Today, Nicola Sturgeon urged people to ‘assume” there will Omicron cases within Scotland. She also warned that more travel bans may be required in the near future.
According to the leader of SNP, there have been no cases of super-mutant infections north border.
She stressed however that it was unlikely to continue and authorities “may have to go further in restricting travel”.
On the BBC’s Andrew Marr program, she was asked if she would consider closing the border to England. Ms Sturgeon replied that it was hard but noted that her Scottish government used to advise against traveling between UK states.
She said that it could occur again as a “last resort”.
Ms. Sturgeon spoke out about possible restrictions. She said, “I think we should be open-minded to do whatever is necessary to keep our population safe now.”
The comments came as Sajid Javid desperately tried to cool panic over the new variant, insisting it is ‘going to be a great Christmas’ and the UK is ‘nowhere near’ proper lockdown.
The Health Secretary stated that the government took ‘proportionately balanced’ precautions to “buy time”, and confirmed that masks would be mandatory in all shops in England and on public transport from Tuesday. It is the same in Scotland.
Today, Nicola Sturgeon insisted that people must ‘assume there will be Omicron patients in Scotland’ as she warns of more travel restrictions in the future.
Boris Johnson proposed changes in testing, isolation rules and the use of mandatory masks in England’s shops and trains to combat the transmission of this new highly transmissible virus.
A message posted on the Government’s passenger locator section website states that day 2 tests of arrivals to the UK from Tuesday at 4am will be performed using PCRs and not lateral flows.
M. Javid said that although it’s possible for the super-mutant strain to avoid vaccines entirely, there’s no way to know if that will happen.
When asked if he thought there might be an increase in the use of social distancing or other tougher measures, he replied that the government was ‘nowhere close’ to doing so.
Sky News’ Mr Javid urged people to continue planning for Christmas as usual.
According to the Cabinet minister, he knew of only two Omicron cases in Britain.
After being informed by Andrew Marr on BBC’s Andrew Marr that Covid symptoms were not lost in South Africa, Mr Javid stated the government would update the recognized signs.
He stated, “We will certainly do so if it is necessary,”
Boris Johnson’s announcement of changes to the isolation and testing rules led to a reassurance effort. In order to stop the transmission of this highly transmissible variant, mandatory masks must be worn in stores and trains.
At a hastily-arranged Downing Street press conference last night the PM painted a grim picture of the potential threat from the new ‘super-mutant’ strain – admitting he cannot guarantee Christmas will go ahead as hoped.
Mr Johnson put unlocking in reverse as he extended travel bans, enforcing day-two PCR tests for arrivals in Britain, and making facemasks compulsory in shops and on trains.
All new arrivals must be self-isolated until they receive a negative test result. This can help identify Omicron carriers.
Contacts of persons infected must remain at home for a minimum of 10 days.
Sajid Javid tried desperately to calm panic about the new variant, insisting that it was a great Christmas and that the UK is not in lockdown.
Mr Javid said this morning he hopes extra measures will be ‘temporary’, adding he thinks people will ‘take this more seriously’.
Sajid Javid spoke to Trevor Phillips on Sunday Sky News. He said that he believes this is the best way to respond on masks.
“It will be through Government regulation, and that will mean, I believe, that people take it seriously.
When asked if people would follow the mask rules, Javid replied that he believed so.
Javid continued, saying, “It’s important to me that I act proportionately and not in a hurried manner.”