We cannot boost our way out of tougher Covid restrictions, says expert

We cannot “boost” our way out of tougher restrictions, a public health expert has warned.

NHS Grampian’s head of health intelligence Jillian Evans issued the stark message as nearly 100 new cases of the Omicron variant are confirmed in Scotland.

She warned that current safety measures are not going to be enough to curb the rapidly rising case numbers and has called for tougher rules to be put in place.

Ms Evans told STV News: “You have this combined effect of high levels of infection in your community and the likelihood that a significant number of people will still be admitted to hospital. We will have staff absences, which will be fairly significant too.

“So with all of those things going on, then it leads to to such a serious situation where we will be overwhelmed.

“I mean, we will be overwhelmed. There will be days and there’ll be weeks when we will be overwhelmed, which is why the strategy of slowing the spread is really, really important.

“Thinking that we can boost our way out of it in equal measures, I think is probably unrealistic.

“I think we are looking at having to tighten up. I mean, already people are changing their behaviour.

“We know that without without some protections or without from legal requirements or restrictions, people are still doing the right thing.

“But is it enough? I would imagine we would need to do something pretty significant now and very soon.”