Nicola Sturgeon today insisted people should 'assume' there will be Omicron cases in Scotland as she warned more travel curbs could be needed in the coming days.
The SNP leader said there had been no infections with the 'super-mutant' identified north of the border so far.
But she stressed that was not likely to continue, and the authorities 'may need to go further on restricting travel'.
Asked on the BBC's Andrew Marr show whether she would look at closing the border with England, Ms Sturgeon said that was difficult - but pointed out that in the past the Scottish government had advised against travelling between the UK nations.
That could happen again in a 'last resort', she said.
On the possibility of more restrictions, Ms Sturgeon said: 'I think we need to be open-minded to doing anything that is needed to keep the population safe right now.'
The comments came as Sajid Javid desperately tried to cool panic over the new variant, insisting it is 'going to be a great Christmas' and the UK is 'nowhere near' proper lockdown.
The Health Secretary said the government was taking 'proportionate and balanced' precautions to 'buy time', confirming that masks will be compulsory again in shops and on public transport in England from Tuesday. That is already the case in Scotland.
Nicola Sturgeon today insisted people should 'assume' there will be Omicron cases in Scotland as she warned more travel curbs could be needed in the coming days
Boris Johnson announced changes to testing and isolation rules, and mandatory masks in shops and on trains in England in a bid to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible new variant
According to a message on the passenger locator form section of the Government's website, day two tests for arrivals in the UK will also need to be PCRs rather than lateral flows from 4am on Tuesday.
But Mr Javid stressed there is no certainty that the 'super-mutant' strain will be able to
