MANDATORY working from home and the reintroduction of furlough could be needed in the coming weeks, unions have warned, as ministers in Scotland admitted further Covid-19 restrictions are inevitable as the omicron variant continues to spread. 

The Scottish government is expected to confirm further rules and limitations on social gatherings on Tuesday in the face of the rapidly spreading variant of coronavirus. 

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has admitted such a move is inevitable, adding that patients waiting for operations could face longer delays as medical staff are redeployed to help deliver booster vaccines.

After the announcement on Sunday that all adults in Britain are to be offered a booster vaccine by the end of the year, Mr Yousaf said the move would be challenging and extra measures would be necessary to stave off the worst threat from omicron. 

He added that the Scottish government wanted as much support from the Treasury as possible, confirming that any decision will be announced in Holyrood Tuesday. 

Today teaching unions warned of the threat facing staff in Scotland, with the EIS saying that all schools could be closed from the end of this week. 

The NASUWT stopped short of calling for closures but said more protections in schools are needed.

General secretary Dr Patrick Roach said: “While the First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon] pledged that she would do whatever it takes to keep schools open, teachers are asking the First Minister to do much more to protect them and their students against a potential tsunami of new Covid cases. 

“Teachers deserve the reassurance that all possible mitigations are in place now and for the start of next term to protect them against the severe threat of Covid-19 arising from the new omicron variant.”

Trade union leaders in Scotland said the uncertainty facing workers must be removed, as the STUC called for the furlough scheme to be reintroduced. 

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: “If the advice is to work from home wherever possible, this should be made mandatory on employers by government.

“Meanwhile any new support for business from the Scottish government should be contingent on safeguarding and creating good jobs.

“If more restrictions are introduced, retail, hospitality and other workers cannot be expected to police them without reward and support.

“We need a clear message that abuse of key workers will not be tolerated.”

Pat Rafferty, Scottish secretary of Unite, said: “Whilst we recognise that some restrictions, such as a tightening of isolation rules and homeworking where possible, are necessary steps to address the current precarious situation, for such measures to be fair and effective it is important that workers who require to work from home are provided with the proper equipment and support, workers who require to isolate have proper sick pay and earnings protection (including agency workers, the self-employed and those on zero hours contracts) and serious consideration is given to restoring the furlough scheme.

“As we have been saying since the start of the pandemic, in the context of Covid, pay is a public health issue.”