Cabinet meets to discuss Omicron crisis – but agrees to DO NOTHINGuntil more data is available
Scotland will urge caution and encourage vaccination – but will NOT enforce tougher guidelinesbefore Christmas
The UK Government met yesterday to discuss the gathering Omicron crisis – but decided to DO NOTHING following their two-hour meeting.
PM Boris Johnson said the situation will be monitored ‘hour by hour’.
91,743 Covid cases were reported across the UK yesterday – the second highest daily total on record – and this figure is expected to rise steeply over the coming days as Omicron becomes the dominant variant.
The UK public has already voted with it’s feet, with many choosing to stay away from busy venues. This has created a new crisis for the beleaguered hospitality industry …
Weekend hospitality sales plummet by 40%
New figures, from industry body UKHospitality, show December set to be a disaster for a sector which had much riding on this key period and hopes for a better 2022 already lie in tatters.
Over half (54%) of venues were down more than 40% in revenue last weekend, with one in five businesses reporting a crushing sales drop of more than 60%. On top of these bleak trading figures, 88% of operators say they feel negative about the potential of New Year’s Eve trading and four in five operators have already experienced cancellations for bookings in what was already set to be a quiet Q1 next year.
A separate survey, for the Tourism Alliance, showed that a third of pubs, bars and restaurants have no cash reserves and 10% of pubs and 14% of restaurants are therefore very likely to fail, with consequent job losses.
Without any form of Government support a further 40% are at risk of failure. Accommodation businesses are only slightly more resilient with 22% reporting no cash reserves – 47% with less than 2 months’ worth – with 26% at risk of failure in the next year without further support.
UKHospitality Chief Executive, Kate Nicholls, said:“Hospitality operators desperately want to keep their doors open and trade their way to recovery, particularly during the Christmas period, which is not only key for balance sheets but for the communities and people our businesses serve.
“However, these catastrophic figures clearly show that trading levels are now so low that without Government support many businesses will not survive into the New Year and jobs will be lost. Cancellations have annihilated cash reserves.
“The industry urgently needs grants for short-term business survival and an extension to business rates relief and the lower VAT rate to secure longer term survival and planning.
“It is also crucial that the Government lets the industry know as soon as possible if measures are to be imposed and what they might be, to allow for as much damage limitation as possible.”
Scottish Licensed Trade Association managing director Colin Wilkinson said: “Of course, we all want to do what we can to stop the spread of the virus and the licensed hospitality sector has gone to enormous effort and invested millions of pounds in mitigation measures and will continue to do so for as long as it can.
“The shutdown of the licensed hospitality industry, effectively by stealth, puts most businesses in an even worse scenario than last Christmas when there was some finance available via Government grants and the furlough scheme was in place.
“Whilst the restrictions that we feared have not yet been imposed, there still remains a great deal of uncertainty for our industry which was beginning to recover, albeit slowly, and looking forward to reasonably good prospects during the key festive trading period.
“We have not been ordered to close our doors yet but many have no choice when so many bookings have been cancelled.
“Last week’s call from Public Health Scotland not to have festive parties – endorsed the next day by the First Minister – killed Christmas and, I fear, will kill some businesses who will not survive without financial support. Our industry desperately needs additional aid to save it – and it needs it now.
“Our industry desperately needs additional aid to save it – and needs it NOW.
“I cannot stress how serious the situation is – many of our members are in dire straits. There will be no happy Christmas for those who are worried about the future and face the prospect of making staff redundant or, worse, pulling down the shutters.
“It is not only operators who are affected by Government interventions – staff and those in the supply chain are also being dragged into the horrendous situation we are still in without any other restrictions looming on the horizon.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already confirmed that no further restrictions will be introduced in Scotland before Christmas.
The Scottish Cabinet will meet this morning and any further changes to post-Christmas Covid restrictions will be announced to Parliament this afternoon.
New guidance to help limit the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in Scotland has been published. This latest guidance took effect from 00.01 this morning (Friday 17 December).
Businesses will now be legally required to take reasonable measures to minimise transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19).
The guidance will support businesses to put in place a range of public health measures that will help keep people safe, including enabling home working for those who are able to work from home – something that is key to breaking chains of transmission.
Masks should be worn in all businesses, and retail and hospitality businesses should consider ‘reasonable measures’ to reduce crowding and manage queues.
Workplace testing is being extended and businesses with more than 10 employees are encouraged to sign up to receive free lateral flow test kits to ensure staff are able to test regularly.
To help mitigate further economic harm as a result of this vital public health guidance, a £100 million financial package for eligible businesses is also being established to support them through this period. £100 million for self-isolation support grants is also being made available to those who need it.
The Economy Secretary is engaging with affected business groups and details of the funding is to be set out shortly.
Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said yesterday: “The Omicron variant is spreading at a rapid pace and we have had to work extremely quickly to get revised guidance in place for businesses, to take effect from 00.01 Friday 17 December.
“It is crucial that everyone follows this guidance to support businesses to keep their premises safe and prevent transmission of Omicron, especially as we ramp up booster vaccinations. Please get your booster, test regularly, follow the guidance, wear a mask and distance from people when you’re out and about. All of these layers of protection will help to limit the spread of Omicron, especially as we approach the festive period.
“I am also making a plea to be considerate to staff who are doing their best during this challenging period.
“In addition to guidance, we know that businesses need financial support now. We are working to get funding out to businesses as soon as we can but the Treasury must also step up and provide urgent funding beyond what we are able to provide.
“I wrote to the Chancellor last night and the First Minister has requested talks with the Prime Minister – this situation is serious and we need the UK Government to engage with us on further support.”
Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw welcomes a question to Scotland’s First Minister about her government’s refusal to close large stores on New Year’s Day, which would give retail workers a much-deserved day off.
Mark Griffin MSP (Labour, Central Scotland) will ask in tomorrow’s Scottish Parliament First Minister’s Questions: “To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will require large retail stores to close on New Year’s Day 2022 so that retail workers can spend the day with their loved ones.”
Tracy Gilbert – Usdaw’s Scottish Regional Secretary says: “It was deeply disappointing that the Scottish Government refused to enact powers given to them, in the Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading Act (Scotland) Act, to stop the opening of large stores on 1 January. We simply don’t believe they listened to the 98% of Scottish shopworkers who want stores to close.
“That decision was a kick in the teeth for retail staff who have worked throughout the pandemic, faced unprecedented levels of abuse and are now dealing with very busy run up to the festive season. We hope this question will prompt the First Minister to rethink and give the nation’s shopworkers a break.
“Our survey found that 98% of retails workers wanted stores to be shut on New Year’s Day, three-quarters said they spent too little time with friends and family, and working over New Year affected their ability to enjoy the holidays.
“The very least that key workers in retail can expect is that the Scottish Government shows their appreciation for the essential work they’ve done through this appalling pandemic by giving them a proper festive break.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a COVID-19 press conference last night following news that the UK had just recorded the highest ever daily number of Covid cases:
Good afternoon everybody.
As of today, every eligible adult in England can use the national booking service to Get Boosted Now.
If you’re over 18 and had your second jab at least three months ago, then you can get jabbed right now. And it’s absolutely vital that you do.
Because the wave of Omicron continues to roll in across the whole of our United Kingdom, with over 78,000 Covid cases today, the highest ever daily number reported, and the doubling rate of Omicron in some regions is now down to less than two days.
And I’m afraid we are also seeing the inevitable increase in hospitalisations, up by 10 per cent nationally week on week and up by almost a third in London.
But we are also seeing signs of hope, because since we launched our Emergency Omicron appeal on Sunday night a great national fight back has begun and people have responded with an amazing spirit of duty and obligation to others.
And I want to say that each and every one of you who rolls up your sleeve to get jabbed is helping this national effort.
And I want to thank everyone who has come forwards, whether you’ve had to queue around the block at a walk-in centre, or whether you’ve booked online.
And, of course, on behalf of the whole country, I want to thank our NHS, our GPs our pharmacists, who with barely a day’s notice – 48 hours’ notice, have so accelerated the programme that we began this week with the biggest Vaccination Monday ever in England and yesterday the biggest booster day yet, with more than 650,000 boosters delivered across the whole UK.
And across the country, after all they have been through, those teams are going to keep going through Christmas and beyond.
Jab heroes like Kim Kirk, leading the King’s Mill hospital vaccination hub in Mansfield, who was asked a year ago to do it for four weeks and has been doing it ever since, with 180,000 jabs and counting.
Dr Laura Mount and the team at Central and West Warrington PCN, who have been organising pop-up vaccination clinics for the homeless.
Or the team at Home Park in Plymouth who have been regularly jabbing until 2am, because they just carry on for as long as there are people there wanting a booster.
