Scotland Expects Surge in Omicron Cases and Urges Work From Home

(Bloomberg) --

Scotland is likely to face a continued and “potentially rapid” rise in coronavirus cases in the coming days amid a surge in the omicron variant in large parts of the country, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.

The doubling time for cases may be as short as two to three days, while the so-called R number that gauges how quickly the virus is transmitted may be more than 2, she told lawmakers in Edinburgh on Tuesday. Anything over 1 suggests infections are running out of control.

Scotland, which is responsible for its own health policy, identified its first case of omicron just over a week ago and confirmed cases have now climbed to 99. While the Scottish government has so far largely resisted the reintroduction of additional restrictions on movement and social interaction, the need for new rules will now be reviewed on a daily rather than weekly basis.

The administration in Edinburgh also intensified calls for employers to allow staff to work from home until mid January. “To be blunt, if you had staff working from home at the start of the pandemic, please now enable them to do so again,” Sturgeon said. 

Scotland has identified almost 747,000 cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, while 9,661 people have died as a direct result of the virus, according to government data.

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