Nicola Sturgeon insists there are 'sustained signs of hope' in battle against Covid-19
But the First Minister has again been challenged on tackling the outbreak in care homes
Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland could now be seeing “sustained signs of hope” in the battle against coronavirus, after the death toll fell for the second week in a row.
But at First Minister’s Questions she was again challenged to increase testing capacity for Covid-19, as concerns continue about battling the outbreak in care homes.
Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the decrease in the number of deaths, but stressed this “doesn't mean we can relax yet”.
Speaking at Holyrood, she said that if transmission rates continue to fall, Scotland could “gradually relax the lockdown restrictions”.
Weekly figures from the National Records of Scotland show there were 425 deaths linked to coronavirus in the seven days up to Sunday May 10 - down by 110 from the previous week and 244 lower than the total two weeks ago.
The NRS data shows there have been 3,213 deaths involving the virus recorded in Scotland as of May 10.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I readily acknowledge that no trend in statistics can ever comfort the many people who have lost a loved one to this virus, and my thoughts and sympathies are with each and every one of them.
“But this week's figures do offer further, and perhaps sustained, signs of hope.”
A total of 238 of deaths linked to coronavirus were in care homes in the week leading up to May 10, Ms Sturgeon said, down from 314 the week before.
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw pressed her on the situation in care homes, claiming Scotland has “fewer tests for our care homes, more deaths in our care homes”.
He raised the case of the Highgate Home in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, where he said 22 residents have died but “the majority” of their carers have not been tested.
Mr Carlaw branded that an “outrage”.
Ms Sturgeon said testing in care homes is based on clinical advice, but the Scottish Government has expanded that so where there is an outbreak in a care home, “we now have testing of all residents and all staff, whether or not they are symptomatic of the virus”.
She said if that is not happening, “we will investigate”.
She also highlighted research by the London School of Economics which she said “suggested in England and Wales the real care home death toll is double what the official figures are showing”.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I am confident that the figures we are publishing in Scotland are accurate, and I'm not sure that is the case elsewhere in the UK right now.”
I'm not even speaking as First Minister here, I'm speaking as a human being, I deeply regret every single death from this virus.
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