And I want to thank those from every walk of life who are stepping forward to support them.
The military personnel deployed across every region of the country, including an additional 100 in Scotland from yesterday – as well as 2,500 firefighters.
And since Sunday night, we’ve seen more than 20,000 new volunteers signing up to help with the booster effort as stewards, taking the total number to almost 33,000.
With every day we’re expanding the ranks of these healthcare auxiliaries, an emerging Territorial Army of the NHS – in a race against time to get those jabs in arms and save lives.
And if you’re watching this and you want to get involved, just visit the website nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk and do something this Christmas that you can tell your grandchildren about many Christmases from now.
In total, we’ve now boosted more than 45 per cent of all adults in England, including more than 88 per cent of those aged 70 and over,
And while hospital admissions are going up, nationwide we are starting to see admissions coming down among some of the more vulnerable older age groups where we have already got those boosters in arms.
From tomorrow, we’re speeding things up even further by removing the 15 minute post-vaccination waiting time.
And while we’re at it, from Monday, 12 to 15 year olds can book in for a second jab.
And we know how crucial it is to keep children in school, so let’s all make sure our children and young people are vaccinated before they go back next term.
As we take forward our national mission, we are of course supporting similar efforts by the Devolved Administrations, which are also rapidly increasing vaccination rates across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A COBR meeting with Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast is taking place this evening.
But already the pace of rollout across the four nations is such that the UK as a whole now has twice as many boosters per head as the EU and more than twice as many as the United States.
So let’s keep going.
Let’s carry on giving Omicron both barrels.
Let’s slow its spread and give the vaccines more time:
Wear face masks indoors
Use ventilation
Get tested if you’re going to an event where you’re likely to meet lots of people
And get tested if you’re going to meet elderly and vulnerable relatives.
And we’re helping to get you the tests that you need. I want to thank the Royal Mail who are doubling home deliveries of testing kits to 900,000 a day from Saturday.
So let’s slow down Omicron’s spread – and at the same let’s reduce the harm Omicron can do to us by building up our vaccine defences.
We’re jabbing in hospitals, we’re jabbing in surgeries, We’re jabbing in pharmacies and in pop-up centres, We’re jabbing in shopping centres and on high streets and in football stadiums – with mass events planned at Stamford Bridge and Wembley this weekend and daily “jabbathons” at Elland Road in Leeds.
We’re throwing everything at it.
Wherever you are, we’ll be there with a jab for you.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) update: First Minister’s statement to Scottish Parliament – 14 December 2021
Thank you Presiding Officer, I will give a general update on COVID today, and share the latest information we have on the Omicron variant. I will also set out the further protective measures we consider necessary to help slow its spread while we accelerate the pace of booster vaccines.
Firstly, though, today’s overall statistics.
3,177 positive cases were reported yesterday – 11.3% of all tests carried out.
The number of PCR tests yesterday was actually slightly lower than in recent days, and I therefore want to appeal to people not to put off going for a PCR test if you have symptoms or a positive lateral flow. I know no-one wants to test positive or isolate at Christmas – but testing is a really vital part of our defence and there is no shortage of capacity. So, please do get tested.
541 people are in hospital with COVID – 20 fewer than yesterday.
But I can also confirm that we now know of two confirmed Omicron cases who are in hospital. Sequencing of other possible cases continues, and the actual total is likely to be higher.
38 people are in intensive care with COVID generally, which is one fewer than yesterday.
Sadly, a further six deaths have been reported, taking the total number of deaths under the daily definition to 9,725.
And I want again to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.
Presiding Officer
On Omicron specifically, our assessment is that it is spreading very rapidly.
The best indicator of this is the proportion of cases showing what is called the S Gene dropout.
For about 95% of all cases in Scotland, tests are currently processed in a way that allows us to know if the S gene is present or not.
This shows that Omicron cases are increasing exponentially – faster than any variant that has gone before.
When I made a statement to Parliament last week, around 4% of cases showed the S Gene drop out. By Wednesday it was 7%, on Friday it was above 15%.
Today, it is 27.5%
We estimate that the doubling time is two to three days – more rapid than anything experienced in the pandemic so far.
And we expect Omicron to become the dominant strain circulating in Scotland 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 it is possibly above 4.
Cases in Scotland in total have increased by a quarter in the past 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.
That is why I warned on Friday that we are facing a likely tsunami of cases in the weeks ahead.
Now some are suggesting that Omicron may be milder in its impact on individual health than Delta.
Obviously, we all hope that is the case.
However, we don’t know it yet. Indeed, there is some initial evidence from Denmark that may suggest otherwise.
But even if it does prove to be milder, simple arithmetic means the challenge it poses will still be very significant.
Let me illustrate that.
In recent months, the proportion of Delta cases needing hospital care has been around 2%.
That means an average daily case number of around 2,700 – as has been the case in recent weeks – will result in around 400 hospital admissions a week.
But if cases rise significantly to, say, 10,000 a day because of Omicron’s greater transmissibility – and this is well within the modelled estimates in the evidence paper we published on Friday – then even if the hospitalization rate turned out to be half that of Delta’s at just 1%, we would see 700 hospital admissions a week.
The basic and very fact is this: a much more transmissible infection – even if milder in terms of severe illness – can still place a much bigger burden on the NHS.
More people infected will result in more severe illness and, tragically, more people will die.
A surging level of infection will also result in many more people being off work due to mild illness and isolation – so the impact on the economy and our ability to deliver critical services will also be severe. Indeed, we are starting to see these impacts already.
All of this explains why we must take Omicron extremely seriously. This is not a choice between protecting health and protecting the economy.
So let me turn to what, in the government’s judgment, we need to do now to mitigate this challenge.
In doing so, I ask everyone to think again in terms of a race between the virus and the vaccines.
Our vaccination programme is running fast – we are currently the most vaccinated part of the UK.
46% of the over 12 population have had booster jags already.
However, just as vaccines started to win this race, the virus learned to run faster.
That means we must deliver boosters even faster.
This is all the more important in light of early data telling us that the protection we have against Omicron infection with just one or two doses is significantly lower than it is for Delta – we need a booster jag to ensure a substantial level of protection against Omicron.
So we are taking steps now to get boosters into arms much faster.
Getting fully vaccinated is the best thing any of us can do to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and the country. So please, book your booster jag as soon as possible.
Speeding up vaccination is essential and I want to assure the nation today that it is the government’s top priority.
I will shortly set out more detail on exactly how we are going about doing it.
But while this is necessary, our judgment is that in the short term it will not be sufficient.
While we are speeding up vaccination, we must also try to slow down Omicron.
That is why we are also proposing today, albeit very reluctantly, some further protective measures. I am appealing to everyone to follow today’s advice, to help slow Omicron down while more of us do get our boosters.
Let me clear, we do not do this lightly.
I know how hard it is.
Please believe me when I say I would not be asking for yet more sacrifice if I did not genuinely consider this to be necessary in the face of a threat that is very real.
So let me set out now what is being asked.
Firstly, we want to keep businesses open but to help achieve this we are asking them to step up the protections in place in their premises.
We intend to amend regulations to put a legal requirement on those running businesses or providing services to take measures which are reasonably practicable to minimise the risk of transmission.
We will issue guidance this week to make clear what that means for different sectors.
For example in retail, it will involve a return to the kind of protections in place at the start of the pandemic – for example measures to avoid crowding and bottlenecks.
This will include physical distancing, measures to control the flow of customers and protective screens.
For hospitality, it will mean, for example, measures to avoid crowding at bars and between tables, and a reminder of the requirement to collect contact details of customers to help with contact tracing.
For employers more generally, the guidance will make clear that enabling staff who were working from home at the start of the pandemic to do so again is now a legal duty.
I am hugely grateful to employers who are already allowing staff to work at home where possible, but we are not yet maximizing the impact of home working to reduce the overall number of contacts we are having.
We recognise of course that there are people who cannot work from home – for example those who work in manufacturing, hospitality and key public services.
We are asking anyone in this position to test regularly before going to work.
We have extended the workplace testing scheme, which delivers lateral flow kits twice a week to all businesses who have signed up to it. I would encourage, urge indeed, any business with 10 or more employees to join up, and encourage staff to test regularly.
We will also be reinforcing the rules and public health messaging on the importance of wearing face coverings, and wearing them properly.
Presiding Officer, My hardest request today is of the general public.
I want to be clear, I am not asking anyone to ‘cancel’ Christmas – but in the run-up to and in the immediate aftermath of Christmas, I am asking everyone to reduce as far as possible, and to a minimum, the contacts we have with people in other households. I will say more about Christmas Day in a moment.
We are not banning or restricting household mixing in law as before. We understand the negative impact this has on mental health and wellbeing.
