First Minister: Covid self-isolation period will be reduced as soon as it's safe to do so

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the Scottish Government will consider reducing Covid self-isolation times but only when it is safe to do so.

Sturgeon was asked about self-isolation at First Minister’s Questions by Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross following a decision to reduce the period from 10 to seven days in England.

 The Tory leader said a reduction in the self-isolation period would “help protect our essential services and our economy from grinding to a halt because of staff absences”.

The first minister said: “This is one of the most important issues that the government is grappling with now and in the days to come. In short answer to the question, yes, we will make changes just as soon as the public health advice says the benefits of doing so outweigh the risks of doing so.

“When we do make changes to the self-isolation rules, I want to do it not in a piecemeal way but an overall coherent way.”

Sturgeon said she and health secretary Humza Yousaf were discussing the issue with health advisers on a daily basis.

“The advice right now, given the very fragile stage we are at with Omicron, is that we’ve got to be careful that in easing self-isolation, we don’t inadvertently allow further spread of the virus and therefore compound rather than alleviate the problem. As soon as the public health advice says it’s safe to do so, we will do so.

“I would hope that over the next days, certainly the next couple of weeks, we will start to move to a more proportionate system in terms of self-isolation.”

Ross said that in light of studies appearing to show that Omicron is less likely to lead to hospitalisation, it was important to take action now.

“The first minister started to say it might be days and went onto say it might be weeks, and that’s troubling. Because these rules, right now, are leading to a shortages of workers in our vital services, on our transport system and across our public sector.

“These rules are forcing families and households to isolate for 10 days even if they’ve tested negative.”

Labour leader Anas Sarwar raised the issue of rough sleeping and asked the first minister to provide a guarantee that no one would be on the streets this Christmas.

He said: “During the first wave of the pandemic, a huge effort was made to reduce rough sleeping in Scotland. If we took urgent action then, we should be taking it now.

“Can the first minister guarantee that as we head towards Christmas, no one will have to sleep on our streets this winter?”

The first minister said the government would do “everything in its power to make sure that is the case”.

She added: “Many people are still at risk of homelessness and rough sleeping. We are investing significantly in making sure there are support services there for people who do face the risk of homelessness or rough sleeping. We will continue to do what we can to make sure that nobody is on the streets over this winter period.”