Nicola Sturgeon has urged people across Scotland to limit their socialising to three households before and after Christmas to help combat the spread of the omicron Covid variant.
Scotland’s first minister stressed she was not introducing new legal rules at this stage – but advised Scots to mix with only two other households, at home or in indoor public places, on either side of the festive holiday.
“I am not asking anyone to cancel Christmas,” Ms Sturgeon said on Tuesday. “We are asking that you limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three.”
Setting out the new guidance north of the border, the SNP leader insisted that she was not asking Scots to cancel their Christmas Day, Christmas Eve or Boxing Day plans. “And we are not proposing limits on the size of household gatherings,” she added.
Speaking in the Scottish parliament she said: “My key request today is this: before and immediately after Christmas, please minimise your social mixing with other households as much as you can.
She added: “However, if you do plan on socialising, either at home or in indoor public places, we are asking that you limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three.”
Ms Sturgeon also announced that allowing staff to work from home where possible will again become a legal duty on employers in Scotland.
Other new measures taken by the Scottish government to tackle the spread of omicron mean businesses must “return to the kind of protections in place at the start of the pandemic”, said the first minister.
New legal requirements mean shops in Scotland will have to enforce social distancing and put up protective screens. Pubs, bars and restaurants will also have to take measures to avoid crowding, and make sure customers details are taken for contact tracing.
On the vaccine booster scheme, Ms Sturgeon said all over-18s in Scotland should be able to book appointments online from Wednesday – but the first minister said she could not guarantee all adults would be able to be vaccinated by the new year.
Ms Sturgeon said omicron cases are “increasing exponentially – faster than any variant that has gone before it”, as Scotland has recorded 110 confirmed new cases of the variant in the past 24 hours, taking the overall number to 296.
New measures in Scotland come as Downing Street insisted that no further Covid curbs were being planned in England.
Boris Johnson warned a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that he believes a “huge spike” of cases of the variant will hit the nation, while England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty warned ministers to brace for a “significant increase in hospitalisations” from omicron.
No 10 did not reject a suggestion that new Omicron cases could hit a million per day next week based on a “valid” estimate from the UK Health Security Agency that daily infections are currently around 200,000.
