John Swinney has said there could “potentially” be more Covid rules put in place before Christmas.
Less than 24 hours after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon asked Scots to scale back socialising and outlined guidelines for retailers and the hospitality sector, her deputy admitted there may be more restrictions ahead.
It comes amid growing concern about the rising cases of Omicron, which appears to spread very quickly among groups.
Although Ms Sturgeon yesterday stressed she was not cancelling Christmas, she did urge people to reduce the number of households they are interacting with before and afterwards to help break “transmission chains”.
Today Mr Swinney – who is deputy first minister and the Covid response secretary – said he hoped people would follow the advice in a “cooperative spirit”.
Will there be more restrictions?
Further restrictions being put in place in the lead up to December 25 have not been ruled out by the government.
Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, Mr Swinney said: “Potentially that would be the case, but we obviously want to avoid that.
“We hope we’ve done enough in the announcements that were made yesterday and we hope that members of the public and businesses will work with us in a cooperative spirit to make sure we can take these provisions forward.
“I’m optimistic that is the case, but obviously for a virus that represented 2% of our cases about 10 days ago but now represents over 27% of our cases, we have a variant that is very powerful, is growing at an alarming rate and we face a very severe situation.
“What we’re trying to do is protect the period that people are looking forward to, to have as normal a Christmas as we possibly can do but we need people to work with us in the spirit of caution to make sure we get through it safely.”
Urging Scots to follow new guidance
Mr Swinney echoed the guidance issued by the first minister while being interviewed on the radio show.
“What we’re trying to do is take a proportionate approach across a whole range of different areas of social interaction,” he said.
“The purpose of the guidance we set out yesterday is to encourage people to reduce their social interaction, we know that large groups of household mixing can be ready sources of the spread of coronavirus.
“What we’re trying to say to people is to reduce, where possible, their social interaction on either side of the formal Christmas period so we can all enjoy that Christmas period with those that we love.”
The current limitations will be reviewed at least every three weeks but Omicron data is being monitored multiple times a day by the government and health officials.
The deputy first minister added that he expects the current arrangements to be applicable on Hogmanay and to extend into the new year.
‘Temper your social interactions’
Over the past few months, large events and social gatherings have been gradually becoming a part of daily life once again.
While Mr Swinney has said people should not cancel outings, such as to the theatre, he has urged people take a lateral flow test before attending and to make sure they are vaccinated to “the highest level you possibly can be”.
When asked about limits being put on household gatherings but not larger events, he said households can be a “congested environment”.
He continued: “Obviously, there are other events that are going to be going on. Whether it’s the panto or visits to the cinema or large sporting events, and we’re trying to strike a balance between household interaction and some of the wider events that people would have an expectation to be part of in the period that lies ahead.
“We’re trying to give people guidance that will help a communal effort to suppress the spread of the virus. A very contagious virus that is spreading at a very alarming rate. What we’re trying to say to people is ‘keep it in balance’.
“People aren’t going to the pantomime every night. They’re going once over the Christmas period and people will be looking forward to that.
“We’re saying go ahead with that safely but try to then temper the amount of social interactions you have with other households on other occasions.”