THE First Minister has announced extra funding to support health and social care workers as part of the coronavirus briefing.
Nicola Sturgeon said that £500,000 will be given to health boards and social care partnerships to implement requests from staff, such as free hot drinks or snacks during breaks.
The First Minister also mentioned a number of other key points in Scotland's route out of the coronavirus pandemic.
READ MORE: 71 deaths registered over 24 hours, Nicola Sturgeon says
Health and social care support
A further £500,000 is being set aside for health and social care workers in Scotland to be able to access free hot drinks and snacks with Sturgeon saying that “could be the little things that help quite a lot”.
She added: “I’m flagging this up today just as a way of underlining how much we owe our health and care workers, but also as an example of what we’re trying to do to support them in practical ways while they continue to perform such an incredible service for all of us.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be able to repay those on the front line of health and social care for everything they have done and everything they have suffered over the duration of this pandemic.
“But in every way we can, it’s important to support them and to show our gratitude.”
Scottish Child Payment
The First Minister updated parents on getting applications in for the Scottish Child Payment that is due to open on February 15.
The payment will pay parents, on tax credits or certain other benefits, of children under the age of six an extra £40 every four weeks. It will later be rolled out to all children under 16 in 2022.
Sturgeon said that around 63,000 applications had already been made to the scheme and she encouraged any parents to make an application before it opens in order not to miss out on any potential payments.
The Scottish Fiscal Commission has forecast that the payment could support up to 194,000 children this financial year.
Supermarkets
Sturgeon urged people to follow guidance on going to supermarkets including shopping alone, where possible, wearing face coverings and maintaining distance.
She suggested people cut three or four trips to food retailers per week down to one to avoid the potential possibility of more transmission and using online ordering services if you can.
She also suggested shopping alone if you can as some supermarkets implement one customer per trolley rules.
When entering a shop, she said to not enter if it seemed too busy, sanitise hands on entry and exit, wear a face covering over your mouth and nose then maintain a distance of two-metres as much as possible and be patient with staff and other shoppers.
Sturgeon said: "These guidelines are very difficult to follow, they are a pain in the neck for everybody, but they are really, really important so I would urge everybody to follow them.
"If we do so, we can make shopping a safer experience and help food retailers as they carry out their essential work."
Festivals
Answering a question about the possibility of festivals going ahead in Scotland this summer after the news yesterday that Glastonbury has been cancelled by organisers, the First Minister warned it is "uncertain" whether large-scale events will be able to go ahead any time soon.
She sympathised with organisers trying to make the difficult decision to go ahead with a summer event in uncertain times.
READ MORE: Glastonbury Festival cancelled due to Covid-19 for a second year running
She said that while the vaccine program hopes to have vulnerable people inoculated by the summer and the situation may well be different by then, she cannot advise with say these events are likely to happen in the summer.
She added: "Organisations have to be aware of that. If I was to stand here right now and be asked if I think large-scale events can go-ahead by the summer, the honest answer to that would be: No, I can't can't say that with certainty. I hope by then we will have restored a lot of normality to life, but we equally have to be realistic and pragmatic."
She added that it will be "a little while longer" before big events become possible again, but hopes it could be as quickly as possible despite some mitigations to the virus being necessary for some time.
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