But we are asking everyone – and we will issue strong guidance to this effect – to cut down as far as possible the number of people outside our own households that we are interacting with just now.
This will help break transmission chains.
So my key request today is this – before and immediately after Christmas, please minimise your social mixing with other households as much as you can.
To help protect yourself and others, we're asking everyone to minimise mixing with other households.
If you do socialise, we strongly advise you keep to a maximum of 3 households at any one time.
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.
I know this is a tough thing to ask people to do, especially at this time of year. So I want to be clear why we are making this request.
One of the things we have already learned about Omicron is that it has a very high attack rate.
That means if just one person in a gathering is infectious, that person is likely to infect many more people in the group than is the case with the Delta variant.
So by reducing the numbers of people and households gathering together, we help limit the extent of its spread.
Turning to Christmas Day specifically – or Christmas Eve or Boxing Day or whenever you have your main family celebration – we are not asking you to cancel or change your plans, and we are not proposing limits on the size of household gatherings.
Places of worship will also remain open, with appropriate mitigations.
But we will issue guidance to help you make Christmas safer.
Reducing your contacts in advance of and after Christmas as I have just strongly advised will help do this.
Keeping your celebrations as small as your family circumstances allow is sensible too.
Make sure everyone in your gathering is vaccinated and has done a test in advance.
Keep rooms ventilated and follow strict hygiene rules.
Presiding Officer, I know how much I am asking of everyone today, after a difficult and painful two years.
I would not be doing so if I did not believe it to be absolutely necessary.
Indeed, it could be argued that we should be going further – which is why I need to also explain a significant limitation on our ability to act in the way we think necessary to protect public health.
In this context, I am not seeking to make a political point – simply to set out the factual position.
Many of the protections that help curtail COVID come at a financial cost to individuals and businesses – so wherever we can, we put in place financial packages to protect people’s health, jobs and livelihoods.
However, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland governments do not have the ability to borrow to meet the COVID funding challenge.
UK funding arrangements mean we rely on the Treasury to do so on our behalf. And the Treasury has responded well throughout this pandemic.
And although Scottish taxpayers foot our share of the bill, money only flows to the devolved governments when the UK government makes decisions.
Financial support is not triggered if the devolved governments take decisions we consider appropriate for public health reasons – even though it is our responsibility to do so.
So because the UK government is at this stage not proposing any further protections – a position I do not agree with – there is no funding generated to compensate businesses for any protections we think are necessary and wish to put in place. (NOTE: SEE BELOW – Ed.)
That is not acceptable in current circumstances and, with the Welsh and Northern Irish governments, we are pressing for a fairer approach that takes account of our devolved responsibilities for protecting public health.
But for now, this is the situation we are in, and it means our public health response is curtailed by lack of finance.
There are further steps we could and would have considered today – particularly around hospitality – had we the financial ability to do so. But we don’t.
However, I can confirm that with some considerable difficulty, we have managed to identify within our own resources around £100 million that we will use to help businesses, mainly those in hospitality and food supply, and in the culture sector, affected by our advice last week on work Xmas parties and further affected by what I have said today.
The Finance Secretary and her officials will be engaging with affected sectors immediately to consult on and confirm the details of support.
We will work to make money available as soon as possible. Businesses who previously received support through the Strategic Framework Business Fund will be contacted directly.
We have also identified an additional £100 million to ensure the Self Isolation Support Grant is available for those who need it, given the expected increase in the number of eligible people who will be asked to isolate.
Making this money available will involve difficult reprioritisation – but we recognise the importance of providing as much help as we possibly can.
However, this is the limit of what we are able to do within our own resources. I know it does not go far enough in compensating businesses for what we are asking of them now – and, of course, no government can rule out having to go further in the weeks ahead. So we are continuing to press the UK government to increase support to enable us to respond adequately to the public health challenge in the weeks ahead.
Presiding Officer, I will turn now to our actions to speed up delivery of booster vaccinations.
Anyone aged between 40 and 60 who hasn’t already booked an appointment, has now received an invitation to do so.
In addition, since yesterday, all 30 to 39 year olds have been able to book their booster jags online.
And I can confirm today that 18 to 29 year olds will be able to book online from tomorrow.
Our aim is that by 31 December everyone over 18 will have been able to book a booster appointment.
It is not possible to guarantee that absolutely everyone over 18 will have been vaccinated by 31 December. For a variety of reasons, some appointments will run into the new year.
For example, some people will not be eligible by the end of December because it will still be less than 12 weeks since their second dose. Some people have not yet come forward for a first or second dose and despite our best efforts, some will not come forward to book a booster either.
In addition, despite the strenuous work underway, we know that some capacity challenges between now and the end of the year are inevitable – for example, vaccinator staff absences due to COVID.
However, notwithstanding all of that, we are aiming to reach as close as possible to 80% uptake by the end of December, with the balance of appointments taking place in January.
I do not underestimate the challenge of this. Vaccination teams are already making a herculean effort and we are asking a great deal of them.
In addition, reaching that level of uptake depends on people continuing to come forward to get jags even over the holiday period.
So, this will not be easy – we know that – but we are working on the basis that the higher we aim, the further we will get.
Let me now therefore set out the steps we are taking to create the additional capacity needed.
Firstly, given its vital importance against Omicron, we will prioritise the COVID booster programme over the remainder of the flu vaccination programme for the next few weeks. This will allow many more booster appointments to be made available.
Let me stress, though – and this has informed our clinical advice – that for those in the highest risk groups for flu uptake of the vaccine this year is already high – for over 65 year olds, it is 88%, which is higher than last year.
Secondly, and in line with advice from the UK Chief Medical Officers, the requirement for people to wait in a vaccine centre for 15 minutes after they receive an mRNA vaccine is being removed. This will speed up vaccination times and enable many more appointments.
Thirdly, health boards are working to offer additional drop-in capacity within local centres.
Additional venues for vaccination are also being identified. This will include mass vaccination centres in areas where this is considered appropriate.
In terms of human resources, we plan to extend the number and role of volunteers, to ensure that clinical staff can spend as much time as possible supporting the administration of vaccines.
We will continue to expand the size of the overall vaccination workforce as much as possible and make full use of any military support that is available.
We will, of course Presiding Officer, keep parliament updated on the delivery of these plans.
However, at this stage, I want to again thank everyone working so hard to design and deliver the biggest and most important logistical project in our peacetime history.
Let me also stress that, while the focus of my statement today is on boosters, if you haven’t had your first dose yet, please do book it now. It is more important than ever to do so.
In the new year, we will also complete second doses for 12 to 17 year olds.
And I hope, very much hope, that we might also, soon, get regulatory approval to offer vaccination to under 12s.
Presiding Officer, Before I close today, there are some further issues that I want to highlight.
Firstly, let me reiterate the changed advice on self isolation. For now, household contacts of a person who tests positive for COVID, are being advised to self-isolate for 10 days. This advice applies to everyone in a household regardless of age, vaccination status or PCR test result.
Businesses and organisations providing vital services can apply for an exemption to allow essential workers to return to work, subject to them being symptom free and taking certain precautions, including daily lateral flow tests.
Second, beyond this advice, we are not recommending that entire school classes are required to isolate when a pupil tests positive. The advice on school isolation will continue to be risk-based.
More generally, a key aim is to ensure that schools stay open if at all possible to minimise further disruption to education.
However, it is vital that schools are safe for pupils and staff.
To help achieve this, we continue to ask secondary school pupils and all staff to take lateral flow tests regularly – including during holidays and before returning after the break – and to wear face coverings.
In addition the Advisory Subgroup on Education is meeting today to provide further advice on how schools can operate safely in the new year. We will send this advice to schools by the end of this week.
Thirdly, we will continue to consider appropriate protective measures for people in institutional settings – such as care homes – while ensuring that visits can continue.
Last week we recommended that care staff take lateral flow tests on a daily basis.
We are also now recommending that individual visits in care homes should not involve any more than two households visiting any patient at a time. And we are asking anyone visiting a care home to test before every visit.
For hospitals, we are recommending that no more than two people visit a patient at any one time. And again, we are recommending a lateral flow test before each visit.
Finally Presiding Officer, I fully understand that Omicron will be especially concerning to people on the Highest Risk List. I therefore want to give an assarance to all of you that the Chief Medical Officer will be writing to all of you shortly with further advice and assurance.
Presiding Officer,It is an understatement to say this is not the update I wanted to be giving just a few days before Christmas.
And I am painfully aware that it’s not an update anyone wanted to hear.
However, we have a duty to take decisions – no matter how difficult or unpopular – that will get us through this as safely as possible.
I will not shy away from that responsibility.
The fact that I am asking for further sacrifice today underlines how severe we think the risk posed by Omicron might be.
