Question reference: S5W-33462
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 23 November 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 December 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Coronavirus (COVID-19): ONS Infection Survey began in Scotland; how this compares with other parts of the UK, and, if there were different commencement dates, what the reason was for this.
Answer
The COVID-19 Infection Survey began as a pilot survey in England with fieldwork commencing on 26 April, initially inviting 20,276 English households to participate. The first results for England were published on 14 May. Fieldwork began in Wales on 29 June and the first results for Wales were published on 7 August. Fieldwork in Northern Ireland commenced on 26th July, and the first results including Northern Ireland were published on 25 September.
The Scottish Government announced on 17 August that, as part of its Testing Strategy, Scotland would be opting into the now UK-wide COVID Infection Survey with the aim of testing 15,000 individuals per two week period. Fieldwork commenced in Scotland on 21 September and has been ongoing since then. The first results for Scotland were published on 23 October on the Scottish Government website and on the ONS website alongside results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Department of Health and Social Care announced on 19 th August that the Office for National Statistics COVID-19 Infection Survey would be expanded to 400,000 people in England.
Decisions behind the timing of Scotland opting into the survey were affected by whether or not the survey would be expanded in England, increasing the scale and analytical potential of the survey in each of the four nations of the UK.