This is how grandparents could be allowed to spend Christmas with their grandchildren, according to one Edinburgh MSP

Expanded testing offers hope of family reunions

This is how grandparents could be allowed to spend Christmas with their grandchildren, according to one Edinburgh MSP

EXPANDED testing could be used to allow families to visit elderly or vulnerable relatives while lockdown rules remain in force, an MSP has suggested.

And with coronavirus restrictions potentially set to stay until the end of the year, Alex Cole-Hamilton believes the move could help give grandparents the hope of spending Christmas with their grandchildren.

He said if both the family and the relative tested negative, self-isolated for seven days and then tested negative again, it could mean they would be able to go and stay with each other.

He said the move could also allow couples currently forced to stay apart to come together.

His proposal came as Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the current lockdown was being renewed and signalled she was not ready to back reported plans by the UK Government to ease the restrictions, except possibly for allowing people to go out for exercise more than once a day.

She warned that dropping the “clear, well understood” Stay at Home message could be a “potentially catastrophic mistake”.

There is speculation that Boris Johnson will announce a relaxation of the rules in a speech on Sunday, including allowing pavement cafes and beer gardens to reopen, some sports like golf and tennis to resume and sunbathing and picnics in parks.

Ms Sturgeon said she would prefer if the four UK nations acted together. But she added: “I will not be pressured into lifting restrictions prematurely before I am as certain as I can be that we will not be risking a resurgence of infection rates.”

The First Minister said a total of 1,762 patients have now died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19, up by 59 on Wednesday, while 12,924 have tested positive for the virus, up by 215.

There are 86 people in intensive care, a decrease of three on Wednesday, and 1,587 patients are in hospital with the virus, a decrease of 45.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said his proposal would need to be an official scheme for which people registered, but he added he had put the idea to a minister and was “not knocked back”.

The Edinburgh Western MSP and Lib Dem health spokesman said the “test, trace, isolate” strategy meant testing was already being increased beyond key workers.

“I think we’re very close now to an era when they will expand the categories of people they will be testing. If aspirationally they want to test hundreds of thousands of people it will become easier to get a test.”

He said he had received emails from people very upset because they were having to remain apart from relatives because of lockdown.

“The most heartbreaking are the ones from grandparents, who are often used to providing childcare for their grandchildren so are used to having them as part of their daily lives, and haven’t seen them for six or seven weeks.

“I’m keen to explore with the government whether we can create an official scheme whereby people could get a negative test then voluntarily self-isolate as a family for seven days and get another negative test result to be completely clear they are safe and infection-free and then perhaps go and stay with their relative or have their relative to stay with them for a few days so they could have that physical contact they are so missing.

“There might be barriers to this but I’m keen to explore it because I think the most important thing here is offering more vulnerable residents some degree of hope.

“It’s very likely that social distancing and shielding people being asked to self-isolate will continue for perhaps many more months. We have asked a great deal of these people up to this point and they have been magnificent in their adherence to that, but it’s starting to take its toll.

“This is about working towards a scheme where we can live around the virus in a safe way but allow people if they register and get the confirmation they are virus free they can visit or have relatives visit.

“And it’s not just for grannies. Lovers or siblings, or any other relationship people are pining for because of the enforced separation lockdown has created should qualify for such a scheme as well.”

He said he hoped such a scheme could be put in place soon.

But he said: “People have suggested these restrictions may be with us in part until the turn of the year and if so then people would want to have the ability to plan for Christmas. A scheme would at the very least mean they could have granny to stay over Christmas Eve and for Christmas dinner in the knowledge everybody was virus-free and was no risk to her.