3. I put on record my congratulations to Anas Sarwar on his election as leader of the Scottish Labour Party. I welcome him to his role at First Minister’s Question Time.

The Greens want to see both inquiries completed. However, in the meantime, we are still focused on the public health crisis, which I think is what most members of the public want of us. This week, we mark a year since the first Covid-19 case was recorded in Scotland. Since then, more than 9,500 deaths have been documented by the National Records of Scotland. Every single one of us shares the expression of condolence to all the people who have been affected by that tragic loss.

A year on from the first case, we are faced with a new threat in the form of the so-called Brazilian variant, which has already been identified in Scotland and England. The strain has also been identified in 15 non-red-list countries, showing that the United Kingdom Government’s approach to quarantine is dangerously inadequate. It has been reported that the effort to trace contacts who might have been exposed to the new variant has been hampered by the provision of incomplete data. It is clear that the current approach to international travel, including via connections in the UK, is not yet enough to keep us safe as the virus continues to change. What further action is the Scottish Government planning to ensure that we protect the public from the importation of new forms of the virus?

We continue to think that international travel restrictions are essential. The travel restrictions that we have in place are more stringent than in other parts of the UK. We have a concern, which I have articulated on numerous occasions, that that difference leaves weaknesses in our defence against importation of the virus. We will continue to work with the UK Government to try to fill the gaps and encourage a more uniform position.

We will also continue to do everything that we can to ensure that protections at our borders are as strict as they need to be, because it is absolutely the case that, as we suppress the virus here at home and vaccinate more people, the key risk that we face is new variants coming into the country that could potentially undermine the efficacy of the vaccine. That is one of our most serious challenges and will be one of our top priorities in the weeks to come.

In addition to the reports of incomplete contact tracing data in Scotland, there are reports of a lost case in England. It is likely that the variant is present in other countries, but has not been identified yet. Therefore, the on-going importance of our test, trace and isolate systems cannot be overstated. They will continue to be vital even as the vaccine programme is delivered at pace.

In the face of new variants, it is more important than ever that anyone who develops symptoms—not just new arrivals—is able to access a test and is supported to immediately self-isolate. Following pressure from the Greens, the self-isolation grant is being expanded, but we have repeatedly asked the Scottish Government and the First Minister about the provision of accommodation for people who need to self-isolate.

Freedom of information responses show that, in the 10 months up to mid-January, only seven people from three local authority areas were provided with hotel accommodation to self-isolate. Will the First Minister confirm whether there has been any progress on that or whether that form of support is still close to non-existent? It would be tragic if we allowed new variants to spread simply because people faced barriers to doing the right thing.

The First Minister:

That support is there if people need it. Local authorities have that ability, and work is done to identify the needs of people who are asked to self-isolate, which can include accommodation, if necessary. I will certainly take steps to see whether there is more that we can do to promote awareness of that, so that people know that support is available. Patrick Harvie is right that we should take care to ensure that we are not risking the spread of the virus through the lack of availability of the support that people need to self-isolate. We take that seriously.

As we go into the next phase and, hopefully, cases fall, we can start to come out of lockdown and vaccination will continue to do its job. Importation and the risk of outbreaks will remain the key threats that we face. Test and protect and self-isolation will come back to the fore as the key weapons in our arsenal to keep Covid at bay. Patrick Harvie is right to raise those issues, and the Government will continue to do everything that we can to ensure that all of that is available.