Covid Scotland LIVE: Nicola Sturgeon says UK must not ‘sleepwalk’ into an Omicron emergency
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FMQs LIVE: Nicola Sturgeon to give an update on Omicron in Scotland
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The Prime Minister and Chancellor must not “sleep walk into an emergency” caused by rapidly rising Omicron cases, Nicola Sturgeon said, as she demanded the UK Government step up and provide more financial support to businesses.
The First Minister said she had written to Boris Johnson “appealing to him to put the necessary support schemes in place”, adding that “such is the urgency” of the situation she had requested to talk to him directly later on Thursday.
Her comments came as she told the Scottish Parliament she was “profoundly concerned by the scale and the immediacy of the challenge” that the new strain of the virus poses.
Omicron is likely to be the dominant strain of coronavirus in Scotland from tomorrow, she advised – with 5,951 new coronavirus cases reported on Wednesday, of which almost half (45.4%) were said to be likely to be the new variant.
A record 745,183 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Wednesday, new figures show.
The previous record was 656,711 doses on Tuesday.
More than 25.4 million booster and third doses have now been delivered in the UK, with nearly 3.8 million in the past seven days.
The figures have been published by the UK’s four health agencies.
Calls have been made for Scottish football to have a “circuit break” prior to the two-week winter shutdown as the Omicron variant begins to bite.
Deacon Blue have postponed the last two shows of their tour over concerns about the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid.
Lead singer Ricky Ross confirmed the news on social media saying he was disappointed that “authorities” had not made an announcement on concerts given the rise of the Omicron variant.
The band were due to play the final two shows of their tour in Aberdeen on Saturday and Glasgow on Sunday.
The Scottish Government has issued advice urging people to limit social gatherings to three households but stopped short of new legal restrictions on live event numbers.
From Friday, however, hospitality will be required to reintroduce measures such as physical distancing used at the start of the pandemic.
Writing on Twitter, Ross said: “Folks: We’re disappointed authorities didn’t make any decision regarding live concerts in the wake of Omicron spread.
“However it’s clear to us @deaconblue should not be playing and people shouldn’t be asked to attend gigs just now. We’re postponing our last two shows.”
When asked about what may be put in place for retail and hospitality workers Nicola Sturgeon says “In terms of funding support, I find it impossible to comprehend how the UK Government right now can fail to put in place schemes. The doubling times for Omicron in parts of England are faster than they are in Scotland right now.”
“The sooner we act the less of an emergency we can get into.”
She adds the Scottish Government have maximised the financial support they can give.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to hold talks with representatives of the hospitality sector seeking further Government support following the emergence of the Omicron variant, Downing Street has said.
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Omicron is set to become the dominant strain in Scotland from tomorrow.
Nicola Sturgeon has written to Boris Johnson asking for more financial support to combat Omicron.
The First Minister told the Scottish Parliament she was “acutely aware of and deeply concerned about the considerable impact” on businesses of her government’s advice for people to limit social interaction.
She said businesses need the “scale of financial support” that was available earlier in the pandemic.