Depute First Minister John Swinney says the Scottish Government “will consider” shortening the self-isolation period in line with UK Government.
From Wednesday, anyone in England who is fully vaccinated and tests positive for Covid will only have to self-isolate for seven days.
This is on the condition that they receive a negative lateral flow test on days six and seven of their isolation period.
The change has meant that thousands of people across the country will be able to see their families over Christmas.
In Scotland, the self-isolation period remains at 10 days but, speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, Mr Swinney said the Scottish Government will consider changing the rule too.
He said: “We will of course consider the proposition that the UK Government has brought forward.
“There are of course options that can be taken forward about the self-isolation arrangements which could try to ease pressure on public services.
“But I think what we have to recognise is the number of cases is likely to become so significant – it’s already so significant, we’re now looking at about 5,500 cases a day compared to around 3,500 a day which was just a week ago – that that’s going to give rise to significant absence levels from our private and public services.”
‘Proportionate and necessary’
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced new Covid restrictions yesterday that will come into force over the next week.
These include reduced socialising over the festive period, new rules for hospitality and the cancellation of Hogmanay events.
Mr Swinney described these measures as “proportionate and necessary”.
He said: “They are the measures we believe are necessary to interrupt the exponential growth of the Omicron variant.
“If we don’t do that, we’ll see very significant burdens being applied to the NHS, we will see the sustainability of other services being brought into question.”
‘Precious’ panto
When asked whether people should be avoiding going to this week’s football matches, or whether the organisations responsible should be cancelling them, the depute first minister did not give direct advice.
He said: “It’s a matter for the football authorities to consider, it’s not a decision that I can take.
“I am simply saying that we have all got to take steps to reduce our degree of social interaction.”
A similar question was posed to Mr Swinney regarding pantomimes, many of which are still going ahead until after Christmas.
He acknowledged how “precious” this Christmas tradition is to many families, and suggested that they still attend but limit other social interaction.
The depute first minister said: “A panto is a one off Christmas event, I know how previous that is for families.
“We’re saying to people, if you’re going to go to the panto, don’t go to anything else. Protect your evening at the panto, but don’t go to other socialising events that are maybe not as crucial.”
He said if people are going to attend events like these, they have to be prepared to face a period of limited social interaction after Christmas.
