Access to testing to find cases and interrupt transmission already taking place in Scotland is being stepped up.
Routine testing of healthcare workers has been expanded to cover patient-facing primary care workers such as GPs, dentists, optometrists and pharmacists, as well as testing for all patient-facing staff who work in hospices.
From later this month, regular testing will be offered to support the return to schools and nurseries. Senior phase secondary school students, and all staff in primary, secondary and special schools, including school-based ELC staff, will be able to benefit from routine at-home testing two times a week
Certain workplaces where the risk of transmission is greater and which provide essential or critical services, such as those within the food processing and distribution sectors and staff within emergency service control rooms, will also be supported to introduce routine workforce testing
Targeted community testing will continue to be expanded – so that testing is available to people locally, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms
In addition, testing is also be offered to all close contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID-enabling Test and Protect teams to identify their contacts and track, and break further, chains of transmission.
