West Lothian people are being asked to curb their socialising to a maximum of three households in the run up to Christmas.
Nicola Sturgeon asked for Scots to follow the guidance leading up to and just after Christmas in a statement to the Scottish Parliament today.
But she didn’t call for limits on the size of household gatherings for Christmas Day.
The First Minister’s statement to the Scottish Parliament follows rising concerns over the Omicron variant.
Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am not asking anyone to ‘cancel’ Christmas - but in the run up to and in the immediate aftermath of Christmas, I am asking everyone to reduce as far as possible, and to a minimum, the contacts we have with people in other households.
“However, if you do plan on socialising - either at home or in indoor public places - we are asking that you limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three. And make sure you test before you go.”
She added: “Turning to Christmas Day specifically – or Christmas Eve or Boxing Day or whenever you have your main family celebration - we are not asking you to cancel or change your plans, and we are not proposing limits on the size of household gatherings.”
A new legal requirement on those running businesses or providing services to take measures to minimise the risk of Omicron transmission is to be introduced.
Nicola Sturgeon says for retailers, this will mean a return to physical barriers, such as those designed to avoid crowding and bottlenecks.
For hospitality, this will mean measures to avoid crowding at bars and between tables.
Ms Sturgeon says new guidance will also make clear employers will need to enable staff “who were working from home at the start of the pandemic to do so again is now a legal duty”.
And the First Minister called on everyone to book their booster jags as soon as possible.
She said: “A surging level of infection will also result in many more people being off work due to illness and isolation - so the impact on the economy and our ability to deliver critical services will also be severe.
“Indeed, we are starting to see these impacts already.”
In West Lothian, between December 4 and 11 there were 1087 positive covid cases while in Scotland there were 23,752.
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