Covid restrictions Scotland: three household limit with an exemption for Christmas and legal requirement to work from home where possible

People in Scotland have been asked to limit their socialising to three households  and to work from home in the run up to Christmas and businesses will be required to increase protective measures in a bid to tackle the rise of Covid infections, which First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said was "increasing exponentially" as the Omicron variant steadily becomes more dominant. 

The First Minister said that while she was “not asking anyone to cancel Christmas,” people should limit their social interactions before and after - and that people test before they do interact with one another.

Meanwhile, further protective measures will be introduced in settings such as retail - including physical distancing, controlling the flow of customers and protective screens - and potentially table service in hospitality to avoid crowding, with further guidance set to be issued later this week.

Care home visits will also be limited to two households, with all visitors asked to test beforehand, and, until further notice, schools will remain open.

Support package

Given what is expected to be a massive effect on hospitality businesses, the First Minister said that the lack of financial support from UK government was "not acceptable," and promised to deliver it where posible - without addressing the specifics as of yet.

She said: “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, affected by our advice last week on work Christmas parties and further affected by what I have said today.”

Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, the Treasury announced that it would send additional funding to the Scottish government to support businesses affected by restrictions, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said he would set out the amount of additional funding within days.

“Throughout this pandemic, the United Kingdom has stood together as one family, and we will continue to do so."

“We are working with the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to drive the vaccine rollout to all corners of the United Kingdom and ensure people and businesses all across the country are supported.”

Scotland confirmed 110 new cases of the Omicron variant in the past 24 hours, taking the overall number in the country to 296. It is understood that it now makes up 27.5% of cases in Scotland, an increase from 15% on Friday 10th December.