Does anyone think we will get a break for Christmas?

[november90]

It's been hinted that restrictions may ease for the holidays but does anyone actually believe it or do you think it's just a way to try and get people to stick down to the rules?

I live in Lancashire, in tier 3 and it seems absolutely nobody is paying attention to the rules! (Like to point out that me and my family are 🙈).

Yet its okay to Skate Out to Help Out?

www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/christmas-essex-christmas-wonderland-returns-4617524?fbclid=IwAR3piavSFpdnt7TMHHd-8EUg8eBeEaaJ1DiBpYdx1kEr8MUO9RK5flJH3g4&cmpredirect=

@Zeebeezee

IronLawOfGeometricProgression

Well said you.

But I doubt many will comply just the same.

Currently I don't know anyone IRL planning to go to family or have family to them this Christmas. Not all the families understand of course.

To be honest, I only come across people saying they'll flout the (potential) rules on here.

I too think Christmas would be the best time for any circuit breaker/lockdown, if we can hold out that long.

It would minimise disruption to education and would come at a time when lots of people would normally be off work.

It would be crazy to do the opposite and relax the rules for Christmas. That would create all sorts of problems in January and February.

[quote dollychopss]@rainystorm that is. Bit harsh people have had enough I stick by the rules but I see lots that don't mental health is going through the roof [/quote]
People cannot keep saying that 'no one is following the rules' 'everyone has given up' etc when is plainly isn't true. Lots and lots of people are sticking to the rules and can see why we need them - might be 'harsh' but it's the bloody truth.

I think most people will have the xmas they want irrespective of what gov might say. Nobody trusts them anymore, if they did to begin with.
We'll be doing the same as we usually do and visiting ds1 and family, with ds2 and partner.
None of us are woh, or going to pubs, etc so are pretty risk free anyway.
Not completely though, but you do your own assessment.

No because every time they ease restrictions people take the absolute piss so I think they’ll keep the tier system and hope it puts some people off meeting up.

@MayFayre

There’s no point in having a lockdown at Christmas as compliance would be tiny.

@HeIenaDove what on Earth are you on about?
I was replying to somebody else who mentioned their neighbour not following the rules. Mine aren't either 🤷‍♀️

@onedayinthefuture

For all you mentioning Eid, what about Easter? Easter was cancelled!!!!

Easter for most people I know is chocolate eggs and maybe a slightly fancier Sunday dinner. Christmas may be the secondary festival from a religious point of view, but culturally it's much bigger and more emotionally charged. I'm not aware of figures that say suicide rates increase around Easter in the same way that they do around Christmas.

[quote HeIenaDove]@ilovesooty Where was our Governments social responsibility when they gave Track and Trace to their mates.
A lot of members of the public feel they are being made to pay the price for that. They had EIGHT MONTHS and couldnt let go of their ideology even in a pandemic. Yet they expect the public to give everything up. Fucking hypocrites[/quote]
I agree completely.

Coronavirus won't go away for Christmas.
Personally I'm thrilled I don't have to deal with all that crap this year.

It's all a mess isn't it? I hope we can all agree on that at least.

I do think that many of those being judgemental are failing to understand the impact that spending Christmas without family would have on many. Not everyone has a cosy little nuclear family they can hunker down with. For some people it would be torture. And allowing those people to see others in smallish groups would be the humane thing to do.

Yes we have to bear in mind "Black Monday" for the NHS and how that will turn out with CV on top. But the most recent research shows most infections are NOT happening in homes. Especially if people do distance, or isolate for a period beforehand etc. We do not need to be infantilised. The Government need to lay out the statistical facts and communicate them in a way that the majority can understand. To ban some meetings that are low risk because others are risky and they think we are too stupid to distinguish is insulting. Deal with those doing dangerous stuff, don't impose arbitrarily simplified rules (simplified to the point that they are nonsensical) on everyone.

It reminds me of the old adage: when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

This is not good policy making, and it's not remotely surprising that it isn't working.

The supermarkets are selling very expensive turkeys and roasts for 12 for Christmas. I think this tells us everything we need to know. They wouldn't do so if they were likely to not sell them.

I don't envisage people sitting in the garden all day to eat them either. Nor crossing legs all day

(Since going indoors someones house for a piss this time is illegal in T2 and T3 unlike previous sets of rules where you could walk through a house to get to a garden or to go to the loo. The Department of Health has said both are now not allowed)

I suspect what they will do is allow 8 people indoors on Christmas Day. That way people will have a maximum of maybe 12.

If they said you can have 12 people round, you’d end up with gatherings of 30 or 40.

@RedToothBrush

The supermarkets are selling very expensive turkeys and roasts for 12 for Christmas. I think this tells us everything we need to know. They wouldn't do so if they were likely to not sell them.

I don't envisage people sitting in the garden all day to eat them either. Nor crossing legs all day

(Since going indoors someones house for a piss this time is illegal in T2 and T3 unlike previous sets of rules where you could walk through a house to get to a garden or to go to the loo. The Department of Health has said both are now not allowed)

That said, the turkeys have been raised and now need to be sold. Perhaps they are selling them to people to make them believe it'll all be fine, because they need to sell them. The same as the Universities waited until students signed their accommodation contracts before informing them that, contrary to previous promises, no/ virtually no face to face teaching would take place.

Na. The turkeys will sell.

People feel like theyve had no other joy this year. If they can afford it they are going to buy the fucking turkey.

I cant wait to see how the December issues of Woman and Home/Good Housekeeping/ Red cover party season Christmas and New Year.

@PolkadotGiraffe Great post and i totally agree, Im sick of the public being blamed.

IMO it was already too late when this virus crossed the species barrier.

I am 1,000 miles away from my family. We haven't seen each other this year, even when restrictions eased as I didn't want either my parents or kids in the crowds.

Am genuinely gutted that some people feel their needs to socialize or deny this virus mean that our separation will be extended despite our rule following.

[quote HeIenaDove]@PolkadotGiraffe Great post and i totally agree, Im sick of the public being blamed.

IMO it was already too late when this virus crossed the species barrier.[/quote]
To some extent I agree. It would always gave been very hard to control, given globalisation etc and the perfect balance this virus happens to have been infectiousness (sometimes asymptomatic which obviously helps it spread a lot) and mortality; enough of each to be a big problem for us, when they are usually inversely correlated.

I do think though there was a brief window when it emerged in humans in which it could have been contained and eradicated. It is a failing of how our societies are structured that meant that didn't happen. The infection control knowledge was there, but political objectives (all around the world) took priority. In China, then elsewhere. Letting it become endemic is a sad testament to the weakness of human nature but it is too late now.

Not if people still continue to act selfishly. If we ALL adhere to the rules for this relatively short time then fingers crossed, we can see our loved ones at Christmas.

Apologies for the typos.

...have, between...

@AlwaysLatte

Not if people still continue to act selfishly. If we ALL adhere to the rules for this relatively short time then fingers crossed, we can see our loved ones at Christmas.

I apologise but I really don't believe there is any evidence to support this? If you have seen some can you please share it?

@PolkadotGiraffe I agree I think there would have been a difference if lockdown had been pre Cheltenham

It was said in our family in May that Christmas would be separate this year rather than usual gatherings.
We are ok with that and I wouldn't want to spend Xmas doing something I knew was wrong