PEOPLE in Scotland were urged to do everything they can to protect their loved ones and the NHS today as new restrictions were announced in response to Covid-19’s omicron variant.

Speaking in Holyrood, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that socialising should be limited to three households before and after Christmas to help combat the rapid rise of the virus.

Ms Sturgeon also confirmed that allowing staff to work from home where possible will again become a legal duty on employers.

The First Minister claimed that Scotland’s public health response had been curtailed by a lack of finance from Westminster, and that the Scottish government would be forced to cover the cost of a £100 million fund for businesses affected by omicron mitigation measures.

However, while she was still speaking, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that additional funding would be offered to help Scotland with the booster vaccine rollout and the costs of imposing new restrictions on businesses in the run-up to Christmas.

The exact amount of funding was not immediately revealed and was expected to be announced within the coming days.

The STUC welcomed Ms Sturgeon’s statement, which included steps that unions have been calling for.

But general secretary Roz Foyer raised concerns about the financial impact on workers and the lack of furlough pay offered.

“Key workers, especially those in social and health care, do test regularly, and while the £100m self-isolation support grant is helpful, it does not cover up the huge gap in protection for workers who do not have adequate sick pay,” she said.

“Workers on the front line in hospitality have limited employment protection — any public funding to support these sectors must make its way to workers and not land in the pockets of employers while workers are paid off.”

Welcoming Ms Sturgeon’s statement, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on the British and Scottish governments to work together in tackling the virus.

In response to his query over greater capacity for vaccinations, Ms Sturgeon said that “additional capacity will start to become available over the next few days and over the course of this week in the form of extra centres and, where necessary and appropriate, at mass vaccination centres, and additional appointments at existing centres.”