First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has told of her “frustration” at the UK Government’s decision to scrap covid testing.
She used her update to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood earlier today to blast the lack of “clarity” available to devolved administrations in the rest of the UK about the future funding of coronavirus testing and infrastructure.
It came as she said Scotland would rely less on legal controls and lockdowns to address covid concerns and would instead turn to “vaccines, treatments and sensible public health behaviours” in a bid to remedy any further threat from outbreaks.
But she stopped short of scrapping all remaining covid protocols, saying the requirement to self-isolate for those who test positive for the virus will stay.
PM Boris Johnson announced that all remaining covid restrictions in England will end on Thursday and free mass testing will stop on April 1.
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But the Scottish Government’s Revised Strategic Approach will ensure that Holyrood will “manage covid effectively, primarily through adaptations and health measures that strengthen our resilience and recovery as we rebuild for a better future”, said the First Minister.
She said the move away from suppressing the virus to its lowest level, as was the initial strategy, had been made possible because widespread vaccinations and better treatments for Covid-19 has “reduced the direct harms” inflicted, meaning “using restrictions to suppress infection is no longer as necessary as it once was”.
Ms Sturgeon said that it was “no longer as justifiable” to employ stringent protective measures “given the wider harms caused”.
The move away from legally imposed measures will see the Scottish Government instead continue to ensure the “maximum possible availability and uptake of vaccination”.
Vaccination will shortly be rolled out to all five to 11 year olds, alongside a fourth dose set to be extended to care home residents, over-75s and anyone over 12 who is immune suppressed.
New treatments will be made available to those in hospital and those who have not been hospitalised but are at greatest risk, she said.
Measures including “enhanced hygiene across the general population”, greater ventilation in workplaces and similar settings, hybrid and flexible working and the continued use of face coverings in “some indoor public places” will all be called for under the new strategy.
Ms Sturgeon insisted the Scottish Government were less likely in future to use legal mandates in an attempt to force compliance but said: “We will advise then for as long as they help keep the virus under control”.
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