3. I echo the support that has been expressed for the Protect Scotland app and reassure anyone who has not downloaded it already that it is really quick and easy to do, so I encourage everyone to do it.

Like everybody across the chamber and across the country, the Scottish Greens are deeply concerned about the rise in new infections in Scotland. Some experts are warning that it could be the start of a second wave, but we must not treat that as inevitable. We can stop the rise, but to do so we need to put aside any hint of a blame game and work together. As the First Minister has indicated, this must not be about stigmatising young people or any other group in the population; it is about providing clear rules and ensuring that systems and support are in place so that they can be followed.

We saw that the testing system broke down when children returned to school last month, and universities will commence their terms next week. We need to make sure that the same does not happen again, so that students and staff are kept safe. Can the First Minister confirm how many walk-in testing centres are open and operational in our university towns, and can she reassure students and staff that demand will be met?

First, I thank Patrick Harvie for his support of the Protect Scotland app. I am told that, since we have been speaking in First Minister’s Question Time, another 50,000 people have downloaded the app, so the total number is now over 200,000, which is very positive.

I endorse Patrick Harvie’s comment that we must not treat a continued resurgence of Covid as inevitable. That does not mean that we should underestimate how difficult it is to keep it under control and drive it down further, particularly as we go into the winter, but we must focus on doing that and must not see it as inevitable that we will have to deal with a second wave.

I will get information to Patrick Harvie this afternoon—I do not have it in front of me—on the sequence of the walk-in centres that we have committed to having in place over this month, with the order and dates for their opening. The one at St Andrews is open, as I have already indicated. They are part of the overall number of walk-in centres that we are using to make testing more accessible. However, we have, for the reasons that Patrick Harvie spoke about, prioritised areas where there is a university population. I think that the one around the University of Glasgow is due to open this week, and it will be followed by others.

In addition, as members will be aware, last week we published updated guidance for further and higher education that looks at blended learning arrangements on campus, the use of face coverings and shared accommodation. I know that the universities and colleges take very seriously their responsibility to keep the student population safe.

I am grateful for that answer, and I look forward to any further information that the First Minister can provide. Last month, we saw some families being told to travel halfway across the country to get a test, and it will simply not be acceptable if the same thing happens with student populations.

Elsewhere in our education system, the Educational Institute of Scotland warned yesterday that children with additional support needs, but particularly those with more complex needs, are receiving inadequate support in our schools because staffing levels are simply insufficient for teachers to be able to follow the guidance while providing the close contact and support that those pupils need. One teacher said that, in addition to their usual job, teachers are having to do the enhanced cleaning that is required throughout the day, because no cleaning staff are available.

Pupils with ASN are some of the most vulnerable in our schools and, very often, they suffered the most during lockdown. It simply is not good enough if they are not getting the support and resources that they need to thrive. What will the First Minister do today to provide the enhanced staffing that is needed, so that teachers can do the best for all pupils with additional support needs in this challenging time?

The First Minister:

We have already taken significant action, but I do not underestimate how challenging this is for teachers across our education system. From memory, I think that £58 million of additional funding has been made available to local authorities, to help with things such as enhanced cleaning. We have also made funding available to increase substantially the number of teachers who are working in our schools, to help with exactly the challenges that Patrick Harvie mentioned.

We will continue to work closely, through the education recovery group, with the EIS and others to make sure that further challenges are properly supported.

This is not easy for anyone; it is not easy for young people or teachers in our schools. One positive thing, which I hope is an indication that some of the challenges that have inevitably been faced and the anxiety that many parents, teachers and young people felt as schools went back are, if not disappearing, easing a little bit, is that school attendance is rising and the number of young people who are absent from school for Covid-related reasons has reduced significantly since the first few days of the term.

We keep—and the education secretary keeps—very close to all those things as we do everything we can to ensure that those who are working on the front line, whether in our education system or in our NHS, have the support and the resources that they need.