So please do follow the advice I have set out today.
And while this is, without doubt, a very difficult juncture in the course of the pandemic, please remember that vaccination does still put us in a better position than last year.
Also, hard and wearying though this is, we are not powerless in the face of the virus.
We know the steps we can take to slow it down.
So I will stress again what we need to do:
Firstly, please get fully vaccinated as soon as possible.
Secondly, please test regularly.
If you are going to meet other people – and our advice, remember, is to minimise this as much as possible – take a lateral flow test before you go, every time.
The tests are easy to take and, despite an issue with online ordering yesterday, they are easy to get hold of. Tests can be collected from local pharmacies and testing centres without a booking, and the online portal is open again today.
Wear face coverings on public transport, in shops, and when moving about in hospitality settings. And make sure your face covering fully covers your mouth and nose.
Keep windows open if meeting people indoors – even at this time of year.
Follow all advice on hygiene.
Work from home whenever possible – this will soon become a requirement anchored in law.
And please follow the new advice I have outlined today.
Although it is guidance, please do not think of it as optional.
Cut down unnecessary contacts as much as possible. In the run up to and immediately after Christmas, please avoid socialising with people in other households as much as you can.
If you are socialising indoors at home or in public places, limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three. And test before you go.
And please follow the advice we will give to keep Christmas Day as normal but as safe as possible.
We do face an extremely difficult period ahead – I cannot tell you otherwise. But I know we will get through it more safely, if we do right by each other, as we have done all along.
So please – get vaccinated, test regularly, and follow all the other rules and guidance that are in place for our own protection.
Let’s pull together again, and let’s help each other through.
BREAKING NEWS:
HM Treasury has announced that additional funding from the UK reserve will be made available to the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to progress their vaccine rollout and wider health response.
The news was announced while First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was addressing MSPs at Holyrood this afternoon.
Prime Minister and NHS turbocharge booster programme against Omicron and launch an urgent national appeal calling for people to get jabbed
Latest data shows booster is needed to protect ourselves and the NHS against the variant
Prime Minister: “A tidal wave of Omicron is coming. Get Boosted Now.”
UK Chief Medical Officers raise UK Covid Alert Level from Level 3 to Level 4
All adults in England to be offered a booster jab by the end of the year. Devolved administrations also agree to accelerate vaccinations.
The Prime Minister, together with the NHS, last night launched an urgent national appeal calling for people to get jabbed, as he outlined plans to significantly increase NHS vaccination capacity.
It comes as the UK Chief Medical Officers increased the UK Covid Alert Level from Level 3 to Level 4 due to a rapid increase in cases of the Omicron variant.
The latest data suggests Omicron is extremely transmissible and will become the dominant variant by mid-December. Cases are now doubling every 2 to 3 days.
Data published on Friday suggests that vaccine efficacy against symptomatic infection is substantially reduced against Omicron with just two doses, but a third dose boosts protection back up to over 70%.
It is too early to draw firm conclusions about whether the Omicron variant is as virulent as Delta but even if it is more mild, a slight fall in vaccine efficacy can lead to a substantial increase in hospitalisations. Hospitalisations in South Africa have doubled in a week and are expected to rise in the UK over the next 2 weeks.
The extent of transmissibility, coupled with reduced protection after two doses and the raising of the alert level by the UK CMOs, means the Prime Minister and NHS England are today launching an urgent national Omicron appeal for the public to Get Boosted Now.
The government and NHS will rise to the challenge, working flat out to deliver jabs, save lives and ensure the NHS is not overwhelmed this winter with an influx of Omicron cases.
The vaccination programme is already delivering hundreds of thousands of boosters every day, with over 530,000 jabs in arms on Saturday alone, while catching up on elective surgeries and appointments and delivering all urgent care.
All adults will now be offered a booster jab by the New Year, bringing the target forward by one month.
Bookings through the National Booking System will be prioritised at most sites unless it is a pop up or walk-in only site. The National Booking System will now be stood up for over 18s and will take a short time to operationalise. From tomorrow adults over 30 will be able to book online, and all over 18s from Wednesday.
Some walk-in appointments will be available from tomorrow for over 18s, dependent on location. If there are long queues or all slots have been booked, people are encouraged to be patient and keep trying, or book online.
To deliver the ramped-up vaccination programme, NHS staff will need to be redeployed away from non-urgent services. This means that all primary care services will now focus on urgent clinical need and vaccines, and some non-urgent appointments and elective surgeries may be postponed until the New Year while every adult in the country is jabbed.
Without the added protection from this third dose, NHS beds will quickly fill up and the long term damage to the economy and the NHS efforts to bring down the backlog will be even greater.
The NHS will be given everything it needs to get jabs in arms as the UK responds to the Omicron variant.
The Prime Minister yesterday set out that the NHS will be given everything it needs to boost jabbing capacity, which will include:
New vaccination sites set up across the country, including mobile pop up sites
Increasing opening times for vaccination sites, to 7 days a week with more appointments early in the morning, in the evening and at weekends
50 military planning experts will help coordinate the national effort by supporting the NHS with logistics of the rollout
Reprioritising the NHS workforce to deliver as many jabs as possible
A national call for thousands more NHS volunteers
If Omicron is left unchecked the NHS is at risk of being quickly overwhelmed. Last week the Prime Minister confirmed the move to Plan B for England following its rapid spread.
Face coverings are now compulsory in most public indoor venues in England – this is already in place in Scotland – people are asked to work from home if they can from today, and from Wednesday 15 December negative lateral flow tests will be needed to enter nightclubs and large events, except for those who are double vaccinated and subject to approval from Parliament.
Every adult in the country is now being urged to book their jab as soon as possible. The vaccination programme is open to everyone, and first and second doses remain available.
The government will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations on the booster rollout, and there will be Barnett consequentials for any new funding.
Danger of Omicron ‘running riot’ – but Nicola Sturgeon backs away from tighter restrictions
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House this afternoon:
Good afternoon everyone, thanks for joining us. As you can see I’m joined today by the Chief Medical Officer and the National Clinical Director.
Throughout this pandemic – and particularly at key stages of it- I’ve tried, we’ve tried, to be open and upfront with you about the challenges and the uncertainties confronting us, so that you can better understand – if not always agree with, I accept – the difficult judgments and decisions that we have had to make.
I’m afraid that this is another moment when such frankness is really important.
The purpose of today’s update is to level with you on what we know so far about spread in Scotland of the new Omicron variant – and also our estimate at this stage of what we are likely to face in the days and weeks to come.
The fact is that we do face a renewed and a very severe challenge in the shape of the Omicron variant.
To be blunt, because of the much greater and faster transmissibility of this new variant, we may be facing – indeed we may be starting to experience – a potential tsunami of infections.
Now we’re not alone in that, far from it – everything I am about to share with you about the situation in Scotland is, I believe, broadly reflected in the data for the rest of the UK too. And although I’m not familiar with the data elsewhere, I would suspect it is reflected there too.
However, we have just published an evidence paper which seeks to provide you with more detail about the Omicron variant here in Scotland at this stage, and you can find that evidence paper online on the Scottish Government website or Twitter feed.
Now I’m going to come back to more detail in that and to tell you what we do know about and what we expect from Omicron and I’ll do that shortly.
Firstly, though, as I usually do, I’m just going to briefly summarise today’s statistics.
5,018 positive cases were reported yesterday – which is 9.3% of all tests carried out.
Now, this is one day’s figures – but as you can see it is a sharp rise on the average of around 2,800 per day that we have been reporting recently, and it underlines our fear that a new wave may indeed be starting.
573 people are currently in hospital with Covid – that’s 5 fewer than yesterday.
And 40 people are in intensive care, 1 more than yesterday. Although I would remind you that there is always a time lag between rising cases and rising numbers of people in hospital and intensive care.
And sadly, a further 19 deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, and that takes the total number of deaths under the daily definition to 9,707.
And I want again to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.
I am pleased to report, though, and this is important and will become increasingly important in the weeks to come, that the vaccination programme continues apace.
4,358,725 people now have a first dose, 3,967,477 are now double dosed, and we have also now, very significantly, passed two million booster or third doses administered in Scotland. To be precise, 2,000,915.
On first, second, third and booster doses, Scotland is still the most vaccinated part of the UK.
And again, I want to record my thanks to everyone involved in organising and delivering this vaccine programme. Without a doubt, the biggest peacetime logistical exercise that has ever been undertaken in Scotland.
Now, in relation to the Omicron variant specifically, as of 5pm yesterday, there were 110 confirmed cases in Scotland. And to give some context to that, 10 days ago we reported a total of 9 confirmed cases.
