A LEADING public health expert says Scotland looks better placed than England to deal with the new Omicron variant.
Professor Andrew Watterson said this was because of previous decisions to retain face masks in public settings and encouraging people to work from home.
The public health expert was speaking after Nicola Sturgeon addressed public concerns over six cases of the new variant being found Scotland – four in Lanarkshire and two in Greater Glasgow.
The First Minister said she “fervently hopes” that Scots will be able to celebrate Christmas normally and was not asking people to change their plans for the festive season, but she stressed she cannot be “100%” sure that would remain the case.
Watterson, from the Public Health and Population Health Research Group at the University of Stirling, told The National that people are right to be concerned about the new variant.
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He said: “Being precautionary will mean limited upset if the Omicron variant proves no worse than Delta.
“If it proves to be worse, being precautionary at this stage will have protected public health, society and our economy much better than countries that did not take such steps.
“On the plus side for Scotland, past decisions taken by the Scottish Government on keeping most face covering controls in shops and transport and some education settings, stressing working at home and doing something to fund ventilation checks and improve ventilation will stand us in good stead if Omicron is more transmissible and virulent.
“We know the key measures to take to stop any form of the virus spreading. It looks clear that Scotland is better placed because of these measures already taken to deal with the new variant than England.”
However, Watterson (below) said that on the minus side, we would be better prepared for the Omicron variant is we had acted quicker and more widely on ventilation in schools and workplaces.
“Warnings about the need to get booster vaccines out earlier to over-18s and those working in schools, shops, confined spaces, coming into contact with the public etcetera, were also being flagged in Scotland by a range of groups in early October, not tied simply into a vaccination by age programme,” he said.
The US Government Centre for Disease Control recommended such groups as priorities for boosters.
“We would also be in a better position if the Scottish Government had followed advice in September from countries like the USA to vaccinate the 12 to 15 age group at an early stage.
“Instead the Scottish Government chose to follow JCVI advice which it was not obliged to do.
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“Very oddly, Scottish/UK Government advisors in the last two days all of a sudden seem to have woken up to this early information circulated by NGOs, trade unions and other governments on widening booster and vaccination groups.”
Watterson added: “Additionally, on the minus side, when trying to control movements of those who may have the new variant, is the reliance of the Scottish Government on the UK Government both to introduce necessary and additional isolation and testing restrictions and support for businesses that may be affected by any new Omicron control measures.”
He said the UK Government’s dismissal of the Scottish and Welsh governments’ proposals for tougher measures and more economic support would damage any Scottish Omicron strategy.
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