Coronavirus: First Minister says Scotland 'Needs To Get Some Normality Back' Nicola Sturgeon has said that Scotland "needs to get some normality back" as she hinted that some measures to ease lockdown could be unveiled next week.
The First Minister said that any easing would be careful and gradual, because lives are still at stake. And while she was not yet able to give dates for when things might start to open again, she said that people "can't live like this forever".
Ms Sturgeon said she could outline some "minor changes" next week.
These would be unveiled alongside further details of the range of options the Scottish Government has been looking at, she told her daily briefing.
There has already minor easing of the lockdown restrictions in England, with some people who cannot work from home returning to their workplaces on Wednesday.
Most of these measures have not yet been introduced elsewhere in the UK - although the Scottish Government has already relaxed its rules to allow outdoor exercise more than once a day and Wales has outlined a cautious route out of lockdown that does not include any dates for when changes could be made.
The number of people dying with coronavirus in Scotland has been falling over the past fortnight, but Ms Sturgeon said further lockdown changes would only be considered when "we hopefully see more evidence of a downward trend in the virus".
And she said she would continue to err on the side of caution for as long as lives continued to be at risk.
Sectoral Guidance: The Scottish Government today shared its Sectoral Guidance Dashboard. The Dashboard provides an overview of which Sectors have had Guidance issued, which Sectors have Guidance under development and Sectors where Guidance is under consideration. SCC Network is playing an active role to inform and shape the Sector Guidance. SCC is coordinating dedicated Sector Guidance Sessions with Scottish Government Ministers – details will be available on Monday 18th May. If you have any views on Sector Guidance for your business or would like to participate in our Sector Guidance Sessions, please contact Colin Campbell on ccampbell@scottishchambers.org.uk
Practical Guidance To Support The Reopening Of Shops Essential retailers, such as pharmacies, DIY shops and supermarkets, and those trading online have been transforming their business practices to protect staff and customers. This includes implementing social distancing measures inside and outside stores and in warehousing and distribution, protective plexiglass at tills, limiting numbers into stores, and regular cleaning.
In preparation for the anticipated reopening of a greater breadth of stores, the BRC has worked with Usdaw to produce guidance on Social Distancing for Non-Food Retail stores. This draws on Government advice as well as the many lessons learned by essential retailers in recent weeks.
This builds on recent BRC guidance on the safe operation of warehouses and distribution and will allow retailers, whose stores have been forced to close, to be ready to operate safely once Government restrictions are relaxed. This guide is a starter guide helpful for businesses to utilise to incorporate into their individual business practices ahead of the release of Scottish Government guidance in the coming weeks.
North Lanarkshire Tech Company to Make 70 million Face Masks More than 70 million face masks will be manufactured in the UK and delivered to frontline health and care workers following an agreement with a global technology company, the UK government has today announced.
FFP2 and FFP3 masks will be produced over an 18-month period at Honeywell’s site in Newhouse, Scotland, with production set to begin as early as July. Each month will see up to 4.5 million masks roll off the production line, ready for distribution to frontline NHS and social care workers.
It marks a significant moment in the government’s ‘make’ programme, headed up by Lord Deighton, which seeks to unleash the potential of UK industry to scale up domestic PPE manufacturing.
The move supports the government’s continued efforts to ensure PPE reaches those fighting the virus on the frontline, with over 1.25 billion items of PPE delivered to health and social care workers since the outbreak began.
Additionally, the new production line will create approximately 450 new jobs at the Scotland site. The agreement announced today is the latest in a number of steps the government is taking to ramp up PPE production and distribution. New collaborations between the government and organisations including Amazon, the Royal Mint and Jaguar Land Rover, will see increased production and delivery across all PPE products.
A PPE distribution network with the NHS, industry and armed forces, and a 24-hour NHS-run helpline that’s received around 35,000 calls since it was set up, have also been established as part of the government’s national PPE plan.
UK Aid Boost For Charities Fighting Coronavirus A total of 40 charities and NGOs will receive funding from the Department for International Development’s (DFID) £20 million humanitarian support package, announced last month, or the £100 million global hygiene partnership with Unilever, unveiled in March.
From 18 May 2020, up to £30 million of new grants will also be made available to small and medium-sized UK charities through the next round of the UK Aid Direct programme. Each charity will be able to bid for a grant up to £4 million for programmes that focus on tackling the coronavirus crisis.
The Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) is also open for grants of up to £50,000 for the very best small British development charities tackling coronavirus.
Health experts have identified the weakness of developing countries’ healthcare systems as one of the biggest risks to the global spread of the virus. They have also warned that if coronavirus is left to spread in developing countries, this could lead to the virus re-emerging in the UK and put further pressure on our NHS.
DFID is therefore rapidly reprioritising its programmes around the world to better tackle the pandemic. Many of these in-country programmes are currently run directly by civil society organisations, including charities and NGOs.
QEI Update The Q2 2020 Quarterly Economic Indicator survey fieldwork will begin this Monday 18th of May and finish on Monday 8th of June.
Communication materials and the survey link have been shared with chambers and we hope that you can these use to promote it among your board, members and partners.
The data for this QEI will be the first major source for comparison with pre Covid-19 data. Alongside our collaboration with the British Chambers of Commerce, the overall results will indicate the seismic shift from pre Covid-19 business conditions to the present and give a clearer picture of the situation facing businesses across the UK.
To avoid conflicting fieldwork, we will temporarily suspend the Coronavirus Tracker Survey data collection while QEI fieldwork takes place. We are keeping data requirements under constant review.
QEI Dates for 2020
Q2 2020 Fieldwork: 18 May to 8 June Publication: Monday 6th July
Q3 2020 Fieldwork: 26 Aug to 16 Sept Publication: Thursday 8th October
Q4 2020 Fieldwork: 2 Nov to 23 Nov Publication: Thursday 21st January 2021
Access To Materials If you are struggling to access key resources or services, please let us know below so that we can help and feed these issues directly into Government.
E.g. we are aware there is an increased demand for perspex as manufacturers, retailers and others purchase it to assist with social distancing measures being introduced into the workplace.
If this is impacting your business as you prepare to return to work, let us know via businesssupport@scottishchambers.org.uk
SCC SUPPORT HUB
The SCC Business Support Hub The Business Support Hub on the SCC website has been created to enable businesses to find useful information quickly.
The Hub is updated daily and includes information on business support, access to finance, contact numbers, public information and travel advice.
KEY LINKS
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