Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced that restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant will be lifted next week. Addressing the Scottish Parliament on Jan. 18, Sturgeon said that recent data showing a fall in infections “gives us confidence that we have turned the corner on the Omicron wave.” “A combination of booster vaccinations, the willingness of the public to adapt their behaviour to help stem transmission, and the temporary protective measures introduced in December, has helped blunt the impact of the Omicron wave,” she said. Sturgeon said over the last week the number of people testing positive with a PCR test had fallen from “an average of almost 13,000 a day to just over 4,600”—a drop of 64 percent, with cases declining in all age groups. She said she could “say with some confidence that the rise in cases driven by Omicron …