Month long lockdown to 'pay' for 5 days over Christmas

[NotAKaren]

PHE have confirmed Sage advice that for every one day of relaxation over Christmas would require 5 days of restrictions afterwards. So for 5 days relaxation, which is rumoured to be what the government have in mind, would mean 25 days of restrictions. Is it really worth it?

No. We were in T3 before and I expect we'll be in T3 after this lockdown. I'd quite like us to return to some state where I can safely see friends and family on a regular but distanced basis; trading five days over Christmas for weeks and weeks more of depressing restrictions is just not worth it.

@wanderings I think the plan was always to end lockdown on the 2nd and return to Tiers with the some relaxation over Christmas to allow families to spend the holidays together. I cannot remember a return to normal being promised.

I'd love to know the cost of having non-essential retail and hospitality open. I suspect it will be nowhere near 5 days of lockdown for 1 day of no restriction and it would give people a chance to pay for Christmas.

I absolutely give up.

No.

It's one Christmas
ONE Christmas.
ONE Christmas.

Does Saint Boris know that?
Does the government know that??

ONE Christmas? It was only going to be twelve weeks, in March.

I think reason this is all going on so long is because the public are being so docile, so obedient, so trusting, and believing every bit of shit coming out of Saint Boris's mouth. He keeps throwing lots of short-term promises at us like "twelve weeks", "normalish by...."

When is this fucking shitshow going to end? There has been almost no public resistance when the government have dragged it out week after week, month after month. Will the public tolerate year after year as well? It feels that way with the "now that we have a vaccine, it's not going to be normal until next winter". What will happen then? "Sorry, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease be patient, six more years to go. If you don't like it, you'll just have to commit suicide, because we simply can't allow anyone to work and earn money at all."

People will ignore anyway. So those that stick to Xmas restrictions will suffer because those that don’t stick to them over Xmas will still cause us all to go into lockdown again in January. There’s a lot of people who will absolutely break any rules set out for Xmas period.

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

I'm sure someone has already said this but if I'm honest I'm tired, upset and just can't be added to read the full thread.

If they DONT loosen restrictions over Christmas and allow people to spend time indoors with their loved ones, A lot of people are going to do it anyway.

This will lead to higher numbers in January and probably another lockdown.

If they DO allow us to mix households over Christmas, this will lead to higher numbers in January and probably another lockdown.

The only difference is that the Govt gets to look like the good guys, and it may help morale amongst people and mean they stick to lockdown rules more closely next time.

A lot of the planning and decisions made by the government will be to do with psychology

So what’s the psychology behind saying you can see households for 5 days from 24-28th (because everyone would do it anyway), but then not mention New Year’s Eve?!

I bet you more people are planning on getting pissed at New Year in groups at other people’s houses, than they are on the 27/28th December!

[quote NotAKaren]@PrincessNutNuts Carrie is that you? [/quote]
Wait and see if that's what sevens you doing...!

It is one Christmas.

I am well aware that Boris and Co are useless liars without a clue and I'm not mindlessly following them.

I am able to realise that mass gatherings and household mixing is going to cause dangerous spreading. I don't need a government to tell me that.

Michael Gove said 2 December restrictions would only be lifted if R was under 1. "fervent hope" they would be lifted

Matt Hancock has said that it's too early to say if restrictions can end on 2nd December and couldn't guarantee that they would end

Boris said he "expects lockdown to pay until 2nd December"

Rishi is the only one that has said lockdown ends on 2nd December "by law" which suggests that it will be lifted if MPs don't vote to extend it.

If lockdown ends on 2nd December, it's back to the Tier system until the Christmas Plan but there's likely to be a lot of places moving up a tier and a tier 4 introduced so not wildly different.

No, for gods sake the vast majority of people are happy having a quiet smaller Christmas.

I know to a few people in particular circumstances it is very important that they can mix with other households indoors this Christmas, but they are not the majority.

The majority should not have to 'pay' so the minority can have a large Christmas indoors.

I’d support some form of relaxation, e.g. rule of 6 or two households/bubbles for a couple of days. Nobody should have to spend Christmas on their own, but equally people don’t need to get the whole extended family together, especially if it means not being able to see friends or family at all for a whole month after that.

I’d rather spend Christmas with just my immediate family and have the option to meet in small groups outside in January, for example, than have one day with 4 households and then go back into another lockdown like this one.

The replies on this thread are a weird contrast to the other ones where everyone’s mental health is apparently hanging by a thread due to not being able to spend time with friends and family

All to eat a fucking Turkey with a group of people...can it not just be skipped one time

I suspect that an equal number of people are having mental health issues because they can't work and are trapped into the constant cycle of isolation periods at schools. It's as if some people forget how schools being closed affected mental health.

@PattyPan

The replies on this thread are a weird contrast to the other ones where everyone’s mental health is apparently hanging by a thread due to not being able to spend time with friends and family

Some threads get taken over by very aggressive posters that bully anyone with opposing views until they are the only ones left shouting noisily about one particular issue that means a lot to them (understandably if it is their livelihood in retail or pubs etc.) but that doesn't mean they reflect a majority opinion.

A thread that hasn't deteriorated into shouting and personal attacks is probably more reflective of most people's opinions.

Why do we need 5 days? Even if you live a distance away from family and need the travel time, a lot of people have to work between Christmas and New Year anyway, so lets say 24th to 26th and have two weeks tier restrictions if we need to "pay" for it.

Plus of course many posters are posting in a 'professional' capacity with a particular agenda...

Why five days. It is one meal on one day, you get together with folk who are as sensible as you are. Then retreat to the sofa with a box of chocolates and a piece of xmas cake.

So nothing is opening up again on the 2nd then?

Wonderful. I was counting on being back in work for at least a couple of weeks before Christmas (non essential retail)

No furlough for me.

They are a bunch of gaslighting bastards.

I'd be interested to see what the other UK countries end up doing too. Hopefully there is some common ground so people don't "pop over" the border to take advantage of different rules.

It is difficult though because there is also concern thatt mass ignoring of the rules for Christmas will mean people cease complying afterwards too, which is probably a bigger issue.

This is what I think. If the majority are still going to see family it makes sense to relax the rules so people aren't breaking them from a psychological perspective when we need compliance in the future.

@PattyPan

The replies on this thread are a weird contrast to the other ones where everyone’s mental health is apparently hanging by a thread due to not being able to spend time with friends and family

I don’t think it’s a contrast. My mental health hasn’t been great this lockdown, especially as I’m on maternity leave so the time I normally spend with other adults had already been cut down. So I’d rather do what we can to avoid further lockdowns and be able to meet friends or attend baby groups (even if it’s outside, small groups, etc) in January, than spend a few days with family over Christmas and then go back into lockdown.

No. Especially now we have the vaccines . Life will be normal next year - so let’s crack on this year and save as many lives as we can.