Now, these are confirmed cases and by that we mean that Omicron has been confirmed through genomic sequencing.
There are two reasons why confirmed cases represent just the tip of the iceberg and shouldn’t really be looked at as the best indicator of the true prevalence of the variant in Scotland right now.
The first reason is because genomic sequencing takes some time, much longer than processing a PCR test, so there is a time lag in these figures. But secondly, while in Scotland we do a lot of genomic sequencing, not all tests are or indeed can be analysed in that way.
So a much better indicator of whether a case is Omicron or not, is whether the PCR test shows a specific genetic characteristic known as the S gene drop out. And you may have heard us talk about that previously.
Now around 95% of all tests in Scotland are analysed in a way that allows us to know this.
And almost all tests that do show the S gene drop out just now will be the Omicron variant.
So these figures help to give a much better sense of the true scale of the variant in Scotland at this stage.
And, what they show, is that Omicron right now is rising exponentially. Indeed, what we are seeing in the data just now is perhaps the fastest exponential growth that we have seen in this pandemic so far.
In the final week of November, if we look at all of the Covid cases recorded in Scotland, there were no days when the proportion of cases with the S Gene drop out was higher than 1%.
However, by last Sunday, the 5 December, the proportion had risen to 2%. On Tuesday, it was just over 4%. On Wednesday it was almost 7%, and today, it is 15.5%.
Now you might think that these are still relatively small percentages, but consider that trend. This is doubling on a very, very, rapid basis. Indeed, our estimate at this stage is that the doubling time for Omicron cases is between 2 and 3 days. And actually it may be closer to 2 days than to 3 days.
Now, if that continues, and we have no reason at this stage to expect that it won’t, Omicron is going to very quickly overtake Delta as the dominant strain in Scotland.
Indeed, I think we can now say with some confidence that we expect it to overtake Delta within days, not weeks. We estimate this will may be as early as the very beginning of next week.
Now you might be asking, why does that matter? It matters because Omicron has a much higher R number – a higher transmissibility – than the Delta variant which for some time now has been the dominant strain in Scotland and much of the world.
So, the R number in Scotland in recent weeks has been hovering around 1. We always like it to be below 1, but hovering around 1 is not the worst place to be in. Of course, we’ve been seeing a decline in cases in Scotland in recent weeks.
However, the R number associated with Omicron is likely we think to be well over 2 –and possibly closer to 3.
And as and when Omicron becomes the dominant strain as it is in the process of doing, the R number associated with it will then increasingly become the R number for Scotland as a whole.
So as a result, our estimate is that the R number overall is likely to rise and possibly to rise above 2.
All of these estimates are based on the limited data that we already have here in Scotland, and we have been analyzing that closely but also other data available from South Africa and elsewhere.
What it all that means is that in our judgement right now, it isn’t any longer a question of if we are facing a surge in cases. We now believe that to be virtually certain.
Our health protection teams are working really hard through contact tracing, testing and isolation to slow the spread of Omicron cases and I want to thank them for the excellent work they are doing and everybody across the population who will be following their advice.
But the nature of transmission, and the nature of a variant that is even more transmissible than what has come before, means we do expect to see a rapid rise in cases in the days and weeks ahead.
This is driven by the transmissibility of this variant. Figures we are seeing here in Scotland are consistent with data from around the world. And they provide a considerable degree of certainty that Omicron is significantly more transmissible than the Delta variant.
The best expert advice at this stage also tells us that that Omicron is more capable of re-infecting people who have had the virus previously.
And – based on preliminary laboratory trials – the best evidence suggests it can evade to some extent the immunity conferred by vaccination.
Now, and I want to underline – triple underline – this point. That does not mean that the vaccines will not significantly help us. Being less effective is not the same – nowhere near the same – as vaccines being ineffective.
And booster doses, in particular, will help retain a higher level of vaccine efficiency.
So getting your vaccines, including your booster, remains absolutely crucial.
The thing we don’t know yet, is whether Omicron cases cause more or less serious illness than the Delta variant.
However, there is an absolutely crucial point that we all need to understand, and it is one of the most important points I need to set out today because it is a matter of basic and quite brutal arithmetic.
Even if the variant is generally a little bit less severe for most people – and let me stress we still don’t know if that is the case – but even if it is, and we certainly hope it will be, for some people it will still cause serious illness, hospitalisation, and, tragically, some people will die.
But the overall impact point here is that even if a smaller percentage of people overall than is the case for Delta require hospital treatment, a small percentage – and a smaller percentage – of a bigger number will result in a massive number of cases who might need hospital care.
And 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 amongst those infections will put massive strain on the ability of the NHS to cope.
Also, the numbers of people becoming infected even mildly – and having to isolate – will put a significant strain on the economy and on critical services.
And we’re actually starting to see this already. I can tell you that today there are 60 ScotRail cancellations due to staff shortages, and these staff shortages are mainly due to Covid.
And as you may have seen in the media already today, many staff at an Accident & Emergency unit in Lanarkshire are having to isolate – through no fault of theirs, incidentally – after attending a social event and becoming infected.
So, all of this means that Omicron, I am afraid, is an immensely concerning development – even if it does prove to be slightly less severe than Delta. It’s concerning for Scotland, for the UK, and indeed for the world.
I wanted to set this out to you today, not to try and scare people, but to provide the context for the difficult decisions that all governments might have to take in days to come. And to do what I have always tried to do – level with you and try to share the rationale for these decisions.
We, in the Scottish Government, will be considering our next steps very carefully – but also mindful, in the face of this virus, particularly a more transmissible variant, of the need to act quickly.
We will be discussing matters on a 4 nations basis too. I am very mindful, very mindful, that anything we do – including some of what I am saying today – has an economic and a financial impact for businesses and UK funding arrangements means we have no choice but to look to the Treasury to act. That’s a point I will be raising again with the UK Government in a COBR meeting later this afternoon.
It is worth noting though – as I illustrated a moment ago – that not acting will also have a financial and economic impact as more people get infected and have to be away from work. But the impact of not acting will be less managed and therefore potentially more damaging.
Now, I will keep you and obviously Parliament fully updated in the days ahead.
But, there are two points I want to briefly make today before I conclude.
The first is in response to advice I received last night.
Given that Omicron is now becoming dominant, our response to it has to become more general. Because it will quickly be the case that most people who have Covid have the Omicron variant.
And we must do all we can in that context to break the transmission chains.
Therefore, from tomorrow, our advice will be that 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.
I know that this is not easy – and we will obviously keep it under review. We will also ensure careful exemptions for critical services.
But we believe this to be essential at this moment to help slow transmission.
Non household contacts should continue to isolate pending a PCR result. If that is negative they can leave isolation at that point as long as they are double vaccinated.
Secondly, I want to refer to the advice that Public Health Scotland made public late yesterday afternoon that people should think about deferring work Christmas parties.
This is not easy advice to give or to hear.
But it is incumbent on public health experts to set out very clearly and frankly the risks we face, and it is incumbent on me and government to pay attention to that advice.
There is a significant risk with Omicron – and we are already seeing the reality of it – of Christmas parties or events with lots of people becoming super-spreaders.
And if that happens lots of people get infected and if these are work events, as well as the risk to individual health, there is a risk to the ability of the workplace to operate as people have to isolate. And I’ve already cited the train cancellations and the Accident & Emergency unit in Lanarkshire as examples and illustrations of that.
So the public health advice – which I have no alternative but to agree with given the evidence of risk that I know about and have now shared with you – is that we should all think a bit more carefully about unnecessary contacts, especially in crowded places just now. And that it would be sensible to defer work Christmas parties.
Now I know this has a big impact on businesses which is why we are considering – and pressing the UK government – on financial support.
But once again we face a situation that frankly has no easy options.
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 will 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 across the population are showing.
For now, though, I will end with a plea to abide by all the current protections that we have in place. It is more important than ever.
In fact, doing that still gives us the best chance we have of minimising the need for any further protections
So I want to stress once again what those current protections are.
Firstly, please get vaccinated. What I’ve set out to you today is grim to hear, I understand that. But vaccination, even with that, means we are in a better position than last year and a better position – a vastly better position – than we would be without it. So please get your vaccination – first, second, third or booster dose – as soon as you are able to. It’s the single best thing we can do. And it’s not too late if you haven’t done that already.
Secondly, test yourself regularly and often.
If you are going to meet other people – then test yourself before you do so. And if you are asking someone round to your home, or if you’re meeting someone for lunch or a drink, test yourself and stress the importance to the people you are meeting of them doing the same.
Do that even if you are going out for Christmas shopping.
The evidence we have, suggests that lateral flow tests are as effective at identifying Covid for Omicron cases, as they are for Delta cases.
