THE Omicron variant is “galloping through Scotland” and should not be dismissed as a mild form of coronavirus, John Swinney has warned.
The Deputy First Minister said that the Scottish Government is considering new measures to stem the spread of the variant but added reintroducing restrictions is the “last thing” they intend to do.
It comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to make a Covid statement in parliament on Tuesday.
We previously told how during an emergency Covid briefing on Friday afternoon Sturgeon said that Scotland is facing a “tsunami” of infections of Omicron as the variant is doubling at a faster rate than Delta.
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Swinney warned the public not to “trivialise” the impact of the variant and the potential harm it could cause.
Omicron is spreading fast with 18% of positive covid results returned on Saturday caused by the variant, compared to just 2% the week before.
Speaking on BBC Scotland, Swinney said: "The problem we have - and the First Minister made this clear on Friday, is even if there is a small level of hospitalisation caused by a very big number of infections in our society, that will overwhelm our NHS.
"So I really would counsel against this idea that we can almost trivialise the impact of Omicron as it might well be a mild condition."
Swinney was also asked about the strength of language, such as the FM’s use of the word "tsunami", to describe the impact of the variant.
He said: "I'm very sorry about the anxiety people face in society and I wish I could take it away.
"Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that omicron is quite literally galloping through Scotland.
"In the space of a week omicron has changed from two per cent of the cases in Scotland to 18 per cent yesterday.
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"The doubling rate is just over two days and that compares to earlier variants which were closer to 14 days.
"That's why I think it's appropriate to use language like galloping through Scotland and 'tsunami of infections' - because omicron is coming towards us at a much more aggressive rate and pace than any other previous variant of the virus.
"We have to address that early and swiftly to protect the population.”
The Deputy FM was also asked about what will happen next in terms of restrictions as we enter the final weeks before Christmas.
He said: "The options available to us fall into three categories.
"The first is to speed up the vaccination programme and encourage anyone who is not vaccinated to get vaccinated.
"Secondly, we will look at issues above the vaccine certification scheme and whether it can be expanded - there are options we have raised about that in the past.
"Thirdly, there is any form of restrictions that we might put in place and people are familiar with the options that we have.
"But restrictions are the last thing we want to do as that inhibits the ability of businesses to operate as normally as possible."
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We previously told how last week the First Minister said the Omicron variant poses a “renewed and very severe challenge” as she warned of a potential “tsunami” of cases.
On Friday, she said there were 110 confirmed Omicron cases in Scotland, compared to 10 days previously where there had only been nine confirmed positive cases.
The First Minister also changed isolation rules, and now any household contacts of positive Covid cases will have to self-isolate regardless of a negative test result.
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