Advice for community groups, organisations and volunteer networks adapting to life with Covid-19
In towns and villages across Scotland, communities are adapting to life with COVID 19. These pages provide advice on how to virus proof the fantastic things you are doing and reduce the risk of indirect spread. Please read them carefully if you are starting to provide support or reviewing what you are doing already. Read more information here.
⚠️ This resource is no longer in use and has been archived
Advice for community groups, organisations and volunteer networks
This advice has been produced by Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) and Public Health Scotland. It's based on the most up to date Scottish Government guidance and best available knowledge about COVID 19. It has been regularly updated as other information becomes available and this will continue if and when the situation changes.
Accuracy
The information on infection transmission has been checked by Health Protection Scotland which is part of Public Health Scotland. Our advice on ventilation has also been checked by Health Facilities Scotland and our advice on COVID space planning has been developed with help from the Institute of Place Management.
Who is it for?
We have written it for those without medical or scientific knowledge working in communities. This includes volunteers, management committee members or staff in community projects, services and community led groups.
What does it cover?
We have made some changes to the way that our advice is organised by:
Archiving much of the information on the safe delivery of aid in communities as it is no longer needed since we are not in lockdown. We hope it is never required again but if it is, it will be available in further updates.
We reflect the latest changes in the restrictions and highlight where recommended safety measures have moved to good practice guidance for communities to use.
We have taken the opportunity to make Supporting Communities Safely shorter and easier to use.
It still covers the things you deal with everyday like; delivering your services safely, providing practical services and how to play your part in the national effort to recover from the pandemic.This includes information on vaccination, testing and how all of these operate together to keep our communities safe.
These pages help you to identify and reduce risk. Please read them carefully before restarting your activities or reviewing what you are doing already.
Where are we now (December 2021)
There is a new variant of COVID 19 called Omicron. The new variant is transmitting rapidly within Scotland and there is strong evidence that community transmission is widespread.
The rapid rise in Omicron infections could put significant additional pressure on hospitals and other health and care services, close to the point in the winter when they are already likely to be at peak pressure. The number of cases could potentially cause great disruption to services as more people are forced to self-isolate. Therefore, we all need to do what we can to comply with the guidance and help reduce the risk.
More information on Omicron is available here
Because of this some aspects of the guidance on COVID in Scotland have changed from 14th of December 2021.
What this means for community based services
As people organising community services, you have a particular responsibility to help people to get support, but avoid catching the virus themselves, or passing it on to others.
The government is asking people to be more careful when in contact with each other, wherever they may be. The main change is that you are advised to limit the amount of social contact people have with other households to reduce the rate that the virus spreads. The government guidance asks that no more than 3 households gather together at one time.
You are advised to postpone non-essential things, like works Christmas parties. This also means that any community organisations organising social events over the holiday season should consider postponing these, especially if these are planned to take place indoors. While this may be disappointing for many people, it’s far better than getting COVID 19 for Christmas.
Some communities want to provide face to face services to vulnerable people in greatest need those who need them most to combat social isolation and other harms of COVID 19. It is still possible to support them safely in line with government guidance on what is permitted and good practice advice covering issues like physical distancing. But even these services should be delivered with minimal social contact between households wherever possible for now. This link to our advice on dealing with risk be helpful. Please keep using these links to keep up to data with any more specific advice which may be published during the holiday period so please remember the following
To help protect yourself and others:
if you don’t have symptoms take regular lateral flow tests – especially before mixing with other people ask those using you services to do this.
if you have symptoms - self isolate and book a PCR test
wash your hands regularly, and cover your nose and mouth if coughing or sneezing
open windows when meeting indoors. Here is additional information on ventilation
Keep your distance from people not in your group See our section on COVID safe spaces for how you can do this effectively.
work from home if possible
use the apps: COVID status (vaccine passport), Protect Scotland and Check-in Scotland
Key messages at a glance
What is the best way to stop the spread of the virus?
Keeping a safe distance: We should still be risk assessing our activities carefully. Although the legal requirement to physically distance has been dropped it is still very strongly advised within the Scottish Government guidance. We recommend that in community service settings you should act as if the restriction is still in place wherever possible and maintain at least a 1.5 metre physical distance between people wherever possible and practical. For information on why we recommend 1.5 metres please see our section on Covid Safe Spaces - A Step By Step Guide.
Use face coverings to protect yourself and protect others: Face coverings are still a legal requirement on public transport and in many places, including community facilities. It's very important and we should be wearing these wherever it's harder to distance and in line with the advice and guidance summarised here - so when in doubt please wear one and encourage others to do so.
