To think that we shouldn’t be coming out of lockdown for Christmas?

[LockdownForChristmas]

Yesterday we had the highest total of cases yet since the beginning of the pandemic. And the death rate is going up day on day. They’re attributing it not to mass testing but to the fact that when lockdown was announced people rushed to see each other and hence the virus spread more.

If we open up on the 2nd of December people will just rush out to the pubs and the shops and each other’s houses and we’ll be back here in the new year.

It would be far better to stay in lockdown until the new year and then hopefully start the year on a reducing case rate.

And yes, I know it’s Christmas, but tonight is Diwali, and nobody is suggesting we should come out of lockdown so people can celebrate that, so why should we just because it’s Christmas?

@MrsFezziwig

whereas practicing Christians account for 59%

59% of the English population are practising Christians?

59% identified as Christian at the 2011 census. I suspect this figure has gone down in the 9 years since. And the census did not ask if you actively practiced :)

More people are dying from suicides in London than corona.
There is going to be a huge mental health backlash as well as deaths caused by illnesses not diagnosed due to the obsession with a virus that is barely killing anybody.
I’m guessing that all the pro lockdown fanatics are in the public sector and their lives are not affected.

Yeah it’s going to end.

Tiers may be little better though! And tend to bring a lot more discord than a blanket lockdown.

People do need something to look forward to.

@Madvixen

I'm mentally preparing for lockdown to be extended till the 20th of Dec then lifted for a week (when we go back to rule of 6) before we're out back into lockdown for a month. I just do not see how they can allow NYE to happen in any shape or form as that's just storing up more cases for January.

You are probably right. The case rate is not dropping quickly enough.

I’m hoping it’s extended for December and January and far stricter otherwise I don’t even want to think of the stats after New Year. All that mixing then sending children off into schools, adults into workplaces etc. All those that abided by the rules will be at the mercy of those that think they don’t apply to them.

Some treatments are not already going ahead on the NHS and even more will be put on hold if it’s over run.

As it was a law passed, I’m sure that in order to extend it MPs have to vote on it. I can’t see MPs agreeing to an extension especially in struggling areas.

@FreshFreesias

More people are dying from suicides in London than corona. There is going to be a huge mental health backlash as well as deaths caused by illnesses not diagnosed due to the obsession with a virus that is barely killing anybody. I’m guessing that all the pro lockdown fanatics are in the public sector and their lives are not affected.

Are there actually statistics for this ?

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

I’m hoping it’s extended for December and January and far stricter otherwise I don’t even want to think of the stats after New Year. All that mixing then sending children off into schools, adults into workplaces etc. All those that abided by the rules will be at the mercy of those that think they don’t apply to them.

Some treatments are not already going ahead on the NHS and even more will be put on hold if it’s over run.

Do you really think it will stop people mixing over Xmas ?

I have no intention of sticking to lockdown at all over the Xmas period. There will be very low compliance.

Whatever the rules are, Christmas will be as usual here

Some of us have effectively been in lockdown for months anyway. Even when they lift lockdown and put us into tiers I'm fully expecting it'll be tier 3 so effectively no change.

And the census did not ask if you actively practiced

Do you actually need to practice? I mean it's easier than riding a bike, and you don't need to practice that, it's like riding a bike.

@RayOfSunshine2013

Whatever the rules are, Christmas will be as usual here

Well, I hope that's just your household spending the day together.

If not, why are you bragging about behaving so selfishly?

And yes, I know it’s Christmas, but tonight is Diwali, and nobody is suggesting we should come out of lockdown so people can celebrate that, so why should we just because it’s Christmas?

Diwali is not a national holiday. It is celebrated by a very small percentage of the UK. Christmas is celebrated, for one reason or another, by a majority of the UK. Completely different and cannot be compared.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

I’m hoping it’s extended for December and January and far stricter otherwise I don’t even want to think of the stats after New Year. All that mixing then sending children off into schools, adults into workplaces etc. All those that abided by the rules will be at the mercy of those that think they don’t apply to them.

Some treatments are not already going ahead on the NHS and even more will be put on hold if it’s over run.

As usual I completely agree with you.

Unfortunately
People appear to be with too stupid or too selfish to comply despite what the law is.

Death rates in January are going to be horrific & unfortunately it will be largely innocent people.

tonight is Diwali, and nobody is suggesting we should come out of lockdown so people can celebrate that, so why should we just because it’s Christmas?
Because only 1.5% of the population are Hindu whereas 91% of the population celebrate Christmas in some form.

www.politics.co.uk/opinion-formers/humanists-uk/article/no-war-on-christmas-new-poll-shows-91-of-brits-celebrate-chr

Death rates in January are going to be horrific & unfortunately it will be largely innocent people.
It will be ENTIRELY innocent people. People who choose to celebrate christmas with their families are not "guilty".

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut

Because the economy needs the Christmas rush. Once again it all comes down to money.

The economy is pretty important. I know it is big and clever to assume that the economy is all about fat cats and stocks and shares, but the economy affects us all including (especially?) Those on a low income.

There's no point in shutting hospitality and shops when people can still work in non essential offices and factories and schools are still open.

It's a half arsed job which will achieve nothing. We won't be coming out of lockdown because we aren't actually in it!

@KitKatastrophe

Death rates in January are going to be horrific & unfortunately it will be largely innocent people. It will be ENTIRELY innocent people. People who choose to celebrate christmas with their families are not "guilty".

Excellent point

I was on the train from Liverpool to Birmingham this eve (work related) and it was full of students going home for Diwali. I'm not judging them in the slightest, but dont suggest that Diwali hasn't happened.
I have 3 students at uni.
I havent seen them since Sept and have stuck to the rules.
2 of them (both nurses) have caught covid through work and been quite poorly.
I'm front line NHS and caught it then passed it to my vulnerable DH.
Other student DS caught it in Sept.
Since all 5 of us have had it, are we seriously expected not to meet up over Christmas?

I'm a strong person but honestly Christmas feels like the only thing I'm hanging on in there for at the moment.
I wake in the night, dreaming that I am cycling the 200 odd miles to go and see them.
I'm guessing you dont have student DCs OP.

I think they might close schools early just so they can offset re-opening the shops before Xmas. There's a lot of Xmas stock to shift.

59% identified as Christian at the 2011 census. I suspect this figure has gone down in the 9 years since.

Christmas is far more than a religious festival. It’s the biggest cultural festival in the UK and celebrated by many non Christians. It’s origins are pre-Christian.

It's always been kind of a fool's errand.

Yes. Getting worse with every iteration.

Yabvu we shouldn’t even be in lockdown
It certainly is a case of the cure being worse !

I will be shocked if the lockdown is extended past December 2nd as the country needs people to shop for Christmas to help the economy out. January/February are usually quiet for retail as it is so they need to have some money in before Christmas. Have heard some places plan to open 24hrs a day in the run up to Christmas🤷🏼‍♀️ Of course that’s if they can reopen.

As many have already said a lockdown isn’t going to stop families coming together.