Andrew Black
BBC Scotland Business Presenter

The coronavirus crisis has created massive challenges for the dairy industry - but there has been some positive news.

Robert Graham is managing director of Graham's Family Dairy - Scotland's biggest independent milk producer.

He tells the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme : "What we're continuing to see is customers looking for Scottish dairy products and we think that has accelerated during this.

"People are picking up Scottish butter rather than Danish butter, Scottish yoghurt rather than French yoghurt."

But Graham's says it's still been tough. The dairy's food service normally caters for 1,500 businesses, such as restaurants and cafes, but that has shut down for now.

"That's been our biggest challenge," Robert adds.

Image source, Graham's

Image source, Downing Street

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a cabinet meeting later and then lead the daily coronavirus briefing for the first time since his return to work.

No 10 said the PM, whose fiancee gave birth on Wednesday, will update the UK on the "fight against this disease and the steps we are taking to defeat it".

But political editor Laura Kuenssberg said he was unlikely to give "chapter and verse" on lifting the restrictions.

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Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Fiona McQueen tells BBC Scotland that testing for Covid-19 in care homes is "not limited" by capacity.

She said Scotland's testing strategy had been following "good clinical advice" which focused tests on symptomatic residents and staff not going into work if they were not well.

But Ms McQueen said it was now known that the elderly may not display normal symptoms and that the Scottish government was "working tirelessly" to get testing right to keep older people safe.

She said that the minute care homes had one Covid-19 case, strong infection control measure should be brought in to make sure the virus did not spread.

Mornings with Kaye Adams
BBC Radio Scotland

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Peter Charleton says the job of unpaid carers is "like the mortar in the wall".

"It's there, but it's hidden," he added.

As full-time carer to his wife, Mary, who has dementia, he is one of about 700,000 people in Scotland who have a voluntary caring role.

While lockdown is on, many of their support systems are not in place and life for carers can be unrelenting.

"Your doctors and nurses and carers in care homes can go in in the morning and go home at night. Unpaid carers don't go into work, and they don't come home. It's 24/7 for 365 days a year."

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Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Fiona McQueen says it is the responsibility of employers to keep their employees safe with the correct protective equipment.

She told Good Morning Scotland that guidance on PPE was issued for all health and social care staff, but she now knows many care homes were struggling to obtain the right kit from their usual suppliers.

Ms McQueen said it was a "David and Goliath" situation, with the NHS putting in big orders for PPE, leaving care homes unable to source it.

The chief nursing officer said this situation had now been resolved with PPE supplies available to care homes across the country.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

The chief nursing officer says there was a lack of confidence early on from relatives that social distancing was taking place in care homes.

But Fiona McQueen told Good Morning Scotland the importance of social distancing measures in care homes have now been "reinforced".

Asked where the responsibility should lie for the high number of Covid-19 care home deaths, Ms McQueen said it was a "vicious virus" that affected the elderly wherever they were.

"It's important that we concentrate our energy on caring for our older people, putting in additional support measures such as additional staff, additional advice and support so that we can wrap and around make sure we can get the outbreaks under control."

She added there would be a time to "look and learn" at whether care homes, government and local authorities acted quickly enough.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

The chief nursing officer, Fiona MCQueen, says coronavirus guidance was issued to care homes in early March, and owners and managers would have taken the decision on what steps they would take based on risk they were prepared to accept.

She told Good Morning Scotland that many care homes were privately run and the first set of guidance on visitors and social distancing was issued before the lockdown.

Ms McQueen said she acknowledged that the owners, managers and staff in care homes were "working tirelessly" to try to stop the spread of Covid-19.

She said the Scottish government was "ramping up support" through the Care Inspectorate.

Andrew Black
BBC Scotland Business Presenter

Key North Sea operator Shell is cutting shareholder payments for the first time since World War Two.

It's a major sign of how the Coronavirus crisis is hitting the economy. In Shell's case, lockdown restrictions have meant a big drop in demand for oil.

The global oil giant says it's made a $2.9bn profit so far this year - a huge pile of cash - but it's 46% down on this time last year.

Shell is also talking about cutting production. Issues like that will be top of the agenda for the Scottish government's new oil and gas group.

Its chair, Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse, wants to boost links with the Scottish oil and gas industry to protect jobs.

Image source, Shell

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Deborah Clarke says care home staff were struggling to get tested for coronavirus and that testing provision was "very patchy".

She said lots of testing centres required you to arrive in a car and with many staff being low-paid workers they did not have a car.

Ms Clarke told Good Morning Scotland she knew of one Unison member who went to a testing centre on foot and was turned away.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Unsion Scotland's Deborah Clarke was asked if she agreed with comments from Scotland's interim chief medical officer, Gregor Smith, who said yesterday that it was sometimes "kinder" to let the elderly die in care homes rather than move them to hospital.

Ms Clarke said many of her members would understand and share that sentiment.

But she added: "What they want is the dignity to be trained, to do that safely and to ensure the best end of life care they can possibly give."

Andrew Black
BBC Scotland Business Presenter

Scottish technology firms say the Coronavirus crisis has hit their prospects for growth this year.

Back in January, companies working in areas like software development, data analysis and gaming were looking forward to hiring more staff.

A survey by industry group Scotland IS, external has indicated the head count at a lot of these firms will probably stay about the same, going forward.

Some better news though - Scottish tech firms reckon the increase in remote and working could mean more demand for the services they provide.

Image source, Getty

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

The head of community for the Unison Scotland union says care home staff in Scotland are desperate for testing, the correct protective equipment and the training they need.

Deborah Clarke told Good Morning Scotland that the over riding feeling among staff at the moment was fear.

She said there had been a "significant improvement" to the supply of PPE after lobbying by the unions, but told the BBC there was more work to be done.

"The PPE is getting through which is helping but what the staff are saying what they really need first is the testing," she said.

"As one one carer said to me only yesteday: 'I don't know if it's me that's bringing the coronavirus into the home. I don't know if it's me who's making the residents ill. I need to be tested.'"

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

A statistics expert says Scotland is past the coronavirus peak in hospitals and the focus should now be on care homes.

Prof Sheila Bird, honorary professor at the University of Edinburgh and former head of Cambridge's Biostatistics Unit, told Good Morning Scotland that the virus was still clearly transmitting in care homes.

Figures relased yesterday show that more than half of Covid-19 deaths are now in care homes.

"Up to 12 April there had been 240 Covid-mentioned deaths in care homes, the next week, however, there were 300 and the most recent week 349. So the trajectory rather than being down is still up.

"Scotland needs to focus attention and support for the staff in care homes and for the residents."

Many construction firms in Scotland face the prospect of financial collapse within months unless the lockdown can be eased, an industry body has said.

All but essential construction sites in Scotland have been closed for more than five weeks since the coronavirus restrictions were introduced.

From next week, three of the UK's biggest housebuilders will reopen their sites in England.

The Federation of Master Builders wants the same rules for Scottish firms.

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Scotland's front pages are focusing on care homes, where deaths are outnumbering those in hospitals, according to figures published yesterday.

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