Sturgeon to address Holyrood in final Covid update before Christmas

The First Minister is set to address Holyrood in the final coronavirus update before Christmas.

On Tuesday, Nicola Sturgeon will update MSPs on the latest information about the Omicron variant.

It will follow a cabinet meeting in which implementing further restrictions will be discussed.

However the First Minister said there is “no intention now” to change guidance on people meeting up over the festive period.

Sturgeon has urged Scots to avoid socialising in the run up to Christmas Day in a bid to stop the spread of the new variant and to keep celebrations as small as possible.

On Monday, Sturgeon posted on Twitter: “Cut contacts as much as poss in run up to Xmas Day – helps slow spread & also reduce risk of you catching virus & having to isolate at Xmas

“Keep Xmas/Boxing Day dinners as small as family circumstances allow, test in advance, wash hands, open windows

“There’s no intention now on part of @scotgov to change our advice about household mixing up to and over Xmas weekend – I know how important clarity and certainty is at this stage.

“However, after the Xmas w/e please cut contacts again/stay at home as much as poss for a period.”

The latest data, released by the Scottish Government, shows no new deaths have been recorded since the day before, but officials said registry offices were generally closed at weekends, which can affect the number recorded.

It means the Covid-19 death toll in Scotland under the daily measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – remains 9,781.

There were 516 people in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19 on Sunday, up 12 on the day before, and a total of 38 people were in intensive care, the same figure as the day before.

So far, 4,372,129 people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination, 3,993,642 have received their second dose, and 2,561,480 have received a third dose or booster.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned people in England to expect new controls to curb the spread of the Omicron variant amid fears the NHS could be overwhelmed.

Following a special two-hour meeting of the Cabinet, Johnson aid they were monitoring the data “hour by hour”.

However, he said the arguments for taking action were “very, very finely balanced” – indicating fresh measures were unlikely before Christmas.