Vaccination: NHS Scotland strongly recommends that everyone who is offered a Covid vaccine, takes it. We can all contribute to a collective effort to stop not just the spread of Covid-19, but the harmful consequences it has for individuals and communities. As volunteers, community groups and third sector organisations you have trusted relationships with people who use your services, and you could find yourself being asked questions about the vaccine programme. It is really important that you know where to find the most accurate and up to date information. A high level of public confidence in the vaccine programme is essential to its success, and trusted organisations like yours are in a strong position to support wider public health and government messaging. If you are delivering community-based services or activities we encourage you to think about what you can do to help share accurate, fact-checked information about the vaccine, and help your staff, volunteers and users get access to the right information for them.
Get tested regularly and make it easy for people who use your services to get tested: Our section on testing explains what the different types of testing are for and how you and your organisation could make use of them in your service to make sure that keep people safe and you don't contribute to an outbreak.
Gather the details of people using your services in case it's needed for managing any outbreaks: Although you may not be legally required to gather people details we strongly advice that you do this and encourage people to use other important tools like the Check In Scotland and Test & Protect apps.
Making sure people comply with additional public health measures: Some of the previous legal restrictions are not now enforceable under the law. But as people running your own services, you can choose to implement reasonable additional measures such as those in the good practice section of the government's guidance. This is up to your organisation and you can refuse access to people who do not abide by your protective measures.
Ventilation: Freely circulating Fresh air is essential to keeping the virus from accumulating in our spaces. See our section on ventilation for how to understand this, measure it and take actions needed to ensure air is clean & safe.
A checklist of things you can do
Make sure that:
You are always up to date with any changes in guidance or restrictions.
You share this advice with others to help implement the most recent guidance.
You ensure that the advice/guidelines are being strictly followed in your own services and anywhere else that you have an influence.
Ensure that there aren't too many people in your services and that they keep a physical distance from each other as much as possible.
Promote the Test & Protect message to stop the virus getting a grip again and make sure you gather the information needed to make it work.
Make sure your buildings are well ventilated and do things outside where you can.
Support the vaccination programme and encourage those you know to take their shot when it's offered
How can you keep your knowledge up to date?
These pages have been updated to reflect the latest changes as of the date above. Save the link on your devices and check the date on any downloaded or printed versions to make sure you have the latest version.
Test and Protect
Test and Protect (including workplace testing)
Test and Protect continues to be a really important public health measure, helping to break chains of transmission of COVID-19 in the community. With increasing levels of protection from the uptake of vaccines the self isolation rules have changed in recent months, and may change again. Below is a summary of the latest information to help you to comply with Test and Protect:
Self isolation:
If you begin to have symptoms of COVID-19, or you have tested positive for it you must isolate immediately, as before. The following steps then apply:
If you are unvaccinated, or have only had one dose of vaccine and you are identified as a close contact, you should self-isolate for 10 days, whether or not you have any symptoms. This is because symptoms can take that long to develop and you can still pass the virus on. If you develop symptoms, you should request a test.
If you are a fully vaccinated adult who is identified as a close contact, you should get a PCR test as soon as possible. Provided you return a negative PCR test result and remain asymptomatic (don’t have any symptoms) you may end self-isolation as a close contact.
If you are younger than 18 years and 4 months and identified as a close contact, you should get a PCR test as soon as possible. Provided you return a negative PCR test result and remain asymptomatic (don’t have any symptoms), you may end self-isolation as a close contact. However, children under 5 years will be encouraged but not required to take a PCR test. The reason that eighteen years and 4 months is the age specified is to allow an extra 4 months for people who turn 18 time to get fully vaccinated.
You can order home testing kits here.
We strongly encourage you to download the Test and Protect app, and keep it activated at all times. This is especially important if you are delivering community-based activities and services indoors as there is still a risk of infection transmission - it is the responsibility of us all to report symptoms of Covid-19 and follow the guidance to reduce the chance of local outbreaks. You can get the app here: Protect Scotland app
You can read the full Scottish Government guidance on Test and Protect here.
Workplace testing
The Scottish Government has expanded the offer of workplace testing to private, public and third-sector organisations. If you have ten or more staff (including employees and formal volunteers) you can now sign up for asymptomatic workplace testing as part of a drive to identify cases early and prevent wider outbreaks.
