Thread by @theSNP

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon at #FMQs: "One of the key points is this one. What we found ourselves dealing with in February/March of this year was not a flu pandemic."

NS: "And therefore, no amount of preparedness for a flu pandemic would've been sufficient in the face of the situation that we actually encountered." #FMQs

NS: "In fact, if I reflect back on the last ten months - and this will be something for proper scrutiny in the fullness of time - I actually think the more valid criticism of both the Scottish Government and, indeed, governments across the western world..." #FMQs

NS: "..is that we relied, in the early stages of the pandemic, too much on flu preparations and perhaps hadn't done enough to prepare for the experiences of SARS-type outbreaks." #FMQs

NS: "That's one of the key listens I think governments across, certainly the western world will have to learn - and of course we'll add that to the lessons the Audit Scotland report has for us." #FMQs

NS: "But let me end this answer where I started. According to Audit Scotland, the Government and the NHS responded quickly to the rapidly-developing pandemic." #FMQs

NS: "What we found we had to improve, and we did improve rapidly, was the distribution mechanisms for PPE to make sure that got to the frontline quickly. We did that with the NHS." #FMQs

NS: "We set up a portal so anyone who had concerns could quickly raise those concerns and have them addressed. In addition to the NHS, we very quickly put new arrangements in place to top-up the PPE supplies available to our care homes across the country." #FMQs

NS: "We continue to ensure we have good, robust supplies of the right PPE, and into the bargain of course we've also developed a domestic supply chain for PPE." #FMQs

NS: "Not by giving contracts to our political chums the way some other governments have, but actually by building that domestic supply chain." #FMQs

NS: "So before the pandemic there was effectively zero Scottish PPE manufacturing. We were fully, wholly reliant on imports. But over this winter period, nearly half of all PPE that's being used in Scotland is being supplied from Scotland." #FMQs

NS: "There are lots of lessons for us to learn, and we have to do that properly as we go, but also when we come out of this pandemic. I think the steps we have taken are the right ones and we will continue to make sure the NHS and wider society is properly equipped." #FMQs

NS: "It's simply not true to say there wasn't guidance issued to care homes. There was guidance issued to care homes right at the start of the pandemic. We've taken steps to amend that as our knowledge and understanding of exactly what it is we're dealing with developed." #FMQs

NS: "I think if we could turn the clock back and if we could have then the knowledge that we have now about the nature of the pandemic we were dealing with, we would've done certain things differently in care homes." #FMQs

NS: "I desperately wish we could have that time again. But I have made sure both in terms of guidance, the focus on infection, prevention and control in care homes, the use of testing when our knowledge developed to allow that to change..." #FMQs

NS: "..and more recently, the focus we have had, criticised or certainly by implication criticised a couple of weeks ago by Ruth Davidson in her questions about vaccination, but because we have focused over recent weeks on making sure..." #FMQs

NS: "..not just that we offered the vaccine to every older person in a care home but that we actually got the vaccine to every older person in a care home, we are now seeing that rapid reduction in deaths in care homes..." #FMQs

NS: "..which I'm not sure - although we'll have to wait and see - the figures will be exactly mirrored in all other parts of the UK." #FMQs

NS: "I don't think Ruth Davidson does any favours to anybody involved in this just to mischaracterise some of the really difficult challenges we have been and continue to deal with." #FMQs

NS: "I've sought to do nothing over the past ten months, almost a year now, other than every single day, do my best and make sure the government was doing its best to steer this country as safely through this pandemic as we possibly can." #FMQs

NS: "That is still my focus each and every single day, no matter the attempts Ruth Davidson might want to make to change that. I've admitted mistakes all along. I will continue to make sure the Government is seeking to learn from mistakes as we go." #FMQs

NS: "And I, for as long as I live, will regret the toll this virus has taken, particularly on the older members of our community and those living in care homes." #FMQs

NS: "But I also know that, because of some of the decisions we've taken, and because of the efforts of health and social care workers across the country, we can stand here in Scotland and say..." #FMQs

NS: "..we have a lower number of cases than other parts of the UK, we have a lower number of deaths, proportionally - and don't misunderstand the point I'm making, far too high but lower than England and Wales, and we continue to try to take the steps..." #FMQs

NS: "..every single day to make sure we are reducing the impact of this virus. That's all I seek to do every day right now, and it's all I will continue to seek to do." #FMQs

NS: "Ruth Davidson wants to quote the Audit Scotland report so I will do that too.

'Staff across the NHS and Scottish Government have worked hard in challenging circumstances. The Scottish Government and NHS responded quickly..." #FMQs"

NS: " 'The actions that were taken prevented the NHS from becoming overwhelmed.'

What they describe as initial difficulties in supplying and distributing - which I talked about - PPE, were resolved. 'Supply now meets demand'." #FMQs

NS: "And I could go on. 'The Scottish Government worked to improve the support available for the health and social care workforce during the pandemic.'" #FMQs

NS: "Of course it then goes on to the steps we're now taking to rebuild and remobilise the health service." #FMQs

NS: "I will continue to try to make sure the Government learns lessons, but each and every single day for as long as it takes, I will stay focused on leading this country as safely as possible through these circumstances." #FMQs

NS: "The motion last night that Labour voted against - and actually voted with the Tories against - was about scrapping non-residential social care charging, providing unpaid carers with improved recognition and support..." #FMQs

NS: "..improving pay and conditions which reflect fair work principles, and national pay bargaining, and establishing a National Care Service, in law, on an equal footing with NHS Scotland." #FMQs

NS: "I know why the Tories would've voted against that. I can't, for the life of me, work out why Labour would. But maybe it starts to explain some of the reasons why they re pretty much in the doldrums." #FMQs