No new coronavirus restrictions will be brought in to tackle a surge of infections, the Scottish health secretary has confirmed.
New figures have revealed that one in ten people with the virus have it for a second time but Humza Yousaf said there will not be any additional constraints announced in this week’s update to Holyrood.
He hinted that Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, will further extend the only remaining legal requirement, which is to wear a face covering in crowded spaces and public transport.
Scotland is the last place in the UK to retain this law and has the highest rate of Covid-19 in the country.
The Office for National Statistics estimated on Friday that one in 11 people have the virus north of the border. That compares to one in 15 people in England, one in 17 in Northern Ireland and one in 25 in Wales.
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Scottish ministers have said that is because the Omicron BA.2 variant, a more transmissible form of Omicron, first took hold in Scotland and the rest of the UK will catch up.
“Government at this stage is not considering further restrictions,” Yousaf told the BBC’s Sunday Show.
“We have an important decision to take on Tuesday around whether or not we remove the last legal restriction or protective measure and move it into guidance, that is of course the wearing of face coverings. So that is a discussion clearly the cabinet will have.
“But the updated strategic framework . . . is relying less and less on legal restrictions and more and more on antiviral treatments, vaccines and people’s good judgment and behaviours,” Yousaf added.
Before the Omicron variant emerged last November, fewer than 1 per cent of Covid cases were in people who previously had the virus.
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Nine out of ten cases in Scotland were BA.2 last week, up from 85 per cent the previous week. A reinfection is defined by Public Health Scotland as a positive test 90 days or more after a previous positive test.
Case rates among under-50s are falling but in older age groups they have been rising since mid-February. The most recent week’s increase ranged from 3 per cent among those aged 50 to 59 to 7 per cent among those aged 80 or older. Hospitals are preparing for a surge in admissions.
There are a record 2,326 people in hospital with Covid and that figure could rise to 3,500 in the coming weeks, according to the latest modelling.
The number of people requiring intensive care is also expected to triple from 28 to more than 80 but that figure was far higher before vaccinations.
The Scottish government has begun offering a fourth dose of vaccine to over-75s amid concerns about older age groups with waning immunity spending more time in hospital. The number of people with Covid who are dying is 82 per cent lower than the peak in 2020 but there are about 20 deaths a day.
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Government modelling suggests almost 3 per cent of people with Covid in Scotland will still have symptoms 12 weeks or more after their first suspected infection.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, has called for clearly defined long Covid support services in Scotland. England has specialist long Covid clinics.
