Scotland's first minister wants to slow down the spread of the Omicron variant - which now accounts for 27.5% of Scotland's cases - while the booster vaccine programme is being ramped up
Nicola Sturgeon's statement outlines new guidelines on social contact which includes asking for no more than three households to meet in social settings
She adds that she will not limit numbers on Christmas day - but guidance will be issued to "make Christmas safer"
Over 18s in Scotland will be able to book their booster jabs from tomorrow but Scotland's FM concedes that "not everyone will have been vaccinated by the end of December"
Ms Sturgeon ends her statement: "Please follow the new advice I have outlined today. Although it is guidance, please do not think of it as optional."
The UK government has announced more funding to each of the devolved nations "to progress their vaccine rollout"
Opposition parties question the Scottish government's ability to deliver the booster programme
The requirement for people to wait in a vaccine centre for 15 minutes before going home is being dropped - and it could have a big impact on available appointments.
Analysis from NHS England, external shows that under the conditions of a system working at full capacity, the 15-minute wait reduces the speed at which people can get in and out of a vaccine centre by 23%.
Image source, Getty ImagesPeople in Scotland are being urged to "flow before you go" and get into the habit of using lateral flow tests before mixing with any other groups.
Otherwise, all household close contacts of any Covid cases should take a PCR test and isolate for 10 days, regardless of vaccination status, or if their PCR test result is negative.
Non-household close contacts should take a PCR test and isolate while they wait for the result.
Image source, Getty ImagesNicola Sturgeon's statement targeted a number of areas of everyday life in Scotland - though there will be few changes to the law.
A key area is household mixing. The advice now is no more than three households should mix either side of Christmas.
Shops and businesses will be required to take measures to limit the spread of Covid, such as screens in shops and crowd control in bars.
You can read more on Scotland's rules and how they compare with the rest of the UK here.
Magnus Bennett
BBC Scotland News
Image source, Getty ImagesScottish retailers are warning that new restrictions announced by the first minister to minimise the risk of Omicron transmission will increase pressure on businesses already facing difficult trading conditions.
Shops are facing a return to physical barriers, such as those designed to avoid crowding and bottlenecks.
Scottish Retail Consortium director David Lonsdale said: “Retailers will strive to implement and operationalise these latest changes, albeit they are being asked to do so at incredibly short notice, without sight of the detailed regulations or guidance, and slap bang during what is for many the busiest trading weekend of the year.
“Coming on top of the work-from-home order, these new rules will serve to make life even tougher for Scotland’s shops and retail destinations, particularly over the next two crucial weeks of pre-Christmas trading and post-Christmas discounting.”
Susie Forrest
Health producer, BBC Scotland
Dr Dave McKean
The first minister warned that even if the Omicron variant did turn out to cause milder illness, its greater transmissibility could still place a bigger burden on the NHS. She said that if cases were to rise to 10,000 a week – well within the estimates of government modellers - then even a 50% lower hospitalisation rate compared to Delta would lead to 700 hospital admissions a week. At the moment, that figure is 400 a week.
Meanwhile, emergency department staff at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary today told BBC Scotland that hospital pressures remained extremely severe - and repeated a plea for people to seek treatment elsewhere if they could.
Clinical lead Dr Dave McKean said the situation on Monday afternoon had reached a critical point and that this was now a common situation.
“At four or five o’clock in the afternoon, there were 120 patients in the department. We only have 34 cubicles. Patients who require admission to hospital are waiting upwards of 18 hours. People are waiting more than five or six hours to be assessed, and at any given time there are 40 or 50 people who haven’t yet been seen by one of our care providers.
“We’re now seeing three times as many patients as the space we’re working in is designed to see, which is making things extremely challenging.
“So, unless it is life or limb-threatening, we are asking people to contact NHS 24 by calling 111 or using the NHS Inform website to find the best place for them to access care."
Question from David in Insch
Image source, Getty ImagesThe first minister has bolstered the rules on home working in a bid to stop the spread of Omicron.
She told MSPs that the potential for home working was not yet being maximised.
This has echoed the experience of David who said his company has been "ignoring" the Scottish government's advice.
Ms Sturgeon says: "For employers more generally, the guidance will make clear that enabling staff who were working from home at the start of the pandemic to do so again is now a legal duty."
Those who cannot work from home, for example in the manufacturing and hospitality sector are being asked to test regularly before going to work.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Royal Highland Showground is being used as a vaccination centre
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton raises the issue of a planned dance music event this Saturday at the Royal Highland Showground on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
The venue is being used as a mass vaccination centre but was due to be dismantled to make way for the event.
Ms Sturgeon says “action is under way to cancel the rave” and insists there will be no disruption to the vaccination centre.
Anas Sarwar raises the plight of the hospitality sector which he says has been the “hardest hit” by the impact of concerns over the new Omicron variant.
The Scottish Labour leader urges the Scottish government to deliver “timely support” for businesses missing out on trade in traditionally the busiest time of the year.
Ms Sturgeon says the hospitality sector had received a “sucker punch” as a result of the “unavoidable” public health advice that was issued about Christmas parties last week.
Question from Tom in West Linton
Image source, iStockSince August there has been no limit on the numbers who can meet indoors.
But the rapid emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has forced the Scottish government to issue new guidance.
Tom, who lives in a retirement village, wants to know how this affects planned committee meetings.
The first minister has now recommended that no more than three households should meet indoors and people are also encouraged to test before they meet up.
Ms Sturgeon says: "One of the things we have already learned about Omicron is that it has a very high attack rate.
"That means if just one person in a gathering is infectious, that person is likely to infect many more people in the group than was the case with the Delta variant."
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar presses Nicola Sturgeon on how quickly the ramped-up booster jab programme will be delivered.
The first minister says she anticipates a big increase in supply of appointments in the coming days.
Ms Sturgeon cites two changes - prioritising Covid boosters over flu jabs and getting rid of the 15-minute waiting time after vaccines are administered - as having the "biggest immediate impact on capacity".
Mr Ross also asks Ms Sturgeon to confirm that the £100m business support payment will reach businesses before Christmas, and to outline the science behind last week's change in self isolation rules.
After being passed fresh information by a colleague, Ms Sturgeon welcomes the news that the UK government will make more money available to the devolved nations, adding that her government had "gone out of our way" to find additional resources in the Scottish budget for businesses.
On self isolation, she says it is not as safe for people in a household with Covid to go outdoors before 10 days even if they test negative because they could test positive the following day.
The FM says she will look at when we can move to a "more proportionate" system.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross asks the first minister why it took so long to heed his party's call for mass vaccination centres to be opened up, claiming the government is now "scrambling" to find venues.
Ms Sturgeon argues that mass vaccination centres are "not appropriate in every area" but there are a number of health boards that already have drop-in clinics.
She adds that in places like Glasgow and Edinburgh, larger centres will add "helpful capacity".
However, the FM says Scotland's approach to the vaccine programme has resulted in it making the fastest progress in the UK.
Image source, Getty ImagesMs Sturgeon concludes her speech, urging people to keep Christmas as "safe as possible".
She reiterates that if people are socialising indoors or in public, they should try to limit the number of households in the group to three at most.
Quote MessageWe face an extremely difficult period ahead - I can’t tell you otherwise. But I know we will get through it more safely, if we do right by each other."
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister
Question from Amanda in Gravesend
Image source, Getty ImagesLast year non-essential cross border travel was banned over the festive period and the restrictions were only lifted on 26 April.
But there is no indication that similar restrictions will be introduced this year as it would require another national lockdown.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made no specific reference to travel in her latest update but issued "strong guidance" to people to limit their social contacts to three households in the run-up to Christmas "as far as possible".
Question from William in Edinburgh
Image source, PA MediaChanges to Scotland's self-isolation rules in response to the threat posed by the new Omicron variant were announced last Friday.
The guidance, external, which came into force on Saturday, states household contacts of all Covid cases will have to isolate for 10 days, regardless of vaccination status.
This also applies even if they initially get a negative PCR test.
If a household contact develops symptoms while self-isolating, they should book a PCR test and, if positive, extend their self-isolation for a further 10 days from their own symptom onset.
Non-household contacts who are a partially or non-vaccinated adult will be asked to self-isolate for 10 days, whether or not they have symptoms.
If they are a fully-vaccinated adult, provided they return a negative PCR test result and remain asymptomatic, they may end self-isolation.
Image source, Getty ImagesChancellor Rishi Sunak
While the first minister was repeating her call at Holyrood for more funding from the UK government to deal with the pandemic, the UK Treasury has responded.
It put out a statement, external saying it would provide extra money from its reserves to the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, to support the vaccine roll-out and the wider health response.
The Treasury said it would be early next year before the funding was available - and did not say exactly how much it would be. However, it stressed the UK government had already provided an extra £12.6bn to the devolved governments.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Throughout this pandemic, the United Kingdom has stood together as one family, and we will continue to do so."
Image source, PA MediaVisits to care home residents should not involve any more than two households at a time, Ms Sturgeon announces.
The new guidance also asks people to do a lateral flow Covid test before visiting.
For hospitals, the Scottish government is recommending that no more than two people visit a patient at any one time.
A number of care homes and hospitals across Scotland have already implemented these rules.
Image source, PA MediaThe FM turns to the issue of self-isolation, having confirmed an additional £100m support grant for those who need to isolate.
Currently, household contacts of those who test positive are being asked to isolate for 10 days, regardless of a PCR test result.
On schools, Ms Sturgeon says that entire classes are not recommended to isolate when one pupil tests positive.
She says a "key aim" is for schools to stay open to minimise disruption to learning.
Question from Thomas in Bellshill
Image source, Getty ImagesThe evidence so far suggests that Omicron may be more infectious than previous variants, and that existing vaccines may be less effective at stopping it.
However, early studies suggest that an extra dose of vaccine - in other words, a booster - can prevent around 75% of people getting any Covid symptoms.
The booster will be a single dose of either Pfizer or Moderna, regardless of which vaccine you received for your first two jabs.
Image source, Getty ImagesMs Sturgeon says her aim is that by 31 December everyone over 18 will have been able to book a booster appointment.
Over 18s can book their appointment online from Wednesday.
Not everyone will be able to have an appointment by 31 December, she says, however the Scottish government's aim is to have 80% uptake by the end of the year.
She says the hope is the remaining balance of appointments will then take place in January.