Scots asked to limit social mixing in run up to Christmas

First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has announced that it will now be a legal requirement for businesses to take measures that are ‘reasonably practical’ to prevent the spread of Omicron.

Full guidance for the hospitality industry can be found here.

Scots have also been urged to limit social mixing as much as possible in the run up to Christmas. If the public do socialise, the number of households socialising at one time should be limited to three. There will be no legal restrictions on Christmas Day, but Sturgeon has asked to public keep celebrations as small as possible, with good ventilation and strict hygiene.

Ms Sturgeon, said: “I want to be clear, I am not asking anyone to ‘cancel’ Christmas – but in the run up to and in the immediate aftermath of Christmas, I am asking everyone to reduce as far as possible, and to a minimum, the contacts we have with people in other households.”

She added: “We are not banning or restricting household mixing in law as before. We understand the negative impact this has on mental health and wellbeing.

“But we are asking everyone – and we will issue strong guidance to this effect – to cut down as far as possible the number of people outside our own households that we are interacting with just now.

It’s also been confirmed that £100 million has been made available to support businesses, mainly hospitality and cultural venues, who have been impacted by last week’s advice on Christmas parties.

Essential workers can now apply for an exemption from isolating when someone in their household tests positive.

For more information, click here.