Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 10 June 2020.
We will publish figures later today. Those figures will be initial data; again, the data will become much more detailed over the weeks to come. Even the initial data that we publish today will be broken down by health board. The figures will be published in detail later, but they will show that, cumulatively to 7 June, more than 11,000 members of staff and more than 15,000 residents in care homes have been tested, so that work is under way.
The health secretary and I have been very clear that we want health boards to accelerate their progress. That is why publishing data health board by health board will allow us to track and, indeed, the public to scrutinise, that progress. It is important—this is a key point—that we establish that testing on a sound and sustainable basis. I certainly want to see progress accelerate but, more than anything, I want to make sure that it is happening in a way that we can sustain over a period of time. The testing will happen regularly. As I understand the position, although I will be corrected if I am wrong, in other parts of the United Kingdom there is still one-off testing, whereas this testing will happen on an on-going basis. It is right that health boards make sure that they carry the testing out quickly, but also sustainably. That work is under way.