Around 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 do not show symptoms, so can spread the virus to others without knowing. Regular testing using lateral flow devices (LFDs) helps to find positive cases in people who have no symptoms, but who are still infectious. If people who test positive self-isolate we can break the chain of transmission and limit the spread of COVID-19.
Eligible organisations can choose from two models of testing, depending on their needs:
LFD Collect - allows organisations to distribute test kits to their staff/volunteers to carry out self-testing at home
testing within the workplace using the asymptomatic test site (ATS) model
If you would like to enquire about workplace testing please email the NHS National Services Scotland testing mailbox. You will be asked to complete a form providing key information and contact details. You will then be given access to an online portal containing all the information you will need to plan and deliver an effective workplace testing programme, including promotional materials. Ongoing support and oversight will be provided by NHS National Services Scotland and the Scottish Government.
If you have fewer than 10 staff or volunteers, you can still encourage them to test themselves regularly at home. Members of the public can collect LFD test kits from a local pharmacy or COVID-19 test site, or order online for home delivery.
Asymptomatic workplace testing does not replace current guidance for those with symptoms or those identified as a close contact of a positive case - see our section on Test and Protect. Testing also does not replace basic preventative measures such as regular handwashing and wearing face coverings when required. Home-working continues to be recommended where possible.
Check-in Scotland
Collecting contact details is no longer a legal requirement unless you are a pub, bar, cafe or restaurant, but we strongly advise all community-based services and activities to think about continuing with this measure as part of their overall approach to risk management. Anything we can do to make it easier to spot and manage potential outbreaks early is worth that little bit of extra time and effort. You might choose to continue with a paper-based system for collecting contact details - that is perfectly acceptable if it works for you, your staff and your users. However you might choose to join the Check-in Scotland scheme which allows you to collect contact details digitally via an app. You may have done this yourself if you have been to a cafe or restaurant in recent months - each venue has a poster with a QR code displayed at the entrance or reception, the visitor scans the QR code and enters the details of their visit via an app of their phone. Any venue or building can get their own QR code - including community venues.
You can find out more about the QR code and creating one for your venue. And more general information on Check-in Scotland here: using the Check In Scotland QR code
Confused about the different kinds of Coronavirus tests?
That’s understandable! This resource mentions both PCR test and LFD tests, so we thought it was important to briefly explain the difference. The 2 main coronavirus tests are:
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) – used mainly for people with symptoms
lateral flow device (LFD) – used for people who do not have symptoms
A PCR test involves taking a swab of the throat and nose. PCR tests are processed in a laboratory, and are a reliable way to detect the genetic material of a virus. In general terms they are used when people have or think they have coronavirus symptoms. If you think you have symptoms you will be asked to take a PCR test, usually by booking an appointment at a local test centre. You’ll normally get your PCR test result back within 48 hours. In exceptional circumstances you can ask for a home PCR testing kit. You should also book a PCR test if:
you’ve been asked to get a test by your local council, health protection team, healthcare professional, place of work or education
you’ve been asked to get a test to confirm a positive LFD result, or you have had 2 or more void or inconclusive LFD tests
you’ve been identified as a close contact through Test and Protect or the Protect Scotland app, or found out you’re a close contact in another way
LFD (lateral flow device) tests are self-tests for people who do not have coronavirus symptoms. They are sometimes also called ‘rapid tests’. People in Scotland are encouraged to take routine LFD tests to help monitor the levels of coronavirus in Scotland and prevent local outbreaks. You can order home testing kits here:
The LFD test usually involves taking a sample from your throat and nose using a swab. A sample from the swab is then applied to a test strip, which will give you a result in 30 minutes. If your result is negative you should register the result on the UK government website, and no more action is required. If the result is positive you should self-isolate immediately and book a PCR test.
LFD tests:
are simple to use
give a result in 30 minutes
can be taken at home
help find positive cases in people who are infectious but don’t have symptoms
In summary: the coronavirus test you should take depends on why you’re getting tested and whether you have symptoms. More information on testing can be found on NHS Inform here.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge other organisations who have put out advice, notably the support and advice of the Scottish Council for Voluntary organisations, the Scottish Government and Volunteer Scotland. We also wish to thank the Institute for Place Management for their help on COVID space planning calculations. We have also been assisted by a number of Environmental Health teams including Dumfries and Galloway Council, We also thank COVID-19 Mutual Aid, Queercare, Food Standards Scotland, Volunteer Glasgow and Third Sector Interface organisations across Scotland, whose material we have also drawn on when producing this advice.