate of four nations' consistency around travel rules as far as possible. We will continue to make that argument as well. Concerns have been raised at the UK Government's plan to phase out the furlough scheme that the First Minister mentioned, from 1 July to despite the fact that we are still in restrictions. Does the First Minister agree that the UK Government must urgently rethink those plans and extend the furlough scheme until Covid restrictions are fully lifted? We have consistently made the case, along with others. It is fair to say that the furlough scheme should remain in place for as long as it is needed. We have also asked the UK Government to review the rules that will require contributions to the cost of the scheme from July and that currently it is good people who have started a new job since 2 March from being furloughed. It must also be clear to businesses and workers well in advance of the scheme ending what further assistance will be in place to support jobs and necessary labour market transitions in sectors that are most deeply affected by Covid. Given the Prime Minister's announcement yesterday and the situation that all of us across the UK are dealing with, I think that the case for the need to extend furlough further is really strong and is getting stronger all the time. Stuart McMillan, to be followed by Jamie Halcro Johnston. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The UK Government needs to boost funding for the economy with a major fiscal stimulus so that we can actually secure an investment-led recovery from this pandemic. Can the First Minister provide an update as to the Scottish Government's latest engagement with the UK Government regarding the funding available to support our recovery? I hope that everybody would agree that the need for fiscal stimulus to support economic recovery is very clear. I think that there is an absolute requirement on the part of the UK Government not to go back to the Tory austerity that we saw in recent years. Alongside the finance ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland, our own finance secretary is writing to the chancellor setting out the Scottish Government's commitment to building on the constructive discussions that we had at the recent Covid recovery summit to ensure that we are working together as far as possible to build a sustainable recovery. That includes discussing important matters around clarity about the job retention scheme and the forthcoming UK spending review. If we are going to ensure that Scotland and the whole UK recover well from the pandemic and build a sustainable recovery, given where powers currently lie over the economy and finances, we need the chancellor to take the appropriate decisions to support that for all of us. In April, the First Minister advised visitors to Scotland's islands to voluntarily take two Covid tests prior to travelling. Can the First Minister advise me how the Scottish Government has advertised its advice to travellers? What monitoring has been undertaken by the Scottish Government of compliance? And what information is available on the proportion of visitors taking the recommended testing? We take every opportunity, as I have again today, to encourage people to get lateral float tests. I took every opportunity at regular daily briefings. Again, the Conservatives were very keen to stop me doing these, but I take all opportunities to promote all of the things that we are asking the public to do. The Conservatives do not like that, but one minute they are asking me to communicate regularly with people, and the next minute they are asking me not to do that. I will continue to do my very best there. It is really important—this is relevant to the discussions around the fan zone—for lateral float testing to be effective, it depends on people doing it voluntarily and responsibly. Increasingly, the pilot events in England will recognise the limitations of mandatory lateral float tests. Anybody who has done one of those knows that, if somebody really, really wants to—this will be a tiny minority—generate a negative text or email just by opening the test and putting the barcode in. It depends on people voluntarily and responsibly doing it, which the vast majority of people are doing. That is why we continue to promote it. I will continue to promote that and other matters regularly and as vociferously as I possibly can, notwithstanding the irritation that that causes to our Conservative colleagues. That concludes the Covid-19 update. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business.