No 'secret plan' to shut down sport in Scotland amid Omicron scare - Prof Jason Leitch
- Published
There is no "secret plan" to shut down sporting events in Scotland, says national clinical director Prof Jason Leitch.
More than 100,000 fans are set to watch football in Glasgow alone this weekend, with Rangers and Partick Thistle at home and the League Cup final at Hampden on Sunday.
No Scottish matches have been postponed despite Omicron disruption in England.
"Those games as of now are going ahead," Prof Leitch said.
"But we're asking people to be as careful as they can. If you have any symptoms, if you think you might be ill - do not go.
"The SPFL and clubs over the last 48 hours have been excellent. Their communication has been really good with fans."
Matches are due to take place on five different days over the festive period, after Omicron became the dominant variant of Covid-19 in Scotland.
With the Scottish government concerned about the impact on public services, Prof Leitch said he currently "doesn't know" whether games will continue to be played.
"We need some more time to be able to give that advice to the first minister," he told BBC Scotland's Off the Ball.
"If we're stopping that kind of large event we'll have had to think very, very carefully, and stopping things across the whole of society.
"There isn't secret plan. There isn't a drawer with an a la carte menu in it that the first minister's going to announce immediately.
"We talk every single day about what the data's doing, what we're seeing international, and what the protections might need to be going forward."