Potential for more Covid restrictions before Christmas - John Swinney

Scotland's Deputy First Minister John Swinney said there is the potential for more restrictions before Christmas in response to the new Omicron variant.

He also urged people to take "the greatest of care" over household mixing.

On Tuesday people were asked to limit socialising to three households at a time in the run-up to the festive period.

But Nicola Sturgeon said the advice would not apply on Christmas Day.

Shops and hospitality venues will also be told to bring back physical distancing and screens.

The Scottish Conservatives said the restrictions were a measured response to a "scary and bleak picture".

Asked on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme if more restrictions could be imminent if there was a change in the pattern of Omicron, Mr Swinney said: "Potentially that would be the case but we obviously want to avoid that.

"We hope that we have done enough in the announcements that were made yesterday and we hope that members of the public and businesses will work with us in a cooperative spirit to make sure that we can take these provision forward."

Mr Swinney said he was "optimistic" enough was being done for now but cautioned that the percentage of Omicron cases in Scotland had soared from 2% about ten days ago to more than 27%.

He added: "We have a variant that is very powerful, that is growing at an alarming rate, and we face a very severe situation.

"What we are trying to do is protect the period that people are looking forward to, to have as normal a Christmas as we possibly can do, but we need people to work with us in a spirit of caution to try and make sure that we get through this and get through it safely."

Asked about the further steps the first minister hinted to MSPs that she would like to have introduced, Mr Swinney highlighted greater application of physical distancing and limitations on capacities at different venues.

The deputy first minister also said he expected the new measures to extend into the new year.

Ms Sturgeon last week said that Scotland was facing a "likely tsunami" of new infections of Covid-19 in the weeks ahead, with a "very significant" impact on health services.

On Tuesday she stressed that she was not asking anyone to cancel their Christmas plans, and that places of worship would remain open.

But she said that people should try to keep their festive celebrations "as small as your family circumstances allow" despite the new guidance not applying on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

The guidelines on social mixing will not be legally enforceable, but Ms Sturgeon warned: "Although it is guidance, please do not think of it as optional."

The first minister outlined a series of measures aimed at reducing virus transmission.

However, schools are to remain open, with Ms Sturgeon saying it was a "key aim to ensure that schools stay open if at all possible to minimise further disruption to education".

The Scottish government will provide £100m of funding to help businesses in hospitality and food supply chains which have been hit by advice to cancel work Christmas parties.

And ministers are working to identify new mass vaccination centres as part of a push to offer a booster jab to all adults by the end of the month.

Shortly before Ms Sturgeon started speaking, the UK Treasury said it would make extra funding available to devolved governments to accelerate the vaccine rollout and tackle the virus.

An additional 100 military personnel have also been made available to accelerate the vaccine rollout in Scotland, bringing the total number to 221.