So that means they are a hugely important way of helping us find out whether we might have the virus – especially if we don’t have symptoms. So if we take these tests before we go, and if we’re positive if we isolate and get a PCR test, we significantly reduce the risk that we then pass the virus on, inadvertently, to others.
You can get LFD devices online, NHS Inform, they’ll be mailed to your home, or get them from a local pharmacy or test centre. They’re easy to get and they’re going to be made available in other places over the next period – shopping centres, garden centres, for example. But they’re already easy to get and they’re easy to use as well.
And finally, please comply with all of the other basic protections.
It’s more important than ever that you’re wearing your face covering on public transport, in shops, and when moving about in hospitality.
Keep windows open when you are meeting people indoors. Don’t get me wrong, I know that is not an easy thing to ask in Scotland in December, but it does make a difference.
And follow all of the advice on hand hygiene and cleaning surfaces.
And please work from home if you can. If you were working from home at the start of the pandemic, please work from home now. And employers, if that was the case for your staff, please enable it to be the case now.
This is not a briefing any of you would have wanted to hear. It’s certainly not one I wanted to deliver, especially not as we approach Christmas. Just as I’m sure all of you long for the day you never have to see me, or any of us, at this podium again for a Covid briefing, let me assure you I long never to have to do another Covid briefing again.
But we face a really challenging period ahead again. And the only way through it, and we know this from experience, is together, with a shared understanding of what we need to do and a shared willingness to do it for our own sake and the sake of all those around us.
And a key thing to remember is that – even with Omicron – we know the things we can do to help to make a difference.
So please – get vaccinated, test yourself regularly, and follow all of the other rules and guidelines. That will help us get through, even with everything I’ve said today I hope it will help us have a Christmas much more normal than last year. Above all, a Christmas that is safe and allows us to go into the new year still hoping for that better Spring ahead.
Beleaguered Boris bows to the inevitable as new variant cases soar
Move to Plan B confirmed as Omicron spreads across UK, with early analysis suggesting cases could be doubling at a rate of as little as 2.5 to 3 days
Face masks to become compulsory in most public indoor venues, other than hospitality
NHS Covid Pass to be mandatory in specific settings, using a negative test or full vaccination via the NHS Covid Pass
Vaccines and testing remain our best lines of defence
People asked to work from home if they can
The Prime Minister last night confirmed that England will move to Plan B following the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the UK.
Urgent work has been ongoing to understand the impact of the new variant with regards to vaccines, treatments and transmissibility. Early indications showed a large number of concerning spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome.
On Saturday 27 November, the government acted quickly to slow the spread of Omicron while more data was collected and assessed.
The most recent data suggests that Omicron has a very high growth rate and is spreading rapidly. S-gene drop out cases have grown from 0.15% of cases during the week of 21st November, to 3.3% of cases since 5 December in England. There are currently 568 cases confirmed across the UK and early analysis from the UK Health Security Agency suggesting the doubling time could be as little as 2.5 to 3 days.
As seen in previous waves, a swift rise in cases can lead to a rapid rise in hospitalisations, which will quickly lead to pressure on the NHS. The data in South Africa is showing a rapid increase in hospitalisations.
As a result of this concerning data the Prime Minister has acted quickly and with caution, confirming Plan B measures will come into force while more data on vaccine efficacy and disease severity is assessed. Plan B was set out in September and will help to slow the spread of the variant and reduce the chances of the NHS coming under unsustainable pressure, while buying time to deliver more boosters.
While it is likely there is some level of reduced vaccine effectiveness against Omicron, it is still too early to determine the extent of this.
The government will continue to look closely at all the emerging data but vaccines remain our best line of defence and it is now more vital than ever that those who are unvaccinated come forward, and those eligible for their boosters book when called.
Yesterday the NHS confirmed a huge expansion of the booster programme, with the National Booking Service now open to all those aged over 40 to book their jabs. The dose interval has also been shortened from six months to three months, with those eligible now able to book a month in advance – two months after their second dose.
The vaccine programme will be supported by the continued development of world-leading treatments. Today the Prime Minister confirmed a new national study that will see 10,000 UK patients at risk of serious illness from COVID-19 given the treatment molnupiravir to treat their symptoms at home.
Testing will also be a vital tool in controlling the spread given the likely increased transmissibility of Omicron. As there is now demonstrated community transmission of Omicron, we intend to introduce daily contact tests for contacts of confirmed positive cases instead of the ten-day self-isolation period.
Everyone should test using a lateral flow device, particularly before entering a high-risk setting involving people you wouldn’t normally come into contact with, or when visiting a vulnerable person. Lateral flow devices remain free of charge and can be collected from local pharmacies.
From tomorrow (Friday 10 December), face coverings will become compulsory in most public indoor venues in England, such as cinemas, theatres and places of worship.
There will be exemptions in venues where it is not practical to wear one, such as when you are eating, drinking or exercising. For that reason, face masks will not be required in hospitality settings.
From Monday 13 December, those who can will be advised to work from home in England.
From Wednesday 15 December, and subject to parliamentary approval, the NHS Covid Pass on the NHS App will become mandatory for entry into England’s nightclubs and settings where large crowds gather – including unseated indoor events with 500 or more attendees, unseated outdoor events with 4,000 or more attendees and any event with 10,000 or more attendees.
People will be able to demonstrate proof of two vaccine doses via the app. Having considered the evidence since the emergence of Omicron, proof of a negative lateral flow test will also be accepted.
Introducing Covid-status certification from next Wednesday will give English businesses a week’s notice, as promised in the government’s proposals for introducing mandatory certification published in September.
A full list of guidance on these changes will be available on gov.uk in the coming days. Face covering regulations will be laid in parliament today, with the remaining regulations laid on Monday 13 December.
Parliament will debate the measures next week, with a vote expected to take place on Tuesday 14 December.
The government will keep the data under constant review. The regulations set to expire six weeks after implementation, with a review after three weeks.
Taken together, the UK government is hopeful these measures will reduce transmission and slow the spread of the Omicron variant. They will continue to urge those eligible to get their boosters when called.
PM Boris Johnson’s opening statement at COVID-19 press conference: 8 December 2021
As soon as we learned of the new Omicron variant, this government acted – introducing targeted and proportionate measures as a precaution, whilst our scientists discovered more.And we’re learning more every day.
We do not yet know Omicron’s severity, its exact rate of transmission, nor indeed the full effectiveness of our vaccines against it.
But since I last spoke to you, it’s become increasingly clear that Omicron is growing much faster than the previous Delta variant, and it’s spreading rapidly all around the world.
568 cases have been confirmed through genomic sequencing across every region of the UK, and the true number is certain to be much higher.
Most worryingly, there is evidence that the doubling time of Omicron in the UK could currently be between two and three days.
And while there are some limits to what we can learn from South Africa, because of the different rates of vaccination and different rates of previous infection, we are seeing growth in cases here in the UK that mirrors the rapid increases previously seen in South Africa.
And South Africa is also seeing hospitalisations roughly doubling in a week, meaning that we can’t yet assume Omicron is less severe than previous variants.
So while the picture may get better, and I sincerely hope that it will – we know the remorseless logic of exponential growth could lead to a big rise in hospitalisations, and therefore sadly in deaths.
And that is why it is now the proportionate and responsible thing to move to Plan B in England – while continuing to work closely with our colleagues in the Devolved Administrations – so we slow the spread of the virus, buy ourselves the time to get yet more boosters into more arms, and especially in the older and more vulnerable people, and understand the answers to the key outstanding questions about Omicron.
So first, we will reintroduce the guidance to work from home.
Employers should use the rest of this week to discuss working arrangements with their employees
but from Monday you should work from home if you can. Go to work if you must but work from home if you can.
And I know this will be hard for many people, but by reducing your contacts in the workplace you will help slow transmission.
Second, from this Friday we will further extend the legal requirement to wear a face mask to most public indoor venues, including theatres and cinemas.
There will be of course exemptions where it is not practical, such as when eating, drinking, exercising or singing.
Third, we’ll also make the NHS Covid Pass mandatory for entry into nightclubs, and venues where large crowds gather including unseated indoor venues with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor venues with more than 4,000 people and any venue with more than 10,000 people.
The NHS Covid Pass can still be obtained with two doses but we will keep this under review as the boosters roll out.
And having taken clinical advice since the emergence of Omicron, a negative lateral flow test will also be sufficient.
As we set out in Plan B, we will give businesses a week’s notice, so this will come into force in a week’s time, helping to keep these events and venues open at full capacity, while giving everyone who attends them confidence that those around them have done the responsible thing to minimise risk to others.
As Omicron spreads in the community, we will also introduce daily tests for contacts instead of isolation, so we keep people safe while minimising the disruption to daily life.
