Nicola Sturgeon Omicron Briefing: RECAP as First Minister says she can’t rule out further restrictions in Scotland ahead of Christmas

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will hold a briefing on the Omicron variant of Covid-19 amid concerns over rising cases.
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The briefing comes after guidance was issued last night from Public Health Scotland urging Scots to cancel their Christmas parties over Omicron fears.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Friday morning, Prof Leitch said that Scots should be able to judge themselves what is and isn’t a party following an announcement from Public Health Scotland (PHS) advising people to cancel their Christmas nights out due to the increasing number of cases of the new Omicron variant.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will hold a briefing on the Omicron variant of Covid-19 alongside Scotland’s chief medical officer Gregor Smith and national clinical director Jason Leitch.

Nicola Sturgeon Omicron Briefing: Live updates amid rising variant cases

Hello and welcome to our live blog giving the latest updates as Nicola Sturgeon gets set to brief the nation.

National Clinical Director Jason Leitch says “Scotland knows what a party is” as Scots await news on whether the Omicron Covid-19 variant means Christmas events should be cancelled.

This morning he told BBC Scotland “I think Scotland knows what a party is. I don’t think it’s a family dinner, I don’t think it’s a dinner for four.

“I don’t think it’s a night out where you’re controlled or where the environment is managed.

“I’m not going to get into a spreadsheet of how many people are there, how many bottles of wine there are or how many balloons there are, because that’s not going to help us.”

We are expecting the First Minister to address the nation shortly after 12. Here’s how you can watch the briefing.

There has been significant anger in the hospitality industry over calls to cancel Christmas parties on Thursday evening.

Public Health Scotland said people should postpone plans to help “protect ourselves” despite conflicting advice from the national clinical director.

Omicron is likely to make up the majority of cases in Scotland in the near future according to a Scottish Government evidence report.

It is likely that Nicola Sturgeon will also give the latest update on figures in Scotland.

Yesterday, Scotland recorded one new case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the past 24 hours, taking the overall number to 109.

Omicron is set to become the dominant coronavirus variant in Scotland within weeks, or even days, a Scottish Government briefing paper has warned.