THE HEALTH Secretary has urged Scots not to cancel their festive plans but to make them "safer".
Humza Yousaf was speaking this morning as cases of the Omicron covid variant across the UK continue to rise.
Mr Yousaf said he would not tell people "not to invite your granny to Christmas dinner" but said people should be cautious.
He explained to the BBC's Sunday Show: "
You don’t have to cancel your (Christmas) plans but definitely make them safer. That’s what I’m going to do.
“Me and my constituency office are going to go to a restaurant for lunch but have all agreed that we will be doing lateral flow tests before then on the day.
“The same for Christmas dinner with my family. We’ll have my mother-in-law and some other relatives over and they’ll all be doing lateral flow devices.
“I’ll not be taking their Covid certification at the door but we’ll just be doing what we can to make our plans a bit safer.
“We’re asking people to exercise their judgment and make their Christmas plans as safe as they possibly can.”
Questioned if people should limit the numbers they invite at Christmas, he said they should take precautions but that he would not stipulate who people could have over for Christmas dinner.
“I’m not going to say to people that you shouldn’t invite their cousin, that you shouldn’t invite their granny to Christmas dinner,” he said.
“What I’m saying is take the precautions that we’re asking you to.”
He said people meeting indoors should try to ensure adequate ventilation and ask people to do lateral flow tests before arrival.
He added: “Adjust your plans to make them safer but I’m not going to sit here and tell you not to invite your granny to Christmas dinner.”
Mr Yousaf was also asked about whether he was considering mandatory vaccination in Scotland, similar to the rules rolled out in Austria and being considered in other European countries.
However the Health Secretary said this was not being considered in Scotland "because uptake [of the vaccine] is exceptionally high."
He added: " We're not currently considering mandatory vaccinations.
"I know the UK government moved in that direction for health and social care workers but again, the numbers, the uptake in amongst health and social care workers is exceptionally high in Scotland, so there's no plans as currently to make the vaccine mandatory."
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