News

Public Health Scotland (PHS) continues to seek to provide the most accurate information available on cases of COVID-19 amongst the population in Scotland.

The uptake of the MMR and ‘6-in-1’ vaccines among Scottish pre-school children increased significantly during the first COVID-19 lockdown in spring 2020 compared with the year before, according to new Public Health Scotland research.

PHS has published an analysis of latest available data to show how the COVID-19 pandemic and its related restrictions may have impacted on sales, hospital stays and deaths related to alcohol.

Results from a study looking at the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) on homeless drinkers, street drinkers, and the support services working with them has been published by the Chief Scientist's Office.

From 10 February 2022, Public Health Scotland’s COVID-19 Daily Dashboard will be refreshed to utilise the new case definition of those who have recorded a first positive PCR or an LFD (lateral flow device)

As part of our role in protecting health, PHS supports the management of zoonotic disease outbreaks such as avian influenza. Our latest blog discusses the importance of monitoring the outbreak to keep both people and birds safe.

PHS welcomes Transport Scotland’s route-map to achieving a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030 and has published an evidence briefing to support the policy on behalf of the Public Health and Sustainable Transport Partnership group.

Results from the COVID-19 in Pregnancy in Scotland (COPS) study, published in the Nature Medicine journal, have led to calls for more pregnant women to protect themselves and their unborn children by getting fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

From 13 January 2022, in addition to reporting the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 through a PCR test, Public Health Scotland will also begin reporting a combined figure for the number of people who have recorded a first positive PCR or an LFD test.

From Thursday 13 January, PHS will begin reporting on the number of people with a COVID-19 infection confirmed by either a PCR or first LFD positive test reflecting recent changes to the COVID-19 testing strategy.