Christmas - following the rules or not?

[BIWitched]

From what we know right now (and accepting that things may change in the next few weeks) if you're in tier 2 or 3 re you going to obey the rules about not mixing households indoors?

YANBU - I will be ignoring the rules
YABU - it's my civic duty to obey the rules

We will be 100% abiding by the rules. Tier 2 (looking at going into Tier 3 restrictions) No point in putting vulnerable family members at risk for the sake of one day.

We will be staying home and having a Christmas for 3! Kids want pizza for lunch. I’m actually really really excited about staying home and having a few days of walking, Lego, eating, drinking, monopoly, Nintendo, films. Bliss

I will be following the rules. Had it been a case that you just need to tip over to 7 people to have everyone together then I may have relented but that isn't the case for us ( we'd have 10) so it just won't happen this year

@HeeeeyDuggee

We’ll be spending Christmas Day just us (DH + 3 kids) at home. We usually spend a large portion driving to and from mil so I’m Kinda glad to not have to to this year

Us too! I'm actually looking forward to a nice quiet Christmas

There is no such thing as a childcare bubble...

In areas of increased restrictions you can form a childcare bubble with one other family for the purposes of informal childcare. Think grandparents looking after children. This has been the case since septmeber for those of us who have been in local lockdowns for a while.

Although I admit I was wrong earlier in the thread, the guidance says they should only be used for childcare and not socialising. This was not clear when the bubbles were first announced by Matt Hancock.

I love how people have decided that the defining factor in whether Covid is still an issue in 2021 is whether people visit their families at Christmas or not. Spoiler: that’s not how it works.

Most of the situations described on this thread (people visiting those they are bubbled with, self isolating teens coming home from uni, people visiting one other family with no symptoms and social distancing) are not actually going to hugely increase transmission - certainly not any more than going to a pub or a restaurant or all of the other things we’re allowed to do as long as it stimulates the economy. And Covid is going to exist until we either have a vaccine, or it mutates it’s way out of its current virility. Neither of those things are dependent on whether you see your mum at Christmas.

Of course people must be sensible - no visiting the very vulnerable unless you’ve self-isolated for 14 weeks, no parties, no visiting if you’ve had symptoms, maintain social distancing etc. But to suggest that anyone visiting family is ‘the reason Covid isn’t going away’ is just using a factually inaccurate stick to beat them.

FWIW I think the government will make sensible rules allowing people to visit at Christmas. They will know they won’t be able to police a ban on visiting, and they really wouldn’t want the bad press of having police break up gatherings on Christmas Day. Imo they would much rather say visiting is allowed in accordance with sensible measures and benefit from the goodwill of that decision rather than risking looking like they’re grinches who’ve lost control of the country anyway.

*duh - 14 days not 14 weeks...

Depends op. I'll don't have any family outside my own family at Xmas now.
Cornora has been our sheild agaisnt pushy unbearable pils..

However if a dp was alive or both and would either spend Xmas alone or with us I would do what I could to mitigate our risks of catching the virus before Xmas and giving it to them, and have them over.

Anyone alone, if they wanted to come I would say yes however, I wouldn't have lots of people who could be a family no, eg cousins and their dc.. No.. Siblings and their dc, no...

My parents (as I'm a single parent of two with additional needs) are my support bubble. Will be spending Christmas with them regardless.

maintain social distancing

But will people really spend all of Christmas day, including around the dinner table, social distancing from the other household(s) they are spending the day with? I'm sure some will, but I suspect plenty won't.

I love how people have decided that the defining factor in whether Covid is still an issue in 2021 is whether people visit their families at Christmas or not. Spoiler: that’s not how it works.

Yup. But I think it's mentally easier for some people to believe that if we all just stick to whatever the it's politically convenient for the rules to be this week, it'll go away. It's a lot more palatable than the virus now being endemic and us being well and truly lumbered.

@Mumofsend

My parents (as I'm a single parent of two with additional needs) are my support bubble. Will be spending Christmas with them regardless.

But that is completely within the rules and allowed no matter what tier you are in. So you won't be breaking the rules.

I'm one tier one and so are all my family. We will be getting together - there will be minimum 7 of us and possibly 10 if one family decides to join.

The rest of the time we will all stick to the rule of 6 but it's not happening at Christmas. Fuck no.

@Ibiza1998

Dear all those breaking the rules,

Will you commit to not using the NHS if you or your family get the virus? And will you also move to the back of the queue for the vaccine?

Thanks.

From those who give a shit about people other than themselves.

Dear all the smokers, drinkers, drug users and fatties,

Will you commit to not using the NHS if you become ill as a result of your lifestyle choices?

Ffs the sanctimonious bullshit spewed on here is ridiculous. A vaccine won't be handed out to those deemed worthy or in order of who martyrd themselves best. Fuck sake.

Sit and wallow in your misery and congratulate yourself on it all you want.

@AdoptAdaptImprove

All these people having 6, 8, 11 for dinner on Christmas Day must have massive houses! How do you all get round the table and still keep each household 2m apart? (Or 1m with a mask, though that impedes the inhalation of festive fare somewhat). You must have palatial living rooms to be able to socially distance in them! And loads of couches. I’d love a house big enough to do that it.

If you’re not doing that (which is still the rule, even if there are only 6 of you) then do you ever wonder why it’s people mixing indoors in homes which is blamed for a significant proportion of the increase in cases? Hint: it’s because of you.

