BID chairman calls for clarity and support amid Xmas party guidance

Further clarity followed by support for businesses is what it needed to save the hospitality trade from the “worst of both worlds” situation brought about new Government guidance against Christmas parties.

This is according to Kirkwall BID chairman Duncan McLean, who shared his concerns this Friday afternoon over the potential impact of the new advice on businesses in Orkney.

In a briefing earlier today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon backed guidance from Public Health Scotland urging folk to defer Christmas parties amid an anticipated “surge” in COVID-19 cases nationwide.

While Mr McLean told The Orcadian that he had faith in public health advice being given by the Government, he fears the impact this could have on the hospitality trade if financial assistance is not forthcoming.

“What I think is that it’s almost the worst of both worlds, as both Public Health Scotland and the Scottish Government are recommending that we cancel Christmas parties, but it’s not law,” he said.

“There is no compensation for businesses that lose out massively when people cancel here Christmas parties. It would almost be better to have a regulation and a furlough scheme.”

Sharing doubts over what number of people and what premises they attended actually constituted a “party”, he added: “Given that it’s best according to the authorities to avoid party situations then from a business point of view, we need support.

“We need some clarity followed by some support.”

The BID chairman’s comments came as leaders of all four UK nations are set to meet to discuss the rising levels of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19. Earlier this afternoon, Ms Sturgeon warned that “difficult decisions” might have to be made in “days to come” amid this “surge”. Aware of the potential economic and social impact that further pandemic restrictions might have, she said that a lot would depend on if financial aid could be agreed with the UK treasury.

In the wake of this announcement and in the anticipation of further developments in the coming days, both Orkney Islands Council (OIC) and NHS Orkney have said they are prepared to respond to any new or righter restrictions which may be announced.

Asked to respond to the First Minister’s announcement, an OIC spokeswoman said:  “The council is continually assessing its response to the pandemic and holds fortnightly incident management team meetings.

“It was highlighted in this morning’s meeting that more announcements were likely to be coming from the First Minister.

“Now that these announcements have been made this afternoon, they will be considered by officers, including our Safety & Resilience team and where necessary urgent matters will be escalated to the Incident Management Team or Senior Management Team as required, to ensure that that the council continues to support the response to the pandemic quickly and effectively.

“The situation is of course fast moving and members of the public should expect further updates in due course —  but meantime we urge all to take very regular lateral flow device tests and to follow the guidance in respect to hand hygiene, face coverings and social distancing.”

In a joint statement, NHS Orkney’s chief executive Michael Dickson and director of public health Louise Wilson explained that the guidance around parties has already been in force within their staff since November.

They said: “The rapidly changing national picture is to be expected as we begin to understand the Omicron variant.

“The guidance issued last night by Public Health Scotland regarding deferring Christmas parties was already in place here at NHS Orkney, we asked all our staff to show caution around Christmas events and to consider alternatives to reduce risk in early November.

“Additionally, we have reminded all staff to work from home wherever possible and of course we are all continuing with our regular lateral flow tests and have all mitigations in place.

“As the First Minister stated “our best form of defence is vaccinations”, we’d encourage anyone who is yet to be vaccinated to get in touch with ourselves, you can do this by calling 0300 303 5313. We are well underway with our vaccination boosters and aim to have all booster vaccines administered by the middle of January with all appointment letters out before Christmas.

“From tomorrow (Saturday 11 December) all household contacts of confirmed cases, Omicron or not, need to isolate for 10 days regardless of vaccination status or a negative PCR result. Non-household contacts can end isolation after receiving a negative PCR result if double vaccinated and have no symptoms.

“These changes to isolation for household contacts of COVID-19 will have an impact across the community, and NHS Orkney has robust business continuity plans to help us deliver our key services. We would encourage the community both individuals and businesses to be mindful of these new rules and ensure they are prepared if they are requested to isolate for 10 days.”