Nicola Sturgeon announces new Covid guidance

The First Minister has announced a number of new pieces of guidance as Scotland looks to tackle Covid and the spread of the Omicron variant.

One key detail is that the Scottish Government will not limit indoor gatherings by law.

But Nicola Sturgeon has urged people to limit the number of households in a group meeting to a maximum of three.

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.

"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. And make sure you test before you go."

She has encouraged people to think carefully about how they are mixing with others over the Christmas period.

The Government are also not asking families to cancel their plans for Christmas day, or limit the size of gatherings.

But the legal duty on employers to let staff work from home where possible is returning.

There are some pieces of guidance being reintroduced that will impact hospitality and retail.

This could include physical distancing and measures to manage the flow of customers.

And in bars and pubs there could be measures to avoid crowding at bars and between tables.

There is some good news for hospitality though.

£100 million is being made available to businesses hit by wave of cancellations following advice to defer Christmas parties.

A further £100m will also be used to ensure the Self-Isolation Grant is available to those who need it.

There are worries about how aggressively the Omicron variant can spread, with fears it could lead to a spike in cases and therefore end up putting the NHS under pressure.

Today 3,117 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Scotland.

11.3% of all tests recorded yesterday were positive and six new deaths have been registered.

The First Minister told the Scottish Parliament:

"We expect it to become the dominant strain within days.

"This matters because Omicron is significantly more transmissible than Delta; the R number associated with Delta is around 1 but the R number for Omicron appears to be well over 2 and possibly above 4.

"Cases in Scotland in total have increased by a quarter in the last week, they have risen in all age groups, except the over 85s. Omicron is already contributing to that increase.

"But as it becomes the dominant strain, its much higher R number will also dominate, and that will drive a much steeper increase in cases."

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