That might be true if people were doing this all the time, but doing it for one or two days as a one off is a different matter.

@DisgruntledSnowman

This thread shows exactly why our Covid rates are so high in this country.

So many people believing that the rules just don't apply to them, that their circumstances are so special, that no one has the right to impose restrictions on them for a holiday. The mental gymnastics involved for some of you to convince yourself that you multiple-family-mixing Christmas poses no risks...

I'm uttterly appalled.

We will be sticking to the rules. It'll be miserable, but FFS, it's ONE year. And if you all flout rules it'll be longer.

^ this

**Dear all those breaking the rules,

Will you commit to not using the NHS if you or your family get the virus? And will you also move to the back of the queue for the vaccine?

Thanks.

From those who give a shit about people other than themselves**

Agree 100%. It's not difficult to just follow the rules. I don't understand people that view themselves as exceptions. Just do what you have been asked to rather than deciding you might kill a few people off because you fancy a party.

Yes I'll be following the rules, my friend and her family tested positive for Covid, she and her son had mild symptoms her husband has been in intensive care for 11 days. He's 45 perfectly healthy, no underlying conditions doesn't smoke and exercises regularly.

It's fine to ignore the rules until it's your family or people close to you.

@LavaCake

I love how people have decided that the defining factor in whether Covid is still an issue in 2021 is whether people visit their families at Christmas or not. Spoiler: that’s not how it works.

Most of the situations described on this thread (people visiting those they are bubbled with, self isolating teens coming home from uni, people visiting one other family with no symptoms and social distancing) are not actually going to hugely increase transmission - certainly not any more than going to a pub or a restaurant or all of the other things we’re allowed to do as long as it stimulates the economy. And Covid is going to exist until we either have a vaccine, or it mutates it’s way out of its current virility. Neither of those things are dependent on whether you see your mum at Christmas.

Of course people must be sensible - no visiting the very vulnerable unless you’ve self-isolated for 14 weeks, no parties, no visiting if you’ve had symptoms, maintain social distancing etc. But to suggest that anyone visiting family is ‘the reason Covid isn’t going away’ is just using a factually inaccurate stick to beat them.

FWIW I think the government will make sensible rules allowing people to visit at Christmas. They will know they won’t be able to police a ban on visiting, and they really wouldn’t want the bad press of having police break up gatherings on Christmas Day. Imo they would much rather say visiting is allowed in accordance with sensible measures and benefit from the goodwill of that decision rather than risking looking like they’re grinches who’ve lost control of the country anyway.

Voice of reason - thank you

Yes I think I’ll be more or less following the rules at Xmas- partly by default, as I don’t know anyone who’s planning to break them for my benefit! Hoping our area will stay Tier 2 and there’ll be opportunities to socialise outside, but I don’t mind a quiet one this year.

We live in a tier 1 area. I can’t believe so many are bending the rules or guidance to suit their own ends and interests which is exactly why we are in this mess. Would you really want to risk catching CV or passing it onto a loved. Exactly this;

@Oly4

Yes of course I’m following the rules. I don’t want Covid and I don’t want to pass it on either!

Parents in their 70s but reasonably well. We are in Northern Ireland so on local lockdown atm. My brother and sister live in England with their families but due here this Christmas but have agreed they won't come this year.
If my dp and I don't go to theirs they will have Christmas on our own and so will we. Unsure what to do yet...

There’s 4 of us living here and we always have my parents at xmas which has been fine since the tiers/rules came in as we are all T1 and 6 is allowed, but DC will be back from university then (I hope!) which will make 7. I just don’t know.

Yup. But I think it's mentally easier for some people to believe that if we all just stick to whatever the it's politically convenient for the rules to be this week, it'll go away. It's a lot more palatable than the virus now being endemic and us being well and truly lumbered.

I think this is very true. So many people on this thread saying ‘it’s just one year / one Christmas / one day’ etc like that same phrase hasn’t been in use since March. Back then we were told to stay in strict lockdown so we could get the virus under control and have normal life back by Christmas. And by and large, people did - compliance was very high. And it helped, but the situation remains.

The reality is all we can do until a vaccine emerges (if it does) is keep the spread at bay to a greater or lesser extent. There’s no single period of lockdown which would miraculously make it go away. There will just be periods of tighter and looser restrictions as the government makes their shambolic attempt to balance economic stability with public health.

Hopefully the government will see the sense in making Christmas a period of looser restrictions, much like they did over the summer so we would all spend our money in pubs and restaurants and garden centres, but if they don’t it’s not hard to see why people will make their own decisions.

I posted earlier upthread that I won't be seeing my parents . I wouldn't be breaking any rules if I did because I'm a lone parent. I can't quarantine for two weeks before hand which was my original plan because I have changed jobs so by going to my mum and dads I am potentially exposing them.
Do people not understand that with covid, in the days before symptoms develop you feel absolutely fine and can transmit? Do your family not actually care if they get covid? If you are all aware of the risks then carry on. Fuck wider society and the NHS! (Sarcasm).
Don't tie yourself up in knots banging on about childcare bubbles and figuring out why you are so special. Just ask does it matter if we pass covid on or catch it? Everyone is at risk.
I deal with the aftermath of people transmitting and catching covid and regret features heavily in our conversations.