Following today’s media briefing led by the First Minister accompanied by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood and the Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, the government has put out a statement this evening.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am acutely aware of  the importance of public trust in the advice the government is giving to stay at home in order to save lives and protect our NHS. 

“To maintain that trust we will be revising our public information campaign and the Chief Medical Officer will be withdrawing from media briefings for the foreseeable future.

“She will continue to provide the Scottish Government with the scientific and medical advice on the spread of coronavirus.”

This is the current video:

Commenting on the news that the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, Catherine Calderwood, is to retain her position despite stepping back from all public facing commitments, Scottish Labour Leader Richard Leonard said: “It is clear that the Chief Medical Officer’s disregard of the Government’s own guidelines which she is the principal adviser on, was not a one off, a simple mistake, or human error as was suggested overnight.

“Stepping back from the media briefings isn’t sufficient. The Chief Medical Officer’s position is untenable. This shows bad judgement by Nicola Sturgeon’s Government. 

“The CMO needs to step down, not step back. The Scottish Government’s handling of this has been less than straight. Unless the Government is honest and open, it is running the serious risk of causing public confidence to collapse. This is in no-one’s interest at a time of national crisis.”

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.