Scots business leaders call for Covid restrictions to be lifted on time after 3 weeks
The First Minister is giving an update to the Scottish Parliament later
Scottish business leaders are urging Nicola Sturgeon to announce the end of the coronavirus restrictions which have been in force since Boxing Day as she gives her latest update to the Scottish Parliament today.
The measures – including the closure of nightclubs and strict limits on the number of people at live events – were brought in for an initial period of three weeks which should come to an end on Monday 17th January,
But an expert in public health is cautioning the First Minister that it would be “premature” to ease restrictions now.
Nicola Sturgeon will be giving her regular Tuesday update to the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.
Restrictions causing “enormous damage”
Some business leaders said that tougher coronavirus rules failed to make a "meaningful difference" to infection levels and were causing "enormous damage" to some sectors.
Restrictions reintroduced on Boxing Day forced nightclubs to close and pubs introduce table service and social distancing.
It also set limits on the number of people allowed to attend a standing indoor event at 100, a seated event at 200, and outdoor events at 500.
Dr Liz Cameron from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce told Clyde 1: "Please do not introduce more restrictions and start looking at bringing more confidence in that we can now manage this variant effectively and enable us to open our doors quickly.
"I really do hope that we now get into a mindset that says 'how can we now live with the variant' in a safe away. Lockdown is not a way to manage our economy."
Those comments were echoed by Geoff Ellis, Chief Executive of DF Concerts, who organises the TRSNMT festival in Glasgow, who says he's hoping for a return of live events: "It's clear from the evidence that the current closures of concert venues and nightclubs hasn't made any difference to the transmission of the virus in Scotland.
"The country cannot afford to remain closed to entertainment while England is fully open.
Too soon to relax rules
Professor Andrew Watterson, a public health researcher at the University of Stirling, told Clyde 1 it would be “premature” to ease restrictions now.
"We're still in the middle of this virus, “ he said..
“Although we can see a wave which is flattening out, we know omicron is highly contagious and we still have significant numbers of hospital cases.
"If we lift those protections then more people will get Omicron who wouldn't otherwise have got it, and the unintended consequence of trying to keep more people at work is that, acutally, you'll have fewer people at work.
"It will be damaging to particularly vulnerable groups in society. It will hit education. It will affect workers and it could have an effect on the development of new resistant viruses if we don't suppress it."
"It will be damaging to particularly vulnerable groups in society. It will hit education. It will affect workers and it could have an effect on the development of new resistant viruses if we don't suppress it."