Nicola Sturgeon provided her weekly Covid update to Parliament today, during which she announced a range of new measures to deal with the surge in Omicron cases. 

Last week the Scottish government warned of a "tsunami" of cases likely to hit Scotland, and warned that extra measures may be required in order to curb rapidly rising numbers. 

Now these measures have been announced - so here's everything announced by Nicola Sturgeon during the Covid update today...

Limit socialising to three households 

The Scottish government is urging Scots to limit socialising to a maximum of three households at a time, however this measure is only advised and therefore not required by law. 

The first minister said: "We are not banning or restricting household mixing in law as before. We understand the negative impact this has on mental health and wellbeing."

She added: "So my key request today is this - before and immediately after Christmas, please minimise your social mixing with other households as much as you can.

"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 3. And make sure you test before you go."

Legal requirements on businesses to introduce measures to reduce spread of Covid

There will be a legal requirement on businesses to introduce measures to limit the spread of Covid.

More details on this will be published later this week, however, the first minister did give some examples of the additional measures required by businesses. 

For retail, it will include "a return to the kind of protections from the start of the pandemic - like measures to avoid crowding and bottlenecks. This will include physical distancing, measures to control the flow of customers, and protective screens."

For hospitality, "it will mean for example, measures to avoid crowding at bars and between tables, and a reminder of the requirement to collect contact details of customers to help with contact tracing."

Enabling staff to work from home is a legal duty

For employers, enabling staff to work from home will become a legal duty.

The first minister said that the guidance "will make clear that enabling staff who were working from home at the start of the pandemic to do so again is now a legal duty."

What are the other Covid rules in place in Scotland? 

These are the current Covid regulations in place in Scotland:

  • masks and face coverings on public transport, in shops and when moving around in hospitality settings
  • Covid vaccine passport scheme - proof of vaccination or a negative lateral flow test required in nightclubs, indoor live events with 500+ people unseated, outdoor live events with 4000+ people unseated and any event with 10,000+ people
  • all household contacts of Covid cases must self isolate, whether fully vaccinated or not