Xmas Day curbs could be on way, reveals expert
SCOTS face the grim prospect of a second Christmas blighted by Covid restrictions, as concerns about the Omicron variant grow.
A key Scottish Government adviser has admitted a Christmas Day crackdown is ‘possible’.
However, Professor Linda Bauld also warned against repeating the tough rules from 2020, when people were urged to stay at home, not travel from other parts of the UK, and not stay overnight, before lockdown began on Boxing Day.
Yesterday, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said that the Scottish Government was spending the weekend ‘wrestling’ with the question of what restrictions to impose. More details are expected in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s Tuesday Covid briefing to the Scottish parliament.
Many Scots have already made plans and travel arrangements, as well as buying food and presents.
Opponents urged the First Minister to give answers to people now ‘fearing another Christmas spent away from loved ones’.
Professor Bauld, the Government’s chief social policy adviser, admitted Scots may be forced to cut back on their plans for Christmas Day. ‘I think that’s a possibility, but I hope it won’t be a repeat of last year,’ she told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland.
‘One of the things people found hardest to deal with was saying you can only see a certain number of people in your own home.’
Ms Sturgeon has already urged people to cancel Christmas parties and work from home, while ten-day isolation has been introduced for people testing positive for Covid. Amid fears of a ‘tsunami’ of Omicron cases, more restrictions are likely. Another lockdown would better protect the NHS, but there are fears about the impact on business, mental health and wider society.
Professor Bauld said: ‘If you were only thinking about it from a public health perspective and protecting the NHS, we would all be asked to stay at home right now.
‘But they are not the only decisions. Two years on, within my Scottish Government role, I am particularly concerned and responsible for looking at the data on social harms, education, mental health inequalities and the economy. These are big issues.
‘We need to slow down the spread of infection, we need to keep people safe, but how can we minimise the impact elsewhere?’
Mr Swinney, who is the Covid Recovery Secretary, admitted that SNP Ministers were spending the weekend ‘wrestling with the challenge of what are the right rules to have in place’ and the possibility of tighter curbs.
He added: ‘I can’t say definitively that will be the case, but that’s certainly being looked at over this weekend. And we have to judge what’s the best set of measures that we can take to try to interrupt the circulation of the virus.
‘We can’t have it moving at the pace it’s moving at just now because the danger is that will overwhelm our public and private services.’
Professor Jason Leitch, the national clinical director and another key Scottish Government adviser, added: ‘It’s bad. We’re really worried about it.
‘We’re just worried about the sheer scale of numbers. If that keeps increasing, it just means the hospitals will get overwhelmed.’
Last night, the Government faced growing demands for more clarity for business and Scots preparing for Christmas.
Murdo Fraser, Scots Tory Covid recovery spokesman, said: ‘This is an extremely fast-moving situation, but the SNP Government must avoid creating more uncertainty in our fragile economy by speculating.’
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokesman, added: ‘Businesses are in limbo and people up and down the country are fearing another Christmas spent away from loved ones. Now more than ever, we need clear communication from the Government.’
‘I am concerned at the data on social harms’