[News] Christmas COVID rules fresh from the horses' mouths

[darkwolf666]

Does anyone know when the government will announce the other two families that I have to spend Christmas with ?

I believe in the family draw you have got the Griswold's and the Fokkers...

 

[mwrpoole]

This is another reason I rolled my eyes last night. We have the 5 day window which means the motorways are going to be absolutely stacked on days 1 and 5. If my dad wants to come from Sussex to Warwickshire (accepting the obvious, we will probably go the other way), he will not make it all that way without the toilet. Rather than sitting on the M25 in a jam stressing himself out or having god knows how many points of contact in Cobham Armitage shanks, surely its better if they travel a day earlier or later and - shock horror - break the rules by staying a night they shouldn't but limiting contact for everyone? Traffic around those dates is bad enough anyway as it is. As a betting man, I'd have the lot on it being gridlock on days 1 and 5.

Although if your Dad is living in a Tier 1 or 2 area he can travel down whenever he wants ( I think).

 

[nicko31]

What is your proposal for Christmas?

And, assuming you are advocating tighter restrictions, how much adherence do you think there would be, particularly amongst the "No one is telling me what to do at Christmas" crowd?

(Again - I'm not backing what is being proposed, specifically, but I'm interested in what people think a pragmatic and workable alternative is)

Well I would continue with rule of 6 and the tiered system. If you are in tier 2 or 3 you shouldn't be mixing indoors or travelling

A vaccine is around the corner we can celebrate Christmas with the relatives at Easter. Until then outdoor meetings only

 

[Hotchilidog]

Well I would continue with rule of 6 and the tiered system. If you are in tier 2 or 3 you shouldn't be mixing indoors or travelling

A vaccine is around the corner we can celebrate Christmas with the relatives at Easter. Until then outdoor meetings only

This seems the sensible option to me with the vaccines about to come into play.

I get that the government are damned if they do and damned if they don't, but surely better to be damned for limiting deaths rather potentially increasing them.

Given that a million students on the move across the country set the second wave rolling a five day nationwide virtual free for all does not seem the most responsible course of action.

 

[Weststander]

I get, and support, the idea that a balance is needed. But only a few weeks after the government stated the primary need to get things under control, and on the same day when the deaths reached the level of mid-May, it seemed premature to announce the relaxation of the rules over Xmas and bizarre to also announce the return of football fans in just over a week’s time. As things currently stand, I feel the balance needs to swing towards locking down and not the other way.

There's a feeling here (not just from those evil Tories), that many people were simply going to ignore restrictions over Christmas. Aside from NSC'ers boasting about it in advance, both Mark Drakeford (Welsh First Minister) and the excellent Dr Chris Smith on BBC said exactly that this morning.

These measures relax the rules for the 75% of people who care, to follow. Going by radio interviews today with members of the public and celebs, many people intend to voluntarily carry on with the harsher regime over Christmas, either for their own longevity or for the greater good.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Going to back the Gov on this - The Gov had 2 choices

1. Keep the lockdown and some people would break the rules and it would be impossible to police and potentially go on longer than 5 days.

2. Give a window of 5 days and people are more likely to respect the 5 day cut off.

People don’t have to visit people if they don’t want to, it’s personal choice.

The only thing I would have done is made it 6 days because of the Bank Holiday on the 28th.

The idea of 1 days freedom = 5 days lockdown seems like scaremongering to me.

 

[Notters]

If you pay at the pump and take your own food/drink there need be no risk at all to motorway travel.

Come now, if it's as busy as anticipated (plus potentially snow as well?) we'd be looking at potentially 8+ hours back to Sussex, or to my in-laws in Devon (50 miles further) with two under fives. I think we might need to go to the services!

Let's face it, given everything else that's happened this year we'll probably have five days of blizzards.

That said they're fortunately coming to us this year.

 

[Weststander]

On paper, yes that would work but in reality we all know that a large number of kids/parents will do as they wish and not quarantine, which is why we are still in this current situation.

This.

The parents calling in to radio shows this week demanding this, all reckoned that as family units they'd stay at home quarantining for 14 days after Boxing Day, and the two week before Christmas.

Yeah right.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Well I would continue with rule of 6 and the tiered system. If you are in tier 2 or 3 you shouldn't be mixing indoors or travelling

A vaccine is around the corner we can celebrate Christmas with the relatives at Easter. Until then outdoor meetings only

You can choose to follow more stringent rules as ultimately safety is a personal choice. I think the point being made is that many will not do so and the four Governments have at least provided a framework around which most will agree, as an alternative to a mass refusal to co-operate free for all.

