Nicola Sturgeon's Covid-19 update RECAP: First Minister set to address Scottish Parliament | Health Secretary Humza Yousaf preparing statement on Scotland's ambulance crisis

Live updates as Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf address the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Keep up-to-date with developments as the First Minister and Health Secretary deliver statements to MSPs.

Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf RECAP: Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Key Events

  • FM to update MSPs on Covid-19 pandemic
  • Yousaf preparing response to ambulance crisis
  • A&E waiting times worst on record for fifth time in six weeks

FM to update MSPs on Covid-19 pandemic

The First Minister is set to update the Scottish Parliament after 2pm today.

At that time, MSPs will gather for the Reflection, delivered this afternoon by Professor Sir Geoff Palmer, Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University.

The Reflection will be followed by a series of topical questions, before Ms Sturgeon will speak.

Get more information here:

A&E waiting times worst on record for fifth time in six weeks

Performance on waiting times at A&E in Scotland has hit a new record low for the fifth time since the end of July.

Just 71.5 per cent of people visiting A&E in the week to September 12 were seen within four hours, a drop from the figure of 74.6 per cent the week before.

The Scottish Government target is 95 per cent.

It is the fifth time in six weeks that the figure has set a new record low, after it fell to 76.5 per cent in the week to August 1.

Read the full story:

Army support likely to come at end of September, says Scottish Ambulance Service

Any support from the military is likely to begin “towards the end” of this month, the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has said.

It comes after a request from the Scottish Government to the Ministry of Defence on Thursday, as the ambulance service struggles under high demand.

Twenty-fold increase in people waiting more than 12 hours for an ambulance

The number of less-urgent ambulance calls which waited more than 12 hours for a response increased 20 times in the part year, new figures have revealed.

Figures obtained by the Scotsman under the Freedom of Information Act show 297 patient calls in the least urgent or “yellow” category waited at least 12 hours for an ambulance between August 2020 and July this year, compared to 15 the previous year.

Some 56 patients waited more than 16 hours, compared to just one the year before.

Here are the latest coronavirus figures

Addressing the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, Nicola Sturgeon announced that 2,870 positive cases of Covid-19 were reported yesterday.

1,107 people are in hospital which is 19 more than the figure reported yesterday

94 people are in intensive care which is three fewer than yesterday.

In the past 24 hours another 18 deaths were recorded.

4,160,835 people have received their first dose of the vaccine and 3,813,547 have had their second dose.

FM says that she is “confident” in saying that cases are falling, with a drop of 31 per cent recorded in the last week.

FM: “In contrast to previous weeks, the falling cases is spread across all age groups.”

The steepest fall in cases was seen in the 20 to 24 year-old age group. This has fallen by around three quarters according to the FM.

FM: “The recent surge in cases has caused a rise in hospitalisations.

“On August 20, there were 312 people in hospital with Covid. Today, there are 1,107.

“The number of people in intensive care has also increased, from 34 on 20 August to 94 today.

“As we know, fluctuations in the number of people in hospital tend to lag behind - by around two weeks - any rise or fall in the number of new cases.

“So we would hope that the recent fall in cases will, over the next couple of weeks, ease the pressure that Covid is placing on the NHS.”

From 4am tomorrow eight countries will be removed from red list

FM: “Last week, the UK and Scottish Governments confirmed that from 4am tomorrow, eight countries will be removed from the red list. Those eight countries include Turkey, Egypt and the Maldives.

“Those countries will move onto the amber list – meaning that fully vaccinated travellers will not need to self-isolate when they return from those countries. However people who are 18 or over, and have not been fully vaccinated, will still need to isolate for 10 days.”

FM added that from October 4 the range of countries covered by the eligible vaccinated traveller programme will be expanded.