Joanne MacAulay
BBC Scotland news

Edinburgh University medical students - whose studies and placements have been put on hold due to lockdown - have been providing free childcare for NHS staff.

A group of students came up with the scheme which uses the Bubble babysitting app and Facebook to match families with childminders.

Student Amy McGirk said: “It’s not how I expected to finish my 5th year, but it’s actually been really nice to feel we can do something useful for NHS workers."

Mental health nurse Lindsay Fox described the service as “a godsend”.

“I’m relaxed at work because I know I have PGV-approved wonderful human beings who are looking after my children out of the kindness of their own heart."

You can see a full report on this on Reporting Scotland on BBC One Scotland at 1830.

Holyrood Live
BBC Parliaments

Image source, PA Media

The opposition party leaders now have a chance to ask questions of and raise issues with the first minister.

Angie Brown
Edinburgh and East reporter

Shoppers have been wearing make-up and their best clothes to go to the supermarket as it has become the highlight of their week during the lockdown.

For many it has been their one big trip outside so they have been dressing up as if they were going out to a restaurant or bar.

During the week around the house they have admitted to wearing joggers and hoodies while others said they have been in gardening clothes.

But then when it gets to their weekly or bimonthly shopping trip they have been getting “all dolled up”.

Sophie Coffey, 40, who lives near Farm Shop Edinburgh, said she was making an effort to wear nice clothes food shopping even though her local shop was only a 10 minute walk away from her house.

Read more

There are topical questions from backbench MSP today on:

• what plans the Scottish government has to partially reopen schools
• equal access to learning for those with additional support needs and from disadvantaged backgrounds
• support for young people's mental health and wellbeing

Image source, Getty Images

On Monday full details of the emergency arrangements for students whose exams have been cancelled were announced by the SQA.

Grades for qualifications including Highers and National 5s will be based on estimates by teachers.

Read more here.

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop has confirmed that grant funding for the newly self-employed suffering hardship and SMEs in distress will be available in the coming days.

The £100 million fund to support the self-employed and SMEs announced last week will be broken into three separate funds as follows:

• £20 million Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund, managed by the Enterprise Agencies in partnership with Creative Scotland and VisitScotland for creative, tourism and hospitality companies not in receipt of business rates relief
• £45 million Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, managed by the Enterprise Agencies for vulnerable SME firms who are vital to the local or national economic foundations of Scotland
• £34 million Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund, managed by Local Authorities, will be allocated to the newly self-employed facing hardship through £2,000 grants
• The Scottish government is also providing £1 million to top up Creative Scotland’s Bridging Bursaries in the not-for-profit sector.

Scotland's justice secretary says some prisoners are to be released early due to the coronavirus crisis.

The economy secretary tells MSPs recovery will not be quick and the post-crisis world will be "very different".

"There will be different business practices, different markets and different behaviours," she tells MSPs.

Ms Hyslop says the Scottish government is doing all it can to protect businesses right now, but is also planning ahead to support economic recovery "in due course".

The economy secretary tells MSPs that the construction industry will play a "vital role" in how the economy is reset after the coronavirus crisis.

Ms Hyslop says that public sector spending on infrastructure accounts for about half of all construction activity across Scotland.

At the moment, only essential construction work is being carried out.

She says a slower and safer restart of the economy will reduce the risk of a second wave of the virus spreading.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Radio Scotland's Drivetime with John Beattie has started, here's what the programme will focus on today:

• Nicola Sturgeon says we're in the middle of an 'economic emergency'
• there's been a130,000 new Universal Credit claims in the past five weeks in Scotland
• Police Scotland now has the power to enforce social isolating at work
• the justice secretary has confirmed plans to release hundreds of prisoners early

People who are recently self-employed will be able to apply for £2,000 grants, Ms Hyslop says, because support for this group was "missing" from the UK government scheme.

Creative, tourism and hospitality companies of up to 50 employees will have "easy access" to £3,000 hardship grants, or up to £25,000 if they can demonstrate the help is needed, she says.

Fiona Hyslop says the Scottish government package for businesses is worth more than £2.2bn, including £900m of rates relief.

The cabinet secretary says the government is also working with local authorities on delivering the £1.3bn business grants scheme.

Support has also been announced for the fishing industry, bus and ferry operators and rail franchises, she says.

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop tells MSPs the UK government has made welcome contributions to supporting businesses during the current crisis.

However, she says they do not fully meet the need of Scottish businesses with "significant gaps" in the job retention scheme and support for the self-employed.

The Scottish government will fill some of the gaps, and says she has written to the UK government to ask them to address the issue.

Ms Hyslop says that some predictions suggest that GDP in Scotland will fall by a third while social distancing measures are in place, but she tells MSPs it is important to put that in context.

"This is no normal downturn and we need to view economic data and projections in that light," she says.

The economy secretary outlines the Scottish government's three main aims:

1. To keep companies in business and productive so they can recover
2. To keep staff in employment with income protection
3. To support staff so they can self-isolate and provide care to loved ones

"It is in everyone's interest to help companies through this turbulent period," she adds.

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop tells MSPs that the Covid-19 crisis has led "very quickly" to an economic crisis.

She says that 70% of the workforce in Scotland is still working, but many businesses have closed and there will be an "enormous challenge" to help companies survive.

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

We have become familiar with the daily rise in deaths of patients who have tested positive for coronavirus.

In Scotland, that figure is now 985 — although the actual number of deaths will be much higher, when untested patients in care homes and the wider community are taken into account.

Today, the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish government’s chief economist, Dr Gary Gillespie also presented a detailed analysis of the economic impact of Covid-19.

Scotland’s economic output is expected to shrink by about a third during the period of lockdown and social distancing.

Ms Sturgeon insisted there was not a trade-off between saving lives and saving the economy and that lifting lockdown measures too early could make economic recovery harder.

She said it was too early to say when it would be possible to start easing restrictions but that decisions would be based on evidence and not pre-determined by ideology.

That’s to say lockdown measures could be lifted (when the time comes) UK-wide or on a Scotland-only basis. The first minister said her only consideration would be what was “best for Scotland”.

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop will update MSPs on Covid-19's impact on the economy and efforts to mitigate the worst of the damage.

Here are the latest stories:

• Covid-19 has become an 'economic crisis' says chief economist
• US oil prices turn negative as demand dries up
• UK employment rate at record high before lockdown
• More than 140,000 firms claim wage bill help

Green MSP Mark Ruskell raises concerns about reports of 25 prisoners exercising together at HMP Glenochil and a lack of PPE for prison officers.

Mr Ruskell asks whether all prisoners and staff should be tested.

"Prisons are challenging environments," replies Mr Yousaf, who says there are adequate supplies of PPE and some prison staff are being tested to get them back to work.

For the Lib Dems, Alex-Cole Hamilton asks about the release of pregnant prisoners and the minister pledges to come back to Mr Hamilton with that detail.