Question reference: S5W-28443
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 16 April 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 July 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27952 by Jeane Freeman on 15 April 2020, how many samples have been taken each week; what this confirms about prevalence, and when it will publish prevalence data.
Answer
The COVID-19 data and trend charts for Scotland are published daily and provide a range of information, including the cumulative number of people tested for COVID-19 in Scotland and how many of the tests had a positive result. The link to the daily data update is: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/ .
In addition, Test and Protect was rolled out across Scotland on 28 May 2020 and the Test and Protect data is published on Public Health Scotland's website at:
Health Protection Scotland are conducting surveillance swab testing in the community for individuals with mild to moderate symptoms. Testing commenced on 27 April and results are available a week later by HPS report for internal planning and surveillance purposes. Details of this can be found at: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/a-to-z-of-topics/enhanced-surveillance-of-coronavirus-covid-19/
Antibody testing will help us understand if a person has had the infection and will enable us to learn more about the virus and gain an understanding of how it is spreading through the population in Scotland. Health Protection Scotland commenced antibody testing on 6 May. This will inform wider published information on the Government's response to the virus. Evidence is evolving on whether the presence of antibodies indicates that someone is immune, and if so, for how long that immunity would persist.