A Stirling venue has hit out at advice from the First Minister, in which she told revellers to cancel Christmas parties in a bid to halt the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
A city centre pub boss - who has been hit with cancellations he has already bought stock for - says the advice from Public Health Scotland and Ms Sturgeon will see premises across Stirling losing out on trade.
In a briefing on Friday afternoon, Nicola Sturgeon supported advice from Public Health Scotland which urged people not to attend Christmas nights out at pubs and bars across the country as she warned Scotland is facing a “tsunami of infection” from the variant.
Ms Sturgeon said: “The fact is we face a renewed and very severe challenge in the face of the new Omicron variant.
“To be blunt, because of the much greater and faster transmissibility of this new variant, we may be facing – indeed we may be starting to experience – a potential tsunami of infections.
“We’re not alone in that – everything I am about to share with you about the situation in Scotland is, I believe, broadly reflected in the data for the rest to the UK too.”
She said that it’s believed that the Omicron variant is “significantly more transmissible” than the Delta variant and indicated that a spike in positive cases are expected in the coming days.
She added: “The best expert advice also tells us that Omicron is more capable of re-infecting people who have had the virus previously.
“And – based on preliminary laboratory trials – the best evidence suggests it can evade to some extent the immunity conferred by vaccinations.”
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She also reiterated calls made by Public Health Scotland on Thursday for people to cancel their Christmas parties and nights out.
“This is not easy advice to give or hear,” she said.
“There is a significant risk with Omicron – and we are already seeing the reality of it – of Christmas parties or events with lots of people becoming super-spreaders.
“If that happens, lots of people get infected – and if these are work events, as well as the risk to individual health, there is a risk to the ability of the workplace to operate as people have to isolate.
“But the public health advice – which I have no alternative but to agree with, given the evidence of risk that I have shared with you – is that we should all think a bit more carefully about unnecessary contacts, especially in crowded places just now.
“And that it would be sensible to defer work Christmas parties. I know this has a big impact on businesses, which is why we are considering – and pressing the UK Government on – financial support. Once again we face a situation which, frankly, has no easy options.”
Andrew Mitchell, of the Kilted Kangaroo in Upper Craigs, said: “We’re obviously disappointed with this latest advice and have had a number of cancellations for bookings that we have already bought stock for. This will cost businesses in the hospitality sector thousands of pounds in lost revenue and spoiled stock.
“The month of December generally provides the cashflow to cover the quieter months of January to March. Of course, it’s not all about money, its about hospitals and keeping people safe, but wages and rent still need to be paid and without money going in the till some businesses sadly just wont survive.”
He added: “With the Scottish government not prepared to give us any further support, which seems to only appear when businesses are told to close by Westminster, it feels like a way of starving us of custom while not actually telling us to close as they don’t want to financially support us despite having the funds to do so.
“We were told today (Friday) there is a ‘tsunami’ of cases coming, similar to the Delta press conference. What if they are wrong? We will have already paid the price.
“There needs to be improved dialogue with businesses, rather than just advising our customers not to have Christmas nights out, which seems coincidental given that the past days press have been filled with stories of government parties. Is Scottish hospitality paying the price for political game playing?”
