What restrictions will Nicola announce on Tuesday?

[ShiftingSands21]

Does anyone have a strong sense of what we should expect tomorrow?

I think one of the difficulties is that we have a BG who reacts late to these situations and a SG who'd like to respond early, but possibly disproportionately harshly.

I do think at the minute throwing a bit of furlough and closing large scale events could be the least bad option, but BG won't pay for it and SG would prefer to shut us all down.

@Onemorefortheroad she's addressing the nation tonight so yes she is on her podium!

So selfies with politicians and delegates with cans of irn bru without a mask when if Joe bloggs is in a theatre or setting then they wear a mask 24/7 is showing the public she's in this with them? Not wearing a mask in Scottish Parliament when people are expected to wear them all day for their jobs.......is that being in with the people?
She still has a nicely paid job at the end of the day restrictions means that many people won't!

Many of the vulnerable have mostly always kept away when my FIL underwent chemo prior to covid we didn't go around hugging him, he didn't see his GC because he was immune suppressed. That's not new!

My friend who is immune suppressed has always avoided public transport in winter again not new!

The UK govt seem to have much more proportionality. We have I'm going to be cautious because I want to be seen to be doing something which BTW seems to have zero effect by our rates.
Would love to see any evidence that sitting in a cafe eating without a mask but the risk is when you walk to toilet so put your mask on..... or any evidence that making children wear masks for months on end not hearing teachers has not effected their learning or mental health and made a huge difference to numbers.....it hasn't.

No I don't think she is down to earth you can worship her feet all you like I see point scoring, using a pandemic to get arguments about independence. If she cared so much as you say it wouldn't even factor into it!

@Scottishskifun I'm just pointing out that there is money spent on equivalent things across the UK, so it's not extra even if it's ringfenced.
We will need a uk national decision to reintroduce furlough, it's not fair on business and just because it's not actually legal restrictions makes no difference- people are just going to cancel. Hopefully once the vote is over today we will see some moves.

I think furlough will be reintroduced

Agree that our expectations should be higher than just 'better than the UK'. I personally think we are far better in many ways and am not trying to 'convince' anyone else of that. I was referring to a couple of comments I'd seen that suggested things were better in England in terms of dealing with Covid and restrictions. I'm also entitled to respond to amount of unjustified hate and name calling on this forum about NS. One comment was that 'Nicola always gets in before Boris' interested that that's the criticism and it's not that the UK government are slow to act.

We do have a massive issue to overcome right now and there's no way any politician can be certain around how this will play out so I really can't see how they can be specific with dates for things ending, as difficult as that is for many, including me. I wouldn't like to be in any of their shoes at the moment or at anytime over the last two years.

It may appear to be a drip drip affect but there's got to be process around this. I personally preferred the daily updates which kept people informed on a daily basis and allowed for some degree of scrutiny out with Parliament.

I think one of the difficulties is that we have a BG who reacts late to these situations and a SG who'd like to respond early, but possibly disproportionately harshly.

Agreed, but also public mood has probably shifted away from thinking that going hard early is best. Earlier on there was a lot of support for the idea that by acting fast now we could avoid having to do longer harder restrictions later - but by this point, it looks more like acting fast now means you get the longer harder restrictions anyway.

"No I don't think she is down to earth you can worship her feet all you like I see point scoring, using a pandemic to get arguments about independence. If she cared so much as you say it wouldn't even factor into it!"

I don't see this as point scoring. I think the pandemic has highlighted how much we need to do things differently and have more autonomy over the way we want to be governed as a society.

I do think England’s approach in recent months has been better than ours in some ways. Eg, the much-sneered-at ‘Freedom Day’ with the aim of spreading out infections between now and winter. Doesn’t seem that bad an idea in retrospect (compared to a lot of Western Europe who then saw a big winter wave) and I do prefer the idea that the government lifts restrictions it doesn’t think are currently necessary, rather than keeping them indefinitely ‘just in case’.

Not because I think Boris is great and Nicola is evil, though.

@Onemorefortheroad

"No I don't think she is down to earth you can worship her feet all you like I see point scoring, using a pandemic to get arguments about independence. If she cared so much as you say it wouldn't even factor into it!"

