FORMER constitution secretary Michael Russell has defended the Scottish Government amid suggestions of a Covid cover-up after an outbreak at a Nike conference in Edinburgh.
The SNP president insisted the actions of Nicola Sturgeon’s administration were “entirely proper” as he reacted to a new report about a cluster of cases in the early stages of the pandemic.
Nike delegates met at the conference in the capital on February 25-27, 2020. Last week Public Health Scotland announced that a single case among the 71 attendees led to 38 further infections. No deaths were linked to the outbreak.
Emails released to the Sunday Times via Freedom of Information rules reveal that Nicola Sturgeon sided with former chief medical officer (CMO) Catherine Calderwood in deciding against announcing the outbreak to the public. Calderwood raised concerns about patient confidentiality and said an announcement could hamper contact tracing efforts.
Former health secretary Jeane Freeman and Gregor Smith, who at the time was deputy CMO, had argued for full disclosure.
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Tory MSP Miles Briggs has claimed the decision “could have had huge implications for public safety”. Former SNP health minister Alex Neil added that the Government should have adopted a strategy of “maximum transparency”.
The Scottish Government insisted it took “all appropriate steps” to protect public health following the conference.
More than 60 contacts were traced in Scotland and about 50 others were traced in England. A spokesperson told the Sunday Times: “While the Nike conference in Edinburgh was one of several routes by which Covid-19 came to Scotland, the University of Glasgow’s genome sequencing report confirms that the local public health response was effective in managing and containing spread of that particular strain of Covid-19 in Scotland.”
Responding to reports about Sturgeon disagreeing with some advisers on whether to publicise the outbreak, Russell added: “The decisions were clearly made considering a range of views as is entirely proper – indeed essential – in any and every government.”
The First Minister has rejected claims of a cover-up and has announced plans to hold a full public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the pandemic.
Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, commented: “These revelations must be scrutinised fully by any public inquiry. Whilst we knew Calderwood had advised against transparency on grounds of patient confidentiality and the first minister sided with her, it hadn’t been appreciated until now that the first minister did so against the advice of her own health secretary and chief adviser.”
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