HUMZA Yousaf has warned the UK Government not to hamper the fight against Covid in Scotland by pushing ahead with measures in England that affect all four nations.

The SNP Health Secretary said there could be problematic knock-on effects if Westminster ended the universal provision of free coronavirus tests, for instance.

“If we want to respond in a slightly more cautious manner, don't pull the rug out from underneath us,” he told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show. 

Boris Johnson last week surprised MPs by announcing he hoped to end all restrictions, including self-iosolation, in late February, a month earlier than planned.

The timing - on the eve of a Commons recess when his backbenchers were expected to mull over his future - and the absence of corroborating medical advice drew a sceptical response.

Mr Yousaf, who has already claimed the move was a political distraction, said the Scottish Government was set to take a more cautious, data-driven approach.

He said the Scottish Government hasd yet to see the scientific advice which Mr Johnson had seen before making his statement, despite asking for it.

He said: “The UK Government announced on Wednesday the removal of all requirements to self- isolate. Our public health advice would be that it's too early to do that at the end of February. 

“We've got thousands of cases of Omicron at the moment. Do we really think it would be wise for somebody who's positive with Covid and is a social care worker to go work in a care home? No, I think most people watching this will say that doesn’t sound sensible at all.”

He said there was a risk that steps taken in England would cause problems for the three devolved administrations by effectively forcing them down a similar path.

He said: “This is the central argument we’ve been trying to make with the UK Government since the announcement on Wednesday – which is, you have every right to make decisions for people in England, but what they can’t do and shouldn’t do is then force our hand when it comes to our response.

“I don’t know the detail of what the UK Government’s going to announce, but if they are going to, for example, withdraw the universal offer for testing - which I don’t think they should do at the end of February - if they do that, then of course tests, as you know, are procured on a four-nations basis.

“And that could effectively force our hand to respond in a way that we don’t want to do at this immediate time.”

Asked if the Scottish Government would have to find the money to pay for tests if the UK Government pressed ahead regardless, Mr Yousaf said: “If England and the UK Government decide that they are no longer going to participate on a four nations basis, we have to set up our our own procurement, we'd have to find a way of paying for those tests if we were going to continue, and we’d have to find that money from other places.

“So that isn't ideal. So what we're saying is, Yes, you absolutely have the right to make decisions for the people of England, but that shouldn't force the hand of the Welsh Government, Northern Irish Government or indeed the Scottish Government.

“And therefore if we want to respond in a slightly more cautious manner, don't pull the rug out from underneath us.”

Asked what criteria would have to be met before the Scottish Government ends restrictions in the same way as proposed in England, Mr Yousaf said he would publish a strategic framework on February 22 laying out them out.

“In general, the four-harms approach we’ve taken has served us well throughout this pandemic. But there may be a shift on various different criteria. 

“At the beginning of the pandemic there was quite a focus on case numbers. We continue to look at that. But of course the severity [of the variant] and admissions to hospital and admissions to ICU, the other social impacts abnd financial impacts, we will look at those perhaps more closely than perhaps we would look at just positive cases.

“There’s a range of criteria. It’s not just one single piece of data that will determine what our strategy looks like.”