Analysis: Groundhog Day for Scots as Omicron triggers household mixing advice

14 December 2021, 21:04 | Updated: 7 June 2023, 08:56

If the advent of the Omicron Covid variant has felt somewhat like pandemic Groundhog Day, by the time Nicola Sturgeon sat down in Holyrood today after outlining a raft of restrictions in Holyrood, it was also feeling a lot like last Christmas.

Restrictions on social mixing to just three households, physical distancing in shops, table service in pubs and bars to prevent crowding, increasing contact tracing measures in restaurants, a legal obligation on employers to allow staff to work from home (if they have jobs in which that is possible)... it was the Covid pandemic’s greatest hits all rolled out again.

Today there was one big difference however - the rules around household mixing are purely guidance, even if, somewhat confusingly, the First Minister said they were not "optional".

Too many get-togethers with extended friends and family will be very much frowned upon, and Scots are being relied upon to use their common sense.

Which includes that most sensible of days - December 25. Nicola Sturgeon was at pains not to be dubbed The Grinch.

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Sturgeon: Cut socialising and limit gatherings before Xmas

Christmas was not in any way cancelled, she said. Indeed there will be no restrictions on household mixing that day.

Instead she made a plea for people to keep their "celebrations as small as your family circumstances allow".

The Broons will be delighted.

Of course she also stressed the need for people to be vaccinated, to be boosted, and to take lateral flow tests before meeting up.

And, wherever you gather to celebrate Christmas, make sure the place is well ventilated.

Luckily the odds on a white Christmas have fallen sharply.

However it was clear the First Minister is all too aware of the impact on people’s mental health if she had attempted to cancel Christmas.

There had been concerns raised by elderly organisations about isolation, while a report out just today showed that most high school pupils are on the verge of depression as a result of the pandemic.

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No Christmas would have added to the pain. 

So the impact of today’s statement will really be felt most keenly by businesses, especially those in hospitality already smarting from the impact of Covid vaccine passports and the urging from the First Minister just last week that people should cancel work Christmas parties. 

They will be waiting to see just what the guidance due to be issued later this week will mean for the different sectors.

But already there are calls from licensed trade and retailers for more compensation and support.

Nicola Sturgeon announced £100m to help those affected by government advice and regulations, but there are demands from the business sector for the UK government to do more.

Of course there could be no statement without the constitution raising its head.

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Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted to do more, to go further to protect public health, but as that came with a financial cost her hands were tied because the UK government wasn't matching her restrictions and the Scottish Government could not borrow to support businesses.

This, she said was "not acceptable" and with the Welsh and Northern Irish governments, the Treasury was being pressed for a "fairer approach" given public health is devolved.

As if by the magic of Christmas, a press release dropped from Santa Rishi Sunak before she sat down, pledging financial help for the "vaccine rollout and the wider health response".

Did he hear Nicola Sturgeon, or Mark Drakeford?

Perhaps it was Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross who had had a word. 

Who said that politicians wouldn't play politics with the pandemic?