Public health advice to delay Christmas parties 'heavy blow' to hospitality sector
Official advice urging people to postpone Christmas parties is a "heavy heavy blow" to the hospitality sector, a trade body has said.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) has urged people to defer celebrations given the number of Covid-19 outbreaks, particularly those caused by the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, that are being linked to Christmas parties.
Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG) spokesman Stephen Montgomery said that the sector "really needed this Christmas to be a good one" after last year.
However he said that many places have already had cancellations since the PHS announcement on Thursday evening and suggested the new advice would drive people to celebrate in unsafe places like house parties.
He said: "We know that hospitality is a safe place to be, we've invested millions over the last 20 months in whether it be ventilation, extra staff to make sure people are kept safe or washing down tables etc.
"This is a heavy heavy blow for hospitality."
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said she is "extremely sympathetic" to the concerns of the hospitality sector and will do anything she can to provide assistance.
She stated that within a fixed budget extra help needs to come from the UK Government and said that the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales have asked for this a number of times, with another request sent yesterday.
PHS said early evidence suggests that the Omicron variant is much more transmissible than others and that a number of outbreaks have been linked to parties.
Dr Christine Tait-Burkard, a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute and an expert on coronaviruses, said Omicron loves "super-spreading opportunities" and that Christmas parties are a "high-risk environment" because people are close together, are not wearing masks, and may be less inhibited because of alcohol.
She said: "I wouldn't say Omicron is doom and gloom but we need to be cautious right now because exponential growth can catch us. Because it is exponential it grows so quickly that we'll have the big numbers right at the time when we don't want it, which is Christmas, New Year."