Today, the First Minister gave a statement which provided an update on the Scottish Government’s response to COVID-19. The full statement can be viewed on the Scottish Government website.
Some of the announcements that were made included:
- Attendance limits on outdoor events will be removed from Monday 17 January. This is subject to an increased level of checks on COVID certification, and a strengthening of the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ for the purposes of certification. From Monday, the requirement to be ‘fully vaccinated’ for the purposes of COVID certification will include having a booster if the second dose was more than four months ago.
- The First Minister stated that the Scottish Government will aim to remove the other protective measures brought in to respond to Omicron, such as limits on indoor live events, table service in hospitality and indoor social distancing measures on 24 January. This is subject to confirmation in next week’s statement.
- The First Minister outlined that the Scottish Government intends to consider if widening COVID certification to other venues may be appropriate in light of the removal of these restrictions, although no decisions have yet been made.
- The First Minister advised that baseline measures that were in place before the emergence of Omicron – such as the requirement to wear face coverings in indoor public places and to work from home when possible, would remain in place for now.
- The First Minister advised that in the coming weeks, the Scottish Government plans to consult on and publish a revised strategic framework, which will consider how the virus can be managed without the need for the current level of disruptive and restrictive measures on society.
Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce said:
“Today’s latest pronouncement still leaves many businesses - pubs, restaurants, hotels, indoor entertainment venues, office services firms and transport providers to name a few- with their operations significantly limited and little visibility of what the future holds. To all intents and purposes, the first quarter of 2022 is already effectively written off for many.
“And yet again, office workers are told to keep working remotely almost two years and counting since they were sent home. The majority of our members are clear that this is limiting productivity, staff development and wellbeing.
“While we welcome the reopening of live sporting events, this comes with the caveat that for all crowds above 1,000, the venue needs to bear the costs of checking 50% of all attendees for a valid vaccine passport or negative LFT. This follows from limited or no evidence having been presented to confirm the effectiveness of vaccine passports, and scant recognition of the increased administration burden and high costs of implementing these checks. The Chamber will continue to oppose these checks being rolled out to other settings.
“The Chamber’s recent snap poll was clear, if restrictions continue 42% of companies in the north-east are saying they will have to cut jobs and almost a third say they are at moderate or high risk of business failure.
“We were promised a new strategic framework for a final routemap out of this mess but the best we were offered was that this would be published in the next few weeks. It’s simply not good enough. All remaining restrictions should be lifted as soon as possible and no later than 24th January. And we must see an end to the scare-mongering that is depressing consumer confidence.”