All cases of Omicron variant in Scotland linked to single private event

Nine cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus can be traced back to a single event on November 20, Nicola Sturgeon said, as she warned of the possibility of "many more" people being infected.

There are now five cases in the Lanarkshire area and four in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, up from the six across the two areas announced on Monday.

It's as the UK Health Security Agency has identified a further 13 cases of the new Covid variant in England.

The First Minister said contact tracing work had been carried out and more cases were expected to emerge in coming days.

She told the Scottish Parliament this suggested there was community transmission of Omicron in Scotland, though it may still be "limited".

Ms Sturgeon said: "None of these individuals - as far as we know - has recent travel history to or known links with others who have travelled to the countries in southern Africa where the variant was originally detected.

"However, while the contact tracing exercise is still ongoing, health protection teams have established that all nine cases are linked.

"They all trace back to a single private event on 20 November.

"Indeed, we fully expect that there will be more cases identified over the coming days that are also linked to this event."

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said there was "anxiety and concern" the nine Scots known to be infected with the Omicron strain had not travelled abroad, meaning they had likely caught the virus in their community.

In response, Ms Sturgeon said: "That was a cause of concern because that is indicative of community transmission.

"That is still the case, but I think today the work that health protection teams through Test and Protect have done identifying that all of these cases are linked - and linked to one event - actually slightly reduces that anxiety because it gives us more assurance that community transmission is not widespread."

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross called for "even more urgency" getting people vaccinated and asked for the reopening of mass vaccination centres.

He said: "Nobody wants to see restrictions return. We're all completely fed up with this virus and the limits that it's placed on our lives for nearly two years now but we have to be realistic, sensible and evaluate the situation fully as we learn more about this new variant.

"But while we wait for more information, we are not defenceless against this virus."

Ms Sturgeon replied: "As of today, more than a million people are eligible than were eligible this time yesterday.

"So we clearly have to find more staff and more facilities to speed that up - that's the work that is under way right now."