And of course we will take every step to ensure our NHS is ready for the challenges ahead.
But the single biggest thing that every one of us can do, is to get our jabs and crucially to get that booster as soon as our turn arrives.
One year to the day since the UK became the first country in the world to administer a Covid vaccine into the arms of Margaret Keenan, we have opened up the vaccine booster to all those over 40, and we are reducing the gap between second dose and booster to a minimum of just three months.
Our heroic NHS staff and volunteers have already done almost 21 million boosters, including reaching 84 per cent of all the eligible over 80s.
But we need to go further and faster still, because our scientists are absolutely confident that your immune response will be stronger if you have been boosted.
And while you are at it – please get your flu jab too.
Let’s do everything we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones this winter – and to reduce the pressures on our NHS.
As we learn more, so we will be guided by the hard medical data around four key criteria:
+ the efficacy of our vaccines and our boosters,
+ the severity of Omicron,
+ the speed of its spread,
+ and the rate of hospitalisations.
We will constantly monitor the data and keep it under review.
And of course we must be humble in the face of this virus.
But if and indeed as soon as it becomes clear that the boosters are capable of holding this Omicron variant, and we have boosted enough people to do that job, then we will be able to move forward as before.
So please everybody play your part – and get boosted.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) update: First Minister’s statement:– 7 December 2021
Presiding Officer,
I will give an update on the general COVID situation.
I will also share the most up to date information we have on the Omicron variant – both its transmission in Scotland and the world’s developing understanding of it – and set out the steps we must take to slow its spread, and to stem transmission of the virus more generally.
First, though, today’s statistics.
3,060 positive cases were reported yesterday – 9.2% of all tests carried out.
576 people are in hospital with COVID – which is 15 fewer than yesterday.
And 38 people are in intensive care, which is five fewer than yesterday.
Sadly, a further 12 deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, which takes the total number of deaths registered under the daily definition to 9,661.
I want once again to send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.
I am pleased to report, however, that the vaccination programme continues apace.
4,355,063 people have now had a first dose, 3,962,203 have had two doses, and 1,922,604 have had a booster or third dose.
On first, second, third and booster doses, Scotland is still the most vaccinated part of the UK.
Indeed, at this stage on booster doses we are comfortably ahead of the other UK nations, with around 40% of the over 12 population having had a booster jag.
So I want to again record my thanks to everyone involved in organising and delivering the vaccine programme.
Today’s weekly update coincides with the latest three-week review point for all of the remaining COVID regulations. I can therefore confirm that at our meeting this morning, the Cabinet agreed to keep all of the current protections in place, with no immediate changes.
Given the very significant risks posed by Omicron, and the continuing high and indeed once again rising number of cases in Scotland overall, our judgment is that it would be inappropriate to lift any of the protections currently in place at this time.
On the contrary, we agreed that it is vital at this stage to strengthen compliance with all of these existing protections.
We also agreed that, in light of the rapidly developing Omicron situation, it was important to keep the need for any additional protections under daily review at this stage.
The importance of doing that will be clear from the latest data, particularly the data I will share shortly on Omicron.
Firstly, though, let me quickly summarise the overall situation.
After two weeks of falling case numbers, the last seven days have seen a rise in the overall number of cases.
Last week, I reported that the number of new cases being recorded each day had fallen by 14% over the preceding seven days.
However in this past week, cases have increased by 11%. We are currently recording just over 2,800 new cases a day on average.
Encouragingly though cases in the over 60 age groups have continued to fall – in the past week by a further 8%. There is little doubt, if any doubt, that this reflects the effectiveness of booster vaccines.
However, in all age cohorts under 60, cases are rising again.
In total, cases amongst under 60s increased by 13% in the past week – and since people under 60 currently account for more than 90% of all cases, that has inevitably driven an increase in the total number of cases recorded.
More positively, the number of people in hospital with Covid has fallen further in the last week – from 706 to 576.
And so has the number in intensive care – from 54 to 38.
That is of course welcome news.
But we should not be in any way complacent about it.
Firstly, because we know that there will always be a time lag between rising cases and rising admissions to hospital.
And, secondly, because the NHS continues to be under very severe pressure, from direct COVID pressures, but also from the backlog of work created during the pandemic.
On top of all that, the NHS may soon face additional pressures – for example from flu – as we head further into winter.
And there has always been the potential for COVID cases to rise during December – as may now be happening – as a result of more people mixing indoors more often.
So in any circumstances, we would be concerned about the current high level of cases, and the impact this might have on the NHS.
But the emergence of the Omicron variant is now an additional – and indeed very significant – cause for concern.
Public Health Scotland’s weekly COVID report will, from tomorrow, provide more detail on both confirmed and probable Omicron cases in Scotland.
It will include data, not just on confirmed cases, but also on the number of PCR tests showing what is called the S-gene drop-out – this is not conclusive evidence that a case is of the Omicron variant, but it is highly indicative of it.
The report will also contain data on the age, sex and health board area of Omicron cases.
In weeks to come – and as soon as the quality of data allows – these reports will also provide details on the vaccination status of, and hospital admissions and deaths associated with, Omicron cases.
For now, though, let me summarise what we currently know about the presence and spread of this new variant in Scotland. I can confirm that, as of 5pm yesterday, there were 99 confirmed cases here.
This is an increase of 28 since yesterday. And to give a sense of the speed of increase – albeit at this stage from a low level – the figure I reported this time last week was nine. So we have seen more than a tenfold increase in the space of a week.
A still low – at around 4% – but nevertheless steadily rising proportion of cases also now show the S gene drop out that, that as I said a moment ago, is highly indicative of Omicron.
Our estimate at this stage is that the doubling time for Omicron cases may be as short as two to three days, and that the R number associated with the new variant may be well over 2.
I can also report that there are now confirmed cases in nine of our 14 health board areas – suggesting that community transmission is becoming more widespread, and possibly more sustained, across the country.
Now our health protection teams are working hard through contact tracing, testing and isolation to slow the spread of Omicron cases. That work will obviously continue and I want to thank them for the excellent work they are doing.
However, given the nature of transmission, I would expect to see a continued and potentially rapid rise in cases in the days ahead and for Omicron to account for a rising share of overall cases.
And all of this explains, I hope, the requirement for government to review the situation on a daily rather than a weekly basis at this stage.
Let me turn now briefly to the developing global understanding of Omicron.
The first point to make is that there still a great deal we do not yet know.
However data on cases worldwide, including here at home, gives a reasonable degree of certainty at this stage that Omicron is more transmissible than the Delta variant, and perhaps significantly so.
Early – though again unconfirmed – data also suggests that Omicron is more capable of re-infecting people who have had the virus previously. In other words, it has some ability to evade natural immunity.
And, of course, there is also a concern that it may evade to some extent the immunity conferred by vaccinations.
Let me stress again, though, at this point that even if this does prove to be the case, getting vaccinated will still be vitally important.
Vaccines being slightly less effective is not the same, nowhere near it in fact, as vaccines being ineffective.
Being vaccinated will still give us much more protection against Omicron, especially from severe illness, than we will have if we are not vaccinated.
Now further data and analysis is needed to confirm all of the hypotheses about the transmissibility, immunity evasion and severity of Omicron.
We will learn more about its characteristics and implications- in the days and weeks ahead, and this developing understanding will inform and shape our response.
However, we can assume already that the emergence of Omicron is a significant challenge for all of us.
A variant that is more transmissible than Delta, and which has even a limited ability to evade natural or vaccine immunity, has the potential to put very intense additional pressure on the National Health Service.
And a key point we must understand is this, and I want to underline this point. The sheer weight of numbers of people who could be infected as a result of increased transmissibility and some immune evasion will create this pressure even if the disease the new variant causes in individuals is no more severe than Delta.So there is no doubt, unfortunately, that this is another serious moment in the course of the pandemic.
And I will talk shortly about what that means for all of us.
But firstly, let me outline the principles that will guide any decisions government may have to take in the days and weeks ahead.
It is worth noting that the period ahead – as we learn more about the new variant – may involve very difficult judgments for governments everywhere. Indeed, many governments around the world are already taking decisions that we all hoped were behind us for good.
For the Scottish Government, our first principle will be to seek to do what is necessary to keep the country as safe as possible, even if that is sometimes at the expense of being popular.
And second, we will strive to get the right balance between acting proportionately and acting preventatively.
We know from experience, sometimes bitter experience, that with an infectious virus acting quickly can be vital – if we wait too long for data to confirm we have a problem, it might already be too late to prevent the problem.
In fact, acting preventatively is often the best way of ensuring that action can remain limited and proportionate.
However, after two years of restrictions – with the accumulation of social and economic harms that previous restrictions have caused – we also know that it is ever more important to minimise further restrictions as far as is possible.
