NICOLA Sturgeon has detailed why the Scottish Government is not cancelling large events as she announced new measures to combat the spread of Omicron.

The First Minister made an urgent Covid briefing on Friday where she said that if she was able to compensate businesses she'd be more likely to restrict fans at football games and stop concerts going ahead.

Sturgeon is expecting to speak to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson later today when she will bring up compensation for large events being cancelled.

Some 50,000 football fans are expected at Hampden this weekend as Celtic take on Hibernian for the Premier Sports Cup Final.

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Sturgeon said: "I don't have the ability to compensate events.

"Every step of this, I've tried to give the clear advice. Obviously individual judgements matter here, but I've tried not to leave the honus of deciding this on the shoulders of individuals. I've tried to make sure the Government is giving clear advice.

"Earlier in the pandemic, we knew that if we were telling a business to close or an event to cancel there were financial mechanisms that would kick in to provide support. That's not the position just now.

"I can't say to a concert to cancel because I can't then ensure the financial support to compensate it. If I could do that - and maybe after my conversation with the Prime Minister we'll be in a different position - I would be able to give clearer advice to events and to businesses. 

"Right now all I can do - because I can't do nothing in the face of the Omicron threat - is say to people to be very careful about your interactions."

She added: "We come back to this inescapable fact here, the UK Government has to get its finger out, it has to step up and it has to provide this support.

"Even though the Prime Minister's messages might not be the same as mine, people in England are changing their behaviour responsibly, I think, so we're seeing the same impact in hospitality in England."

She said that Chancellor Rishi Sunak should have "no other job today" than putting financial mechanisms in place to help businesses affected by Covid measures.

She added: "The consequences of inaction right now is that this difficult phase will be much, much harder and much worse than it would be than if we manage this properly right now."

Scottish Government advice to minimise social interaction is having a “severe economic impact”, Sturgeon conceded, saying sectors such as hospitality were being badly hit.

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Ministers at Holyrood have found £100 million for business support, with the First Minister announcing £66m will go to hospitality, with £8m for businesses in the food and drink supply chain, £20m for the culture sector, £3m for the wedding industry and £3m for the “worst-affected parts of tourism”.

While she said this was “significant” support, she added: “I know it will not fully compensate these sectors for the impact they are suffering right now.”

The First Minister repeated her call to the UK Government to put in the “type and scale of financial support available earlier in the pandemic” back in place.

She added: “That can only come from the UK Government because it has borrowing powers that the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments simply do not have.”

She said she would be pressing this point in a conversation with Johnson later on Friday.