I don't see this as point scoring. I think the pandemic has highlighted how much we need to do things differently and have more autonomy over the way we want to be governed as a society.

And I for one am very very thankful that we don't as if we did we would be in yet another lockdown with businesses shut nearly 2 years on with no exit strategy more severe impacts on people's mental health and wellbeing.

We have vaccines, this virus is never ever disappearing it won't go back into Pandoras box! Invest in NHS and treatments that's all that can be done now. Businesses and the public shouldn't suffer or bear the brunt for a health system which has been underfunded and strained for years before covid!

Also I did vote Yes in 2014, after much dithering about it, and was undecided but leaning a bit more towards Yes than No since. Would on balance rather Scotland got to make its own decisions and have full control over its own finances.

But… my main success story for why this could work was looking at Ireland, and right now I’m looking at Ireland and thinking that we’d have been as locked down as they are if we were independent, which is a bit off-putting.

@GoldenOmber

What choice does the government have though?

They could be more forthright and honest with the public, rather than this drip-drip-doom effect of talking up plans without being specific about them. They could put some criteria and end goals for the restrictions they do put in place to give people something to work for, not just “we’ll review it in three weeks” and it stays indefinitely. They could look to what has worked elsewhere, rather than to what has not (we’re really looking to Ireland for household limits guidance??) They could have ditched the unworkable elimination plan earlier. They could be honest about the choices they are making rather than use language like “inevitable”. They could generally not give the impression that they have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to any substantial move back to normality. Just a few off the top of my head.

No I don’t think Westminster’s better, they’re being run by a sociopath. But I have expectations of my government beyond “not quite as awful as the Tories.”

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Yep exactly this!

Will what she says to parliament this afternoon be the same as what will be said tonight?

surely coronavirus has shown that national autonomy is a fairy story in the modern world? A harking back to something that probably never was.

anyway, fingers crossed the announcements aren't as depressing as all that for people having their families over at Christmas

@GingerFoxInAT0phat

Will what she says to parliament this afternoon be the same as what will be said tonight?

If Boris and Drakeford’s evening addresses are anything to go by, tonight will be about the booster programme and urging people to get it

This caught my eye and I wonder if this is what we will be getting, but as advice rather than law and not applying to Christmas Day. That would be my best guess I suppose.

If we do go back to 6 from 2 households, I don't think many will pay the slightest attention to it until after the festivities. If at all.

@GoldenOmber I also always look (fondly) to Ireland.
But Irelands biggest export is its people!

Generations of youngsters had to leave to find work. There are loads of Irish in uk because they came for work. That's only really changed in last 20yrs.
I don't want that for my kids.

Ireland has also been trying to have a type of nhs for years now and they still can't afford it.
They have a 2 tier system.
I don't want my kids healthcare in the future to be dictated by ability to pay

Well for once Scotgov haven’t gone as far as I thought. Let’s see what the coming weeks bring.

So we are all going to be lining up in huge queues to get our Christmas shopping at the supermarket - at least it won't be too busy inside

@Yellow85

Well for once Scotgov haven’t gone as far as I thought. Let’s see what the coming weeks bring.

She's addressing that now.

Claims she is not making a political point... then goes on to say that if it were up to her she would be going that much further in terms of shutting hospitality and those nasty bastards in Westminster have tied her hands.

Yeah, lots of unnecessary fear and anxiety for so many. Absolutely could have been done without the build up over a week.

Let’s just think for ourselves, I’m not interested in being advised by any more politicians.

Amazing not a political statement at all and money found for their cockup last week.....independence fund I hope!

Everyone is asked to reduce to a minimum the number of contacts they have with other households.

Nicola Sturgeon says: "If you do plan on socialising - either at home or in indoor public places - we are asking that you limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three."

She says this limit does not apply to people's main Christmas celebration.

Businesses will have legal requirement to take measures which are reasonably practicable to minimise the risk of transmission.

Guidance will be issued for different sectors later this week.

In retail, it will involve a return to the kind of protections in place at the start of the pandemic - including physical distancing and measures to control the flow of customers and protective screens.

For hospitality, it will mean, measures to avoid crowding at bars and between tables, and a reminder of the requirement to collect contact details of customers to help with contact tracing.

She is gearing up for school closures. The bit about having schools open 'if at all possible' didn't fill me with confidence