Typically Anglocentric, the Independent’s Anthony Cuthbertson writes as if devolution had never happened, to lump us in with England’s nightmare. It’s not good but after 9 months of devolved power over the pandemic strategy, Scotland has saved thousands of lives that would have been lost if we had stuck with the 4 Nations or UK strategy, which all of the opposition parties favoured. Continue reading Scotland fights its way out from under the bully’s shoulders

From a YouGov sub-poll of 147, 18+ only Scots with field work done on 4th to 5th January: Con: 22% Lab: 14% LD: 4% SNP: 55% Green: 4% The previous YouGov poll on 21st-22nd December had the SNP on 57% and the Greens on 2% up from 47% and 2% on 2nd-3rd December Continue reading Pro-Independence parties at 59%

Returning to Reporting Scotland’s one anonymous woman’s campaign to make sure you’re not thinking things are better here, it’s worth looking at her claims that: ‘some patients were now contracting coronavirus in hospital‘ and later ‘last year they were fine but with this new strain they are just not practical.‘ Well, of course they are. They have been since the beginning of the outbreak. Face masks were never expected to stop the aerosols carrying the virus. Some hospital-acquired infection is inevitable. See this: Two things. One, if the new strain is making the same masks not practical, why have hospital … Continue reading Yet as admissions increase hospital-acquired Covid level is far lower than in England and lower than in November

From BBC Reporting Scotland this morning: ‘PPE for NHS staff isn’t sufficient to stem the spread of coronavirus in hospitals with the new Covid variant!’ Wow! That’s disturbing news. Who is it from? A research group at Edinburgh University? No? The Scottish Government’s advisory group? No? A professor of virology? No? An infectious diseases consultant? No? A hospital infection control officer? No? Any consultant? No? Any doctor? No? A covid nurse? No? Any old nurse? Yes, but she wanted to stay anonymous. Oh. ‘That’s what a nurse working in a non-Covid ward has told BBC Scotland.’ Did the nurse share … Continue reading It’s TRUE! A wee lassie told me!

From BBC Scotland this morning: The latest figures show the lowest number of daily cases since December BUT hospital numbers are higher than they’ve been at any point in the pandemic. Then the same information is then just repeated BUT it’s not explained. The reporter tells us that infections have fallen ‘slightly’. From the 7th to the 11th, it fell by 867 and in now 33% lower. If it had gone up 867, that would be ‘NEARLY A THOUSAND!’ The BBC has a royal charter obliging it to inform but it doesn’t. There’s a reason why the hospital admissions are … Continue reading This is not London but you’d be forgiven for thinking it was

This is a fast emerging story. We’ve had Boris Johnson claiming proudly that 23% of the elderly residents of care homes have been vaccinated. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-2-4-million-coronavirus-jabs-given-out-in-uk-says-boris-johnson-12185070 Two days ago, the Daily Mail claimed that it was only 10% and that outbreaks in care homes have doubled over the New Year period, according to Public Health England. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9128831/PHE-data-shows-coronavirus-outbreaks-homes-doubled-New-Year-period.html Meanwhile, the Scottish Health Secretary claimed this morning that 70% of people in care homes have been vaccinated. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55612735 As soon as I posted that news, readers of this blog responded saying North Ayrshire Council had by today vaccinated 100% and then another claiming … Continue reading LATEST: Has the UK Government failed care homes residents again?

From the Scottish Health Secretary on Good Mourning Scotland today: Ms Freeman told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “We intend that by the end of this month, the very beginning of February, we will have vaccinated all residents in care homes and staff, all front-line health and social care workers and all those aged 80 or over. So that’s just under 560,000. We’ve already vaccinated about 70% of people in care homes and about half of the health and social care workforce. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55612735 From the PM on Sky News today: We’ve done about 23% of the elderly residents of care … Continue reading UPDATE: Scotland vaccinates the most vulnerable at MORE THAN THREE TIMES the rate in England

Today on Sky News, the PM said: We’ve done about 23% of the elderly residents of care homes. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-2-4-million-coronavirus-jabs-given-out-in-uk-says-boris-johnson-12185070 This comes as a serious shock when BBC Scotland was able to announce 4 days ago: Well over half of care home residents vaccinated. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55575978 These figures suggest that NHS Scotland has vaccinated more than twice as many of the most vulnerable group, the group which suffered the most deaths in the first wave. Once more, the PM’s suggestion in April, that NHS Scotland had issues of resilience, has come home to bite him in his prodigious bahookie. Similarly, the suggestion … Continue reading SHOCK: Scotland has vaccinated more than twice as many in care homes!

We’ve become used to shoddy journalism in the Herald these days but this from Martin Williams, Senior New Reporter, is special. There is a crisis in some parts of NHS England. I feel sure that much of what is in this report is true in those parts but there is no evidence for it in any part of Scotland. Why is it unlikely to be true here? 50% more nurses per head of population, Covid bed occupancy at only 50% of capacity and ICU bed occupancy at only 17% of capacity. Williams writes: THE majority of Scottish nurses are willing … Continue reading FAKE NEWS to spread nursing crisis into Scotland

From BBC Scotland last night: The number of people in intensive care has risen from 109 to 123, the highest daily jump since October. When you see that, what’s the first or second thing you think? How many ICU beds are there in NHS Scotland? On January 8th 2021, according to the official figures, there were 700+. https://spice-spotlight.scot/2021/01/08/coronavirus-covid-19-in-scotland-latest-data/ So, ICU occupancy is 17.57%. It is climbing quite steeply but infection rates have been flat, slightly falling, for more than a week now: The increase from 109 to 123 was the consequence of the surge in cases from the 28th to … Continue reading ‘Under pressure’ from 17.6% occupancy of ICU beds?