MINISTERS have been accused of imposing a “lockdown by stealth” after Scots were urged to “minimise” socialising to a maximum of three households at once in the run-up to Christmas.

Nicola Sturgeon urged the public to “cut down as far as possible” the number of people they were interacting with amid a surge in the Omicron Covid variant, which now accounts for more than a quarter of cases in Scotland.

“This will help break transmission chains,” said the First Minister.

“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 three. And make sure you test before you go.”

The “very high attack rate” of the new strain meant that one infectious person was likely to pass the virus on to many more people than would have been the case with Delta, said Ms Sturgeon.

READ MORE: Covid Scotland LIVE as Nicola Sturgeon announces new Omicron restrictions

“By reducing the numbers of people and households gathering together, we help limit the extent of its spread,” she added.

There was no extension to the Covid passport scheme to additional venues, but hospitality businesses will be expected to reinstate measures “to avoid crowding at bars and between tables” and retailers to bring back “physical distancing, measures to control the flow of customers and protective screens” at cash desks.

Emma McClarkin, CEO of the Scottish Beer & Pub Association, said the latest restrictions “effectively create lockdown by the backdoor”.

She added: “Pubs needed all the trade they could get this Christmas after taking on significant debts during the pandemic and without furlough support to fall back on, it is very worrying for businesses and staff.”

Colin Wilkinson, managing director of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: “Of course, we all want to do what we can to stop the spread of the virus and the licensed hospitality sector has gone to enormous effort and invested millions of pounds in mitigation measures and will continue to do so for as long as it can.

“The shutdown of the licensed hospitality industry, effectively by stealth, puts most businesses in an even worse scenario than last Christmas when there was some finance available via Government grants and the furlough scheme was in place.”

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government had wanted to go further but was hampered by a lack of Treasury funding to compensate businesses.

READ MORE: Treasury attempts to scupper Sturgeon with funding pledge minutes before key speech

The Scottish Government will provide £100 million from its own coffers to help support hospitality, food and culture businesses adversely affected by yesterday’s guidance and previous advice on deferring work Christmas parties, though Scottish Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dr Liz Cameron said this “will not go anywhere near far enough to cover the financial losses being incurred”.

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments are “pressing” the Treasury for a “fairer approach that takes account of our devolved responsibilities for protecting public health”.

She said: “Because the UK Government is at this stage not proposing any further protections – a position I do not agree with – there is no funding generated to compensate businesses for any protections we think are necessary and wish to put in place.”

However, Chancellor Rishi Sunak – addressing the House of Commons at the same time as Ms Sturgeon made her much-anticipated statement to the Scottish Parliament – said the Treasury would confirm additional funding for devolved governments later this week “to provide greater certainty and allow them to plan as they tackle Covid-19 during the crucial weeks ahead”.

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government is not expecting people to cancel or change plans for family gatherings on Christmas Day – or Boxing Day and Christmas Eve – and is “not proposing limits on the size of household gatherings” on those days.

READ MORE: All the Omicron Christmas measures Nicola Sturgeon announced in full

However, she said it would issue guidance to “make Christmas safer” and added that it would be “sensible” to keep family celebrations small.

The First Minister added that adults aged 18 to 29 would be invited to book booster jags through the online portal from today, but cautioned that “some capacity challenges” – including vaccinator absences – and eligibility criteria meant there was no guarantee all adults would be boosted by the end of this month.

“We are aiming to reach as close as possible to 80% uptake by the end of December, with the balance of appointments taking place in January,” she said.

Preliminary evidence suggests that people who are double vaccinated have very little protection against symptomatic infections caused by Omicron – possibly as little as 10-40% after 25 weeks – leading to a UK-wide drive to ramp up the booster rollout.

Boosters appear to offer around 75% protection against mild disease.

New data from South Africa also indicates that people who have received two doses of the Pfizer Covid vaccine are 70% less likely to be hospitalised with Omicron than an unvaccinated individual – down from 93% protection with the Delta strain.

It came amid reports that the current crisis is “likely to last until March”.

In a leaked letter sent on Saturday to councils, Police Scotland and NHS bosses, Covid Recovery Secretary John Swinney states that it is “now likely that there is significant risk of disruption to public services”.

He added: “Based on the modelling at the moment, this situation is likely to last for around three months.”