Businesses needing help with the new Omicron mitigation measures will get access to a £100m Scottish government fund, Ms Sturgeon says.

The first minister says the cash has been found with “some considerable difficulty” from the Scottish budget and will mainly go to those in the hospitality and food supply sectors affected by last week's advice to cancel Christmas parties.

An additional £100m for the Self Isolation Support Grant has also been announced in anticipation of an increase in the number of eligible people asked to isolate.

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Nicola Sturgeon says more people could be working from home than are currently doing so.

The first minister tells Holyrood "we are not yet maximizing the impact of home working to reduce the overall number of contacts we are having".

Ms Sturgeon adds that for those who cannot work from home, they should sign up for an extended workplace testing scheme, which delivers lateral flow kits twice a week.

Are we safe to see our families over the next few weeks?published at 14:30 Greenwich Mean Time 14 December 2021

14:30 GMT 14 December 2021

Question from Emma in Wiltshire

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Household mixing is not being banned or restricted in law as it was previously.

But the Scottish government is issuing strong guidance to limit the number of people outside our own households that we interact with.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says: "This will help break transmission chains."

Those who do plan on socialising are asked to limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three.

People are also being urged to test before they meet up.

The first minister says the government is not asking people to cancel Christmas Day or Boxing Day plans and there will be no limits on the size of household gatherings.

She says places of worship will remain open with mitigations in place.

However, she advises people to take precautions to make celebrations safer - including making sure people are vaccinated and have done a test in advance.

She adds people should keep rooms ventilated and follow strict hygiene rules.

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A new legal requirement on those running businesses or providing services to take measures to minimise the risk of Omicron transmission is to be introduced.

Nicola Sturgeon says for retailers, this will mean a return to physical barriers, such as those designed to avoid crowding and bottlenecks.

For hospitality, this will mean measures to avoid crowding at bars and between tables.

Ms Sturgeon says new guidance will also make clear employers will need to enable staff "who were working from home at the start of the pandemic to do so again is now a legal duty”.

People aged 18 to 29 will be able to book a booster vaccination online from tomorrow.

The aim is that by 31 December everyone over 18 will have been able to book a booster appointment.

However, the first minister says some appointments may run into the New Year.

Ms Sturgeon said she wants 80% of boosters completed by the end of the year.

Additional vaccination venues, including possible mass vaccination centres are being identified.

The requirement for people to wait for 15 minutes after receiving jabs is being removed, to speed up vaccinations.

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Ms Sturgeon asks people in Scotland to reduce the contact they have with people in other households "as far as possible" around Christmas.

This includes in the run up to and in the "immediate aftermath" of 25 December.

She says this is not a ban or restricted by law, as it was last year.

She also adds that the Scottish government understands the "negative impact this has on mental health and wellbeing".

Everyone is asked to reduce to a minimum the number of contacts they have with other households.

Nicola Sturgeon says: "If you do plan on socialising - either at home or in indoor public places - we are asking that you limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three."

She says this limit does not apply to people's main Christmas celebration.

The FM firstly urges people to book their booster jags as soon as possible, as early evidence suggests protection against Omicron is much lower with just two vaccine doses.

She explains that if cases surge to 10,000 a day, which is a possibility, then even a small percentage of hospital admissions would mean a "bigger burden" on the NHS.

Businesses will have legal requirement to take measures which are reasonably practicable to minimise the risk of transmission.

Guidance will be issued for different sectors later this week.

In retail, it will involve a return to the kind of protections in place at the start of the pandemic - including physical distancing and measures to control the flow of customers and protective screens.

For hospitality, it will mean, measures to avoid crowding at bars and between tables, and a reminder of the requirement to collect contact details of customers to help with contact tracing.

Nicola Sturgeon sets out that Omicron is now believed to make up 27.5% of cases in Scotland, an increase from 15% on Friday.

She reiterates the doubling time of this variant is two or three days and its R number may be higher than four.

The FM says that even if the effects of Omicron are milder than Delta, "simple arithmetic" means the challenge it poses will still be very significant.

There were 3,117 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the past 24 hours - and six new reported deaths of people who had tested positive.

The number of Omicron cases confirmed in Scotland was 110, taking the total to 296, according to data released by the Scottish government.

The S gene dropout - a good indication of Omicron levels - is currently present in 27.5% of cases

541 people are in hospital - 20 fewer than yesterday - but the figure now includes two confirmed Omicron cases.

38 people are in intensive care - down one

The first minister says she will give a general update on Covid including on Omicron.

She will also set out further protective measures to prevent the spread of the new variant while the booster programme is rolled out.

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Nicola Sturgeon is in her chair and will begin her statement to parliament shortly.

Stay with us for all the announcements, reaction and political analysis.

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Nearly 200 cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus have now been detected in Scotland.

With infections doubling every two to three days, health officials are warning that a large wave is set to hit soon.

So how is Omicron detected?

Find out here

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At present, relatives or friends of people living in care homes can pay them a visit even if there is a Covid-19 outbreak.

But campaign group Care Home Relative Scotland say they are "beholden" to private companies that own homes if they decide to "reinterpret" upcoming advice from the first minister.

Sheila Hall from the group told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that members were hearing of one firm already enforcing what they called "draconian" restrictions.

She said: "We understand we’ve got to proceed with caution, but our big concern is whatever the FM says then gets reinterpreted by the private care homes and they can basically do what they like.

“It’s so important now that care homes and relatives work together and support each other because we could go in and help when there’s staffing issues and not be an unnecessary footfall going in the door.”

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The Scottish government has said it is aiming to offer Covid booster vaccine appointments to all over-18s by the end of the year.

That will mean a massive ramping-up of the vaccine programme - so, can it be done?

Read more here

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As BBC Scotland has been reporting today, Ms Sturgeon's statement could include advice on how many other people or households you should meet in one day.

The limits are expected to be advice rather than law - and there could be exceptions around Christmas.

There is not expected to be any extension to the vaccine passport scheme at this stage.

Read more here

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Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of Nicola Sturgeon's Covid statement to parliament.

The first minister is expected to give an update on whether tougher guidelines will be suggested in a bid to stem the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Ms Sturgeon will be speaking from about 14:05 and you can follow all the updates, reaction and analysis here.

You can also watch as events unfold at Holyrood by clicking on the tabs at the top of this page.