Covid in Scotland: Stricter isolation rules announced and Christmas parties to be ‘deferred’

First minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced there is to be a tightening of isolation rules as Omicron is expected to become the dominant Covid variant in Scotland.

From tomorrow, December 11, the advice is that all household contacts of any confirmed Covid case should isolate for 10 days regardless of vaccination status – even if they initially get a negative PCR test.

Non-household close contacts should isolate pending a PCR result. If it is negative, they can leave isolation at this point as long as they are double vaccinated.

The new rules come as 110 Omicron cases have been confirmed in Scotland, an increase from nine ten days ago.

Sturgeon said if the growth of Omicron cases continue, it will overtake Delta as the dominant strain in Scotland, which she said is likely to happen within days.

She added that we face a renewed and “very severe challenge” and a “potential tsunami” of infections, but also that we do not yet know if Omicron causes more, or less, serious illness than previous Covid strains.

The First Minister also announced that any planned Christmas parties should be “deferred,” and that we are “already seeing the realities” of the situation with parties or events with lots of people in attendance becoming super-spreaders.