Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 10 June 2020.
We will certainly consider doing that. Some of the data that we are receiving from health boards still has to be validated, and it is important that when we publish data, it is robust and has been validated. We will then look to see whether that is appropriate. I make the point again that this testing will be on-going, and it will have to be done week in, week out for as long as we are continuing to live with the virus. Again, this is not a point of criticism, but an observation: we are not simply doing that by posting testing kits out to care homes; we are doing it in a way that is robust and sustainable and can be supported on an on-going basis.
In relation to the comments about ministers having to get a grip of the situation: we are now seeing, albeit in a situation that has been, and continues to be, incredibly challenging, the numbers of care homes with an active outbreak of Covid-19 reducing. The number of new cases is reducing, and as I have just reported, the number of people dying in care homes because of the virus is now rapidly reducing on a sustained basis. That says to me that the actions that are being taken in care homes to protect older residents are having the effect that we want them to have. Of course, as we move through the exit from lockdown more generally, it is important that we have the right measures in place on on-going basis. Testing is not the only one of those measures—I have said before in the chamber that we must be careful that we do not put all the focus on testing, particularly when we are talking about testing asymptomatic people—but it is a key measure. That is why it is important that we do it quickly but also sustainably.