 

[Weststander]

You can choose to follow more stringent rules as ultimately safety is a personal choice. I think the point being made is that many will not do so and the four Governments have at least provided a framework around which most will agree, as an alternative to a mass refusal to co-operate free for all.

100% this.

Sturgeon, Johnson and the others have made the best call.

Any choice is a compromise.

The police and local authorities would not have been able to deal with mass disobedience of these laws.

 

[nicko31]

You can choose to follow more stringent rules as ultimately safety is a personal choice. I think the point being made is that many will not do so and the four Governments have at least provided a framework around which most will agree, as an alternative to a mass refusal to co-operate free for all.

We'll find out in January I guess whether it was a good idea, I suspect there will be an uptick before we even get to Christmas.

If people are that desperate there's always a PCR test for circa £100, even that's not 100% but a small price for human life

Most people have zoom, most people can meet outside, there will always be exceptions.

You relax rules to 3 households, some will say lets have 4 and so on.

 

[sparkie]

Well I would continue with rule of 6 and the tiered system. If you are in tier 2 or 3 you shouldn't be mixing indoors or travelling

A vaccine is around the corner we can celebrate Christmas with the relatives at Easter. Until then outdoor meetings only

This.

We'll be battoning down the hatches this Christmas.

The Government should really be pushing out a message of a stay at home Christmas this year, coupled with giving us an extra reward bank holiday at Easter and promoting a special celebration then once the vaccination program is well underway.

 

[BNthree]

Curious about how so many posters keep saying loads/many will break lockdown rules. I reckon that the majority would comply and only a minority wouldn't.

 

[Lincoln Imp]

Apologies if this has been covered, but a query.

The three households rule will cover our immediate family on and around Christmas Day. We also have an old friend, now living alone. Assuming we remain in tier one, we will resume our habit of regularly visiting him at his home come 2 December. Am I right in thinking that we will be able to visit him every day in December apart from the Christmas concession period, when the three household rule comes in and he will be required by law to spend his days alone?

 

[Mellotron]

We'll find out in January I guess whether it was a good idea, I suspect there will be an uptick before we even get to Christmas.

It’ll be very hard to judge either way - given the counter balances of the existing tiering system, mass testing, the beginning of vaccination of the most vulnerable, etc.

 

[Notters]

It’ll be very hard to judge either way - given the counter balances of the existing tier ing system, mass testing, the beginning of vaccination of the highest vulnerable, etc.

Yep, not to mention the school holidays.

 

[pb21]

Apologies if this has been covered, but a query.

The three households rule will cover our immediate family on and around Christmas Day. We also have an old friend, now living alone. Assuming we remain in tier one, we will resume our habit of regularly visiting him at his home come 2 December. Am I right in thinking that we will be able to visit him every day in December apart from the Christmas concession period, when the three household rule comes in and he will be required by law to spend his days alone?

If he lives alone he can form a support bubble with another household. You can visit him today if you wanted to, assuming you are the only household he has 'bubbled' with. He would also be able to join your household and two others on Christmas Day too, if you wanted, technically there would only be three households present (again assuming you are the only household he has 'bubbled' with).

 

[Bozza]

Well I would continue with rule of 6 and the tiered system. If you are in tier 2 or 3 you shouldn't be mixing indoors or travelling.

Do we know if "rule of 6" will be in place in the new stricter tiers that are being announced sometime in the near future?

 

[Bozza]

We'll find out in January I guess whether it was a good idea, I suspect there will be an uptick before we even get to Christmas.

If people are that desperate there's always a PCR test for circa £100, even that's not 100% but a small price for human life

Most people have zoom, most people can meet outside, there will always be exceptions.

You relax rules to 3 households, some will say lets have 4 and so on.

I think most decent folk, should they be intending to mix households over Christmas, will do their utmost to limit contact with others ahead of that. I only caught a brief snippet on the 5Live breakfast show this morning, but they seemed to be suggesting a sentiment that a lot of families will take their kids out of school early in order to facilitate that. I'm not sure where they got that from.

 

[loz]

We'll find out in January I guess whether it was a good idea, I suspect there will be an uptick before we even get to Christmas.

If people are that desperate there's always a PCR test for circa £100, even that's not 100% but a small price for human life

Most people have zoom, most people can meet outside, there will always be exceptions.

You relax rules to 3 households, some will say lets have 4 and so on.

I will be having 4 households, The Mrs and me, and my 3 adult kids who all live in their own houses...But will not be seeing either my Mum or the in laws who are all in their 70& 80s so although breaking the 3 household rule we are being sensible IMHO.