Name: 'Compelling evidence' Covid vaccinations working, Sturgeon says
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'Compelling evidence' Covid vaccinations working, Sturgeon says

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This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldFirst minister cites data showing significant decline in care home deaths in ScotlandLast modified on Fri 19 Feb 2021 00.31 ESTScotland is “on a path back” to near elimination of coronavirus, according to , as she referred to “compelling evidence” that the vaccination programme was starting to have an effect on reducing death rates.At the on Thursday, the first minister said she had always favoured an elimination strategy when dealing with Covid-19 – “by which I mean suppress to as low as possible a level and then try to keep it there” – and that research suggested this had been achieved in Scotland last summer.“The work that’s been done around genomic sequencing would say [it is feasible], because it shows we actually achieved that in the summer in last year. Most of the strains of the virus that had been circulating in Scotland were eliminated and what happened is that it reseeded mainly from travel, from overseas travel and some from travel across UK, and that will have happened in both directions.”“We know we can do that and we are some way off it, but we are on a path back to that suppression to very low levels. The challenge is: how do you keep it there?”Sturgeon said this would involve a combination of strategies, including the test-and-protect system (as of today, anyone who is identified as a close contact of somebody who has tested positive for coronavirus will be asked to get tested too), travel restrictions “perhaps for some time yet”, as well as continuing restrictions such as face coverings, stringent hygiene and social distancing as the country eases out of lockdown.She reiterated that her government’s planned route map for loosening restrictions, which will be published next week, would be cautious, with changes dependent on “data not dates”. Sturgeon said: “I want to be the last one we need.”During the briefing, Sturgeon pointed to weekly data showing a significant decline in care home deaths, with the proportion of those dying in such facilities falling from 34% at the beginning of January to 13% last week.While a has been in place since before Christmas, the impact of travel on virus spread has been raised again as England and Scotland diverged on international quarantine plans.Earlier this week, Sturgeon said Scotland would have to “look at alternatives” if an agreement could not be reached with the rest of the UK, as her government had urged UK ministers to adopt its stricter approach to international travel. In Scotland all international arrivals must go into hotel quarantine for 10 days, while in England the rules only apply to arrivals from 33 “red list” countries.Scotland’s transport secretary, Michael Matheson, has asked for Scotland-bound travellers arriving at English airports to be offered quarantine facilities in England, but the UK health secretary, , advised that passengers arriving in England from “low risk” countries would be required to quarantine at home. On Monday, Hancock said he would be “happy to discuss” the potential loophole.

This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldFirst minister cites data showing significant decline in care home deaths in ScotlandLast modified on Fri 19 Feb 2021 00.31 ESTScotland is “on a path back” to near elimination of coronavirus, according to , as she referred to “compelling evidence” that the vaccination programme was starting to have an effect on reducing death rates.At the on Thursday, the first minister said she had always favoured an elimination strategy when dealing with Covid-19 – “by which I mean suppress to as low as possible a level and then try...

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TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and Guardian Unlimited, is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers The Guardian and The Observer, as well as a substantial body of web-only work produced by its own staff, including a rolling news service.

'Compelling evidence' Covid vaccinations working, Sturgeon says

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