Nicola Sturgeon Omicron Briefing: RECAP as First Minister says she can’t rule out further restrictions in Scotland ahead of Christmas
The briefing comes after guidance was issued last night from Public Health Scotland urging Scots to cancel their Christmas parties over Omicron fears.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Friday morning, Prof Leitch said that Scots should be able to judge themselves what is and isn’t a party following an announcement from Public Health Scotland (PHS) advising people to cancel their Christmas nights out due to the increasing number of cases of the new Omicron variant.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will hold a briefing on the Omicron variant of Covid-19 alongside Scotland’s chief medical officer Gregor Smith and national clinical director Jason Leitch.
Nicola Sturgeon Omicron Briefing: Live updates amid rising variant cases
If you are just joining us - here is a quick recap as Nicola Sturgeon takes questions from the press.
- She said that 110 cases of the Omicron variant had been recorded in the country are only the “tip of the iceberg”.
- There are 5,018 new positive cases - 9.3% of all tests carried out.
- The First Minister warned that a new wave of the pandemic was about to begin.
- Ms Sturgeon says that the R number associated with Omicron is likely to be well over 2, close to 3.
- She announced changes to self-isolation guidelines, and urged people to cancel Christmas parties
- From tomorrow, all household contacts of any covid cases should isolate for 10 days. Non household contacts can leave isolation with a negative test and double jabbed status.
- Scots urged to defer Christmas parties in the wake of rising Omicron cases.
Michael Gove is to hold a Cobra meeting with the first ministers of the devolved nations on Friday afternoon.
In his role as minister for intergovernmental relations, Mr Gove will chair the meeting with the first ministers and deputy first ministers to discuss Covid-19 data and co-ordination on the response.
Some more on the latest advice from the Scottish Government.
From tomorrow, all household contacts of any Covid cases should isolate for 10 days.
Non-household contacts can leave isolation if they have had a negative PCR test and have had two vaccine doses.
The First Minister also outlined why it is vital to combat the Omicron variant.
Speaking at the coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, she said “a smaller percentage of a bigger number will still result in a massive number of cases who might need hospital care”.
“Given the volume of people who could be infected by Omicron because of its greater transmissibility, even if most of those cases are mild, the number of cases of serious illness will put massive strain on the ability of the NHS to cope.”
A “significant strain” will also be put on the economy given the number of people who would be required to self isolate as a result of the transmissibility of the new variant.
No 10 said there were “no plans” to go further with coronavirus restrictions.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman was asked whether there would be a published Plan C, if current measures did not work.
He said: “There’s no plans to go beyond what we’ve set out already.
“Obviously we need to keep the characteristics of this variant under review, and we would act if necessary, but there’s no plans to go beyond what we set out.”
He said: “As a responsible Government, of course, you would expect us to… we have an array, already, of options available to us in terms of what measures we can take to mitigate a growth of any variant or virus.
“But there are no plans to go beyond that currently.”
If you are just joining us, her’s a recap of some of the major changes.
Household contacts of positive coronavirus cases in Scotland will be forced to self-isolate regardless of testing negative for the virus, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister said the Scottish Government will “consider its next steps very carefully” in the wake of the new Omicron variant spreading through the country.
From tomorrow all household contacts of any confirmed Covid case should isolate for 10 days, regardless of their vaccination status and even if they initially get a negative PCR test.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she can’t rule out further restrictions in Scotland being put in place as a result of the Omicron variant.
She said: “We know that any additional protective measures will cause social and economic harms especially after almost two years of this pandemic.
“But we also know from past experience that early action is often needed when dealing with this virus – in fact acting early is often the best way of acting proportionately.
“So we can’t rule out further measures and I’m afraid we can’t avoid the advice that I have shared with you today.
“I’ll continue to do all I can to be upfront and open with you in the days ahead and I continue to be so grateful for the responsibility the vast majority of people across the population are showing.”
Christmas party updates
When asked on Christmas parties, Nicola Sturgeon said she was focusing on work events as they are resulting in rapid spread of this infection.
“My advice would be to consider deferring work Christmas events,” she says.
“If they are small events that you wish to go ahead with... make sure you and everybody else in the group is testing beforehand.”