'The fact is that we do face a renewed and very severe challenge.' First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon says there may be a “potential tsunami of infections” due to the Omicron variant. Get live COVID19 updates:
Nicola Sturgeon says she expects Omicron to overtake Delta"within days, not weeks". She also warns the Omicron variant is able to transmit much faster than Delta - and it could see the overall R number in Scotland rise above 2. These figures are as of 5pm yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon says. Ms Sturgeon says this is"perhaps the fastest exponential growth we have seen in this pandemic so far".
She is joined by chief medical officer Professor Gregor Smith and national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch for the weekly briefing.The government is potentially facing a large Tory rebellion when the Commons votes on its Plan B measures next week. The latest weekly data from the Office for National Statistics found coronavirus levels are increasing in two regions.
They wrote:"Consumer-focused services firms, such as retail and hospitality and those in their supply chains, are most exposed to the new measures because they come during the critical Christmas trading period when those firms rely on consumers' willingness to interact and spend .