Nicola Sturgeon has repeated her pleas for Scots to limit contact with others as she gave an update on the rapidly spreading Omicron Covid variant.
The first minister said the variant is likely to become the dominant strain of coronavirus in Scotland by tomorrow.
In an unscheduled update in the Scottish Parliament, Ms Sturgeon said the variant was “spreading faster than even the fastest rollout of vaccines”.
More than 50% of over 18s have received a booster vaccine, but Ms Sturgeon warned that the protection offered by this does not come immediately.
She said she had requested to speak to Prime Minister Boris Johnson today regarding financial support for business as she urged people to stay at home more than they normally would.
She told MSPs: “By tomorrow Omicron will be the dominant strain circulating in Scotland.
“Because of Omicron’s much higher transmissibility, this will drive an even more rapid increase in cases.
“Omicron is spreading exceptionally fast, much faster than anything experienced in this pandemic.
“I am profoundly concerned by the scale and immediacy of the challenge Omicron poses.”
Ms Sturgeon also warned that even as the vaccine roll out speeds up, action must be taken to slow down the spread.
“If we don’t, the consequences will be significant,” she said.
“Even if Omicron’s impact on individual health is milder than other variants – and we have no evidence of that yet – many will still become severely unwell and die, and the sheer number of people infected will present a massive challenge.”
She urged Scots to consider their actions and stay at home where they can.
“Please reduce your contact with people from households other than your own as much as you possibly can,” she said.
“For now, please stay at home much more than you normally would.
“Right now, the risk of getting Covid from interactions with others is high and rising.
“So ask yourself before doing anything you might have planned over the coming days – is it as safe as it needs to be, and is it vital enough to justify that risk.”
‘We don’t have time to waste’
Ms Sturgeon stressed how serious the current Covid situation is and how fast new measures need to be put in place.
She said: “We do not have time to waste. We don’t have time to waste on vaccination, we don’t have time to waste putting in place protective measures that will help slow this down.
“Lives are at risk, livelihoods are at risk, the NHS is at risk and that’s why, yes the governments has to speed up vaccination, but all of us have to come together to do what is required to slow this down and the UK government has to step up and provide the financial support that businesses need.”
Confusion for businesses
Conservative leader Douglas Ross challenged the first minister following her announcement, asking for clarification of new advice and support for businesses.
He asked: “There’s still no word on when struggling small businesses will get the funding they desperately need to survive this difficult period.
“This is about people’s jobs and their livelihoods. Nicola Sturgeon must commit to getting this vital cash to businesses before Christmas.”
The first minister insisted that the government has been communicating with businesses throughout the week to support them through the recent changes.
She said: “Businesses and organisations have been communicated with throughout the week. Much of what we are asking businesses to do now is what they have done in previous stages in the pandemic.”
However, she did not confirm exactly when this funding would be recieved.
When challenged further, Ms Sturgeon added: “For goodness sake, we have a virus raging around this country, we are trying to act at speed to protect people as much as possible because that is our duty.”