Scottish Government set to publish data from Test and Protect system

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the government will publish initial data in relation to the Test and Protect system tomorrow.

The system sees anyone who has been in close contact with someone testing positive for coronavirus being directed to self-isolate as a more targeted effort than the mass lockdown.

The First Minister said the data to be released tomorrow will include how many positive cases have been detected through Test and Protect and how many have had their contacts traced.

It will initially be available on only a Scotland-wide basis but will be broken down by region soon.

Also at today's Scottish Government briefing Ms Sturgeon announced the establishment of an expert group to assess the impact of coronavirus on minority ethnic communities.

She said Public Health Scotland's preliminary analysis of data does not appear to show people from minority ethnic groups are disproportionately affected by Covid-19, but acknowledged other studies in different parts of the world suggested differently.

Interim chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith said evidence indicated there were 112 separate introductions of coronavirus to Scotland, some of which may have been introduced earlier that originally thought.

Ms Sturgeon said that it will take more time to assess what impact the easing of the lockdown has had on infection rates.

While things appeared to be going in the right direction, she said, the situation remains fragile.

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