The Scottish government has agreed a pay increase with local authorities for adult social care workers - with effect from the beginning of this month - so they all receive the minimum living wage of £9.30 per hour, reports Jeane Freeman.

The health secretary says this will cover all hours worked, including sleep-overs and personal assistance, with an agreement also in place on funding for sick pay in cases where workers are ill or self-isolating.

Ms Freeman adds that there will be no delays in workers' ability to claim the increase immediately.

Image source, Getty Images

Jeane Freeman says workers in the adult social care sector "are as important to me as workers in our health services are".

"I am determined to get you what you need to do your jobs as you care for others," says the health secretary.

Ms Freeman says she has reminded NHS boards to ensure that social care workers are given access to key worker testing and that "broad progress" has been made, although "there is still work to do".

She reports that as of Friday, more than 8,000 health or social care workers have been tested across Scotland.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman begins her briefing by thanking people for staying at home on this Easter Sunday "like no other".

"Your actions are making a difference," she says.

Ms Freeman cautions against reading too much into the drop in numbers of patients in Scottish hospitals with either confirmed or suspected Covid-19, from 1,855 to 1,755.

"It is too early to read anything into that," she says.

She adds that the number of deaths - 24 - reported since yesterday "is lower than in previous days and should be treated with some caution".

Although deaths can now be registered at the weekend, "we still expect registration numbers will be relatively low over the Easter weekend.”

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman will chair the Scottish government's daily media briefing on the latest coronavirus developments shortly.

Image source, AFP

It has been confirmed that 5,912 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland, up 322 on yesterday.

A further 24 patients have died, taking the total to 566 in Scotland.

In total, 31,114 tests have been carried out, an increase of 1,211 in the past 24 hours.

The latest Scottish Government figures also reveal that:

• 221 patients were in intensive care last night, a rise of nine, with 208 of those having tested positive
• 1,755 people are in Scottish hospitals with either confirmed or suspected Covid-19, including those in intensive care. That's a drop of 100 from yesterday

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has said the Scottish parliament should, like the UK parliament, find a way of meeting again.

“Due to Labour’s persistence the Presiding Officer introduced virtual First Minister’s Questions with the party leaders last week but we need much deeper and wider scrutiny of the government’s decisions," he said.

“That’s why we’ve called for Parliament to meet virtually during Easter recess and for committees to be reconvened.

"This is a national emergency that demands a national effort, cross party cooperation and democratic accountability."

Image source, Getty Images

One of Scotland's Dunkirk veterans, Harry Osborne, is turning 100 today.

He served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery and was deployed to France in January 1940.

A planned party had to be cancelled because of the current health situation, but they'll still be celebrating his big day at his care home in Troon.

Image source, Getty Images

For gamers around the country, lockdown might appear to be an ideal opportunity to hone your skills in pretty much every waking moment.

But how much should we be playing online?

According to Dr Dayna Galloway, who is head of the division of games and arts at Abertay University, the main message - as in all things - is not to overdo it.

"Screentime guidance varies for age groups - but the key is to ensure a healthy balance across activities," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon has thanked Christians for their selfless work volunteering during the coronavirus crisis in her Easter message.

The first minister's Easter broadcast paid tribute to churches, Christian leaders and volunteers for "demonstrating the kindness, compassion and love" fundamental to Christianity and "any decent society".

"As the Covid-19 crisis has reminded us, these are the things that really matter in life," Ms Sturgeon added. "So in these incredibly unusual and difficult circumstances, I wish all of you the best Easter possible."

The first minister's Easter message follows praise from the Duke of Cambridge for how the Church of Scotland has "reinvented itself" in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A leading public health expert believes we are at the "beginning of the peak" of coronavirus cases in the UK but there will be still be lockdown restrictions "for quite a long time to come".

"In terms of the number of cases in hospital, we are seeing the capacity is still there, which is good news," Professor Sian Griffiths told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme.

"We are seeing the peak is beginning to flatten, and we are seeing that compliance with social distancing and lockdown measures has been good.

"It doesn't mean we are out of the woods yet, but it does mean all of that is moving in the right direction."

Image source, Getty Images

Wellcome Trust director Sir Jeremy Farrar says the number of deaths should plateau in the next few weeks.

Image source, AFP

The American billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has said a vaccine against Covid-19 could be ready within 18 months.

Mr Gates, whose foundation is helping to fund research and development, told the BBC it was the only way to get back to some normality.

Dr Kate Broderick - who is originally from Dunfermline - works for a pharmaceutical company in San Diego which is involved in the global race to find a vaccine.

"We have actually just started phase-one clinical trials this week, and started treating human beings with our vaccine, so that is a huge milestone in the path towards creating a vaccine that is ready for the entire global population," she told BBC Scotland.

Fixed penalty notices have been issued to a group of people who had to be rescued from Cramond Island.

The alarm was raised when three men and a woman were cut off by the tide yesterday afternoon. The police and the South Queensferry Lifeboat were involved in the rescue.

Once back on shore officers fined the group for flouting lockdown measures.The Lifeboat team is urging people to avoid putting themselves and others at risk.

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland's Finance Secretary, Kate Forbes, has been defending her plans to help businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

There has been criticism that some firms with more than one outlet could not access the same grants as in other parts of the UK.

The Scottish Government is rolling out a package of support worth £2.2bn, with Ms Forbes saying decisions were based on trying to get the money to as many firms as possible.

"We have had to limit the number of grants that some businesses get to just one," she told BBC Scotland. "It is important we tailor our support to the Scottish economy. That doesn't mean I am not still thinking through the issues to see if there is more support we can provide."

Angie Brown
BBC Scotland news reporter

Image source, John Steven

A landscape gardener has been receiving thousands of calls from people asking for their garden waste to be removed after the council stopped its brown bin uplift during the coronavirus lockdown.

John Steven, director of Woodland Maintenance Services in Edinburgh, said he had been missing up to 600 calls a day after offering the service in a post on Facebook.

The 32-year-old said he had even received calls from Glasgow, North Berwick and Falkirk.

He has been uplifting brown wheelie bins for £4 and black bin bags for £1 since City of Edinburgh Council stopped its service on Tuesday.

The local authority said it was looking into reimbursing people who had signed up to its annual £25 scheme.

Read more