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Yesterday the First Minister delivered a statement to Parliament and outlined additional measures
Cabinet considers necessary to help stem the increase in COVID-19 cases,
safeguard health and protect the NHS, the emergency services and the economy
while the booster vaccination programme is completed.
The First Minister
confirmed that advice relating to Christmas was unchanged but stressed the
need for people to reduce contacts with other households as much as possible
in the lead up. She said people should keep family celebrations as safe as
possible by keeping gatherings as small as circumstances allow and to make
sure everyone does a test shortly before getting together.
Further measures to slow the spread of the Omicron variant
include:
- From 05:00 on 26
December, large events will be limited to 100 people for indoor standing
events, 200 people for indoor seated events, and 500 people for all
outdoor events seated or standing.
- From 05:00 on 27 December there will be a requirement for one metre physical distancing
between adults in all indoor hospitality and leisure settings. This
includes pubs, bars, restaurants, cafes and other settings where food
and drink is served for consumption on-site. Table service will be
required in settings where alcohol is served for consumption on the
premises. Leisure settings including gyms, theatres, cinemas, bingo and
snooker halls, bowling alleys, museums, galleries and other visitor
attractions are also included.
- Physical distancing will not be required in places of worship or
on public transport, however existing mitigations will continue to
apply.
A package totalling
£375 million, including £175 million of additional funding from the Treasury,
will be made available to support sectors affected by the latest protective
measures. An update will be provided on the breakdown and allocation of
funding as soon as possible.
Ministers will also consider how COVID certification could be expanded to
cover a wider range of indoor settings to support them remaining open once
the booster programme is complete.
Guidance for call centres and customer contact centre
environments on safe operation during the pandemic has been updated.
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