Christmas IS going to be cancelled - last minute.

[Elephant4]

Isn't it?

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/18/boris-johnson-calls-crisis-meeting-to-discuss-response-to-new-covid-strain

They're panicking now.

If only we were an island like New Zealand and Australia and we could have got a grip on it.....oh.

@LockdownSanta Sorry for your losses and that’s bad about the vaccine. In my family we worked out that only my DF can have it and the rest of us have allergies or autoimmune problems (and it’s not clear how the Pfizer one deals with the latter).

In recent years people lived as if death didn't exist, we moved it from homes into hospitals, care homes and hospices and bought in the professionals, we built the cult of eternal youth through healthy eating and exercise. We exulted in living and ignored death as much as we possibly could.

Off topic - but that is a lovely piece of writing. @Emeeno1 - quite poignant and true. I work as a nurse and people generally do frequently expect miracles, and modern medicine to have the answer to every problem.

I've learnt that sometimes - shit happens - and there ain't nothing you can do about it. The era of the antibiotic could be coming to a close. That will not be fun.

@Ethelswith

Are you referring to ... the Millennium Bug? You're aware that's not contagious or even a medical condition? How is it relevant?

Equipment failures leading to accidents (RTA and others), fires etc

The difference is that the Millennium Bug was a risk that did not materialise because it planned for and mitