First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has spared Scottish football for now – but told fans to think twice before heading out to games in a Covid announcement.
The Scottish Government scrambled to deliver a Friday lunchtime update after more worrying figures with cases at their highest level ever in the UK.
The Omicron variant of the virus is more transmissible than the likes of Delta and other variants and has now become the country’s dominant strain.
It wiped out half of this weekend's English Premier League fixture list with managers such as Eddie Howe calling for a pause in the season, a call echoed north of the border by Livingston's David Martindale.
Sturgeon refused to directly address the 50,000 due at Ibrox and Hampden for this weekend's games. Rangers take on Dundee United at Ibrox on Saturday while Hibs face Celtic the following day in the Premier Sports Cup Final.
But when pressed by reporters on the big crowds expected, she said: "My advice to people right now is please limit your social interactions, whatever that would normally be. Limit them as much as you can.
"I'm not doing this lightly, I'm asking people in the run up to Christmas to stay at home as much as they can and much more than normal.
"Had we financial support mechanisms in place that were in place earlier in the pandemic, I would be more able to give straightforward advice to events, and say, 'don't let these events go ahead right now'. I can't do that when I can't compensate people.
"All I can do right now is ask people to modify their own behaviour.
"My message to everybody is think very carefully about every interaction you're having.
"Every time we go anywhere, we're a week and a day away from Christmas Day, if any of us who get Covid right now we're isolating for Christmas Day.
"If you're planning to go somewhere you have to make that judgement but think about if it's worth it to you, to run the risk of not being with your family on Christmas Day."
Omicron has ripped through Scottish clubs with Dundee United and St Mirren this week confirming outbreaks among their squads.
Dundee were also left sweating over a crucial PCR test after a player was identified as a close contact but that has returned negative.
Fans have been using vaccine passports since October to safely attend games with attendances of over 10,000 and that is enough for now to continue as normal.
It means the Premier Sports Cup Final between Hibs and Celtic this weekend is set to go ahead as planned with 50,000 due at Hampden Park for Sunday’s showpiece.
But questions still remain over the New Year derbies with Celtic taking on Rangers on January 2 and the Edinburgh equivalent between Hibs and Hearts the following day.