So while recognising that it is never a perfect science, we will seek to get that balance right.
Let me turn to the action we have taken so far and what we are asking everyone to do now.
Firstly, in line with the other UK nations, we have tightened travel rules.
In the past week, Nigeria has been added to the travel red list. That means anyone arriving in the UK from Nigeria – or the 10 countries already on the list – must enter managed quarantine for 10 days.
In addition, since this morning, anyone aged 12 or over, who is travelling to the UK from outside the Common Travel Area, will be required to take a COVID test shortly before they leave for the UK. And this is in addition to the requirement to take a test on day two after arrival in the UK and to self-isolate pending the result.
My advice to anyone planning travel between Scotland and countries outside the common travel area, is to check on the Scottish Government website for detailed guidance; and to also check the requirements of the country you are travelling to. Because the requirements there may well be different to those in force here.
Presiding Officer
At this stage, travel restrictions have an important part to play in responding to Omicron.
However, given that we already have some community transmission in Scotland, what we do domestically is also important.
That is why Cabinet decided this morning to keep in force all existing protections. However, we also agreed that it is vital not just to maintain, but to strengthen compliance with these protections.
It is time for all of us to go back to basics and ensure that we are taking all of the steps required to minimise the risk of getting or spreading this virus.
Indeed, it is through heightened compliance with current protections that we will give ourselves the best chance of avoiding any additional protections.
So I am asking everyone to make an extra effort to do so from now through the festive period and into January.
Obviously, that means wearing face coverings in indoor public places; ventilating rooms by opening windows; and ensuring good hand hygiene.
However, there are two important protections that I want to emphasise particularly strongly today.
Scotland, let's all pull together and do what's necessary.
Watch FM @NicolaSturgeon's message about how to be safe this winter, including by:
🔹 Taking a test each time you're planning to meet up with others 🔹 Working from home, where possible
Firstly, working from home. We already advise people to work from home wherever practical.
Today, I am asking employers to ensure this is happening.
To be blunt, if you had staff working from home at this start of the pandemic, please now enable them to do so again.
We are asking you to do this from now until the middle of January when we will review this advice again.
I know how difficult this is, but I cannot stress enough how much difference we think this could make in helping stem transmission and avoid the need for even more onerous measures.
Secondly, testing and isolation.
Test & Protect is deploying enhanced contract tracing for all cases with the S-gene drop-out that is indicative of Omicron – for these cases, household contacts of close contacts, rather than just the close contacts themselves, are being asked to test and isolate. If you are asked to do this, please comply.
More generally, for non-Omicron cases, if you have symptoms of COVID, please get a PCR test and self-isolate until you get the result.
If your result is negative you can end isolation at that point if you are double vaccinated. If positive, you must isolate for the full 10 days.
And crucially, please remember that you can have this virus even if you have no symptoms.
So testing regularly and repeatedly with lateral flow devices is essential.
We are asking everyone to do a lateral flow test before mixing with people from other households – and on every occasion you intend doing so.
That means before going to a pub, to a restaurant, visiting someone’s house, or even going shopping.
Let me be clear Presiding Officer, I am not excluding myself from this. I am currently doing a test every morning before coming to work and I will do a test on any occasion I mix with others over the festive period. And I will ask anyone visiting my home over Christmas to do likewise. And I’m asking every member of this Parliament to lead by example, and do that too.
LFD kits are easy to get through NHS Inform or from local pharmacies or test centres. And they are very easy to use.
So please, please do this. It will significantly help us break the chains of transition.
If we all do all of these things, difficult though I appreciate they are, then even with a more transmissible variant, I do really hope we can avoid any further measures.
I cannot guarantee this however. I don’t think any responsible person in my position could guarantee this at this stage. And given the situation we face it is important to remain open to any proportionate measures, for example the extension of COVID certification, that might help us reduce the risks should the situation deteriorate.
The government will carefully analyse the data in the days ahead. I hope this doesn’t require us to take any decisions ahead of my next scheduled statement a week today, but if it does I will obviously return to Parliament.
I want to end Presiding Officer, by again reiterating the vital importance of vaccination.
We are currently the most vaccinated part of the UK – and we have more quickly than other nations implemented the JVCI advice to reduce the gap between second doses and boosters – but we are not complacent.
We are identifying and training additional vaccinators. So far we have added the equivalent of more than 300 additional full-time staff to the vaccination workforce.
We are also working to further increase vaccination capacity. A number of health boards – Fife and Tayside for example – are now using drop-in centres to make vaccination even easier.
And we are in the process of increasing the use of mobile vaccination units provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service.
In addition to these efforts – which are intended to improve the supply and availability of vaccination – we are also working to increase demand by encouraging even more people to take up the offer of vaccine.
In the past week, therefore, text or e-mail messages have been sent to those aged between 40 and 60, encouraging them to book their booster jag.
For those now able to get a booster jag – that is anyone over 40 who had the second jag 12 or more weeks ago – please arrange an appointment as quickly as possible.
You can book through the NHS Inform website, or by calling the vaccination helpline.
And if you’re 16 or 17 you can of course, and should, also book your second dose in the same way.
Last week, we also sent blue envelope letters to all 50 to 59 year olds who have not yet been vaccinated at all. A similar letter is being issued over the course of this week to everyone between 40 and 49 who hasn’t yet been vaccinated.
Take-up of the vaccine has been exceptional, but there are still a significant number of people in those age groups who have not been vaccinated.
To anyone in that position, let me be clear about this – it is not too late to get vaccinated. In fact it is now more important than ever to get your first jag and start to get that essential protection.
To conclude Presiding Officer, Omicron is a really concerning development and one of the most unwelcome developments at this stage in the pandemic. But, this is the positive aspect, the actions that have helped us against other variants, will also help against Omicron.
That means we all know what we need to do to in the days and weeks ahead.
And so my request to everyone is to follow those steps. Please go back to basics and make sure that we are all doing everything that we are asked to.
That’s the best way we have of making Christmas and the New Year as safe as possible – and of maximising our ability to navigate this next unwelcome but unavoidable challenge without any additional protections.
It will also help us protect the NHS and those who are working so hard in the NHS and social care to keep us all safe. So please do get vaccinated.
Secondly, do test regularly, on any occasion before socialising, or mixing with people from other households.
And finally, make sure you comply with all of the existing protections.
Wear your face coverings on public transport, in shops, and when moving about in hospitality.
Keep windows open. Not easy, I know, in the weather we are currently experiencing but try to keep windows open if you’re meeting people indoors. And follow all of the hygiene advice.
And if you were working from home at the start of the pandemic, please do so again for the next few weeks.
None of this is what any of us want two years into this ordeal. I know that.
But it is the best way of slowing the spread of the virus in general and Omicron in particular.
And by doing that, we do give ourselves the best possible chance of enjoying a Christmas that is more normal, but also safe – and of avoiding a new year hangover of spiraling cases.
Please – and I really hope this will be for one last time in this pandemic – let’s all pull together, do what is necessary, and get each other and the country through this winter and into what we all hope will be a better and brighter spring.
Scotland’s leading pro-European campaigning body, the European Movement in Scotland (EMiS), has underlined its cross-party credentials by choosing a former SNP cabinet secretary and a former Conservative MEP as its new honorary presidents.
Mike Russell, MSP until May this year and former Scottish Government cabinet secretary for Constitution, Europe and External Affairs, and John Purvis, a Tory MEP for 15 years, jointly take over the post bequeathed to them by (Lord) Ming Campbell, the LibDem peer.
They were unanimously confirmed in their new posts at the EMiS annual general meeting in Edinburgh which reaffirmed its commitment to Scotland rejoining the European Union as soon as possible – whether in its own right as an independent state or as part of the UK. As a non-party/cross-party body EMiS is neutral on Scottish independence.
Separately, EMiS is to launch a campaign for Scotland and/or the UK to rejoin the single market and customs union as the devastating economic and social effects of Brexit are revealed daily.
Philippa Whitford MP, SNP Commons spokesman on Europe (and health);
David Broucher, a former UK diplomat/ambassador in, among other places, Bonn and Prague;
Peter Sellar, an EU lawyer specialising in regulatory affairs and author of a paper on this topic for the Scottish Independence Convention.
David Clarke, Vice-Chair of EMiS commented: “Our choice of new Honorary Presidents underlines the cross-party consensus in Scotland for rejoining the European Union, with membership of the single market and customs union a first stage.
“John Purvis is a long-standing Conservative with deep roots in the EU and European financial services, while Mike Russell’s commitment to Europe as an SNP politician, minister and thinker is unmatched. Our campaign to rejoin the EU steps up a gear with our latest webinar on 8th December and throughout 2022.”
