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Personal assistants in the social care sector will be in scope of the pro rata £500 payment being made to those NHS and social care staff who have been employed since 17 March 2020. Full details of the categories of workers who are eligible for the payment are set out in the Scottish Government's announcement .

Health boards have been routinely testing healthcare workers in key areas (oncology, long stay elderly care and mental health wards where the length of stay is over three months) since 8 July.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with Health Boards to develop key data on the testing of NHS staff. This data is collected by the Scottish Government at board level only and includes all eligible staff across these three key areas. It is not collected by hospital or role.

This data was published for the first time by Public Health Scotland (PHS) on Wednesday 18 November and included the number of eligible staff, staff tested, positive results and positivity rates. Subsequent weekly publications, starting from Wednesday 25 November, will include this data and also the number of staff who have declined, or not tested (for operational reasons or with no reason given).

Data published on 18 November shows 6,791 healthcare workers were tested.

Data published on 25 November shows 6,495 healthcare workers were tested and 161 actively declined.

Data published on 2 December shows 6,731 healthcare workers were tested and 151 actively declined.

Data published on 9 December shows 6,564 healthcare workers were tested and 190 actively declined.

Data is available from PHS COVID-19 Statistical Report - Management Information Statistics at: COVID-19 statistical report 9 December 2020 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org)

The Rapid Research in COVID-19 call was launched on 25 March 2020. At that time there was little recognition of the possible longer-term health impacts of COVID-19 infection and the call did not specifically reference long-COVID.

Nevertheless, some projects funded as a result of that call are likely to provide evidence helpful to understanding the longer-term effects of COVID-19 infection including the following projects in particular:

COV/DUN/20/04 Identifying the burden of post-Covid-19 lung disease in the UK

COV/EDI/20/10 Inflammation in Covid-19: Exploration of Critical Aspects of Pathogenesis (ICECAP)

COV/GLA/20/05 Cardiac Imaging in SARS Coronavirus disease-19 (CISCO-19)

COV/QMU/20/04 Supporting recovery from illness experienced in isolation due to a pandemic context: survey and development of recommendations for practice

Details of all the projects funded through the Rapid Research in COVID-19 call are available from the Chief Scientist Office website:

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/rapid-research-in-covid-19-programme/

A budget of £620 million was allocated to financial transactions, which can only be used for loans or equity investment in entities outside of the public sector, at the start of the year in the 2020-21 Scottish Government Budget. This comprised the full £606 million budget allocation from H M Treasury supplemented by a small carry forward from the previous financial year.

In line with usual practice, budgets are revised and re-allocated across the year in accordance with changing circumstances. The financial transactions budget post budget revisions so far this year is £603 million after standard reprioritisation of planned and emerging underspends in the Autumn Budget Revision. Final updates will be made as part of the Spring Budget Revision in early 2021.

Unlike previous funds which have been targeted towards specific groups or sectors impacted by COVID-19, this fund seeks to empower local authorities to direct additional financial support to specific groups or sectors within the business community where this is required. As such councils will have their own distinct application processes which will open at different times and so I am unable to provide a specific date when the discretionary fund will open.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance has announced an additional £185 million package of support for businesses which included £19 million in funding specifically for taxi and private hire vehicle drivers. This fund will be available in January.

The management of asbestos in buildings is a reserved matter for the UK Government rather than the Scottish Government. It is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Further enquiries can be made by contacting Archie Mitchell, Head of Asbestos Licensing Unit at HSE.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-33864 on 17 December 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-33864 on 17 December 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

On 29 September, the Scottish Government confirmed additional funding of £1.1 billion across NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships to help them meet COVID-19 related costs and remobilisation of services.

We are working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Royal College of GPs in developing a clinical guideline on the persistent effects of COVID-19. This guideline, which will be published shortly, will support GPs and clinicians in identifying ongoing symptoms and provide a definition of best practice investigation and treatment options to support individuals suffering.

The guideline work and our deepening understanding of the symptoms and impact of long COVID-19 will help us continue to tailor the holistic diagnosis and the treatment which patients need. Work is underway in discussion with RCGP and others and led by our Deputy National Clinical Director to establish a clear diagnostic and clinical pathway, drawing together relevant specialists but with the general practice as the key interface, with the patient and secondary care.

The knowledge and expertise within our NHS in Scotland is already delivering care tailored to the individual needs of people who are unfortunately experiencing longer term symptoms of Covid-19 infection. This care is across a wide range of specialisms as appropriate.

We aim to be in a position to announce the funding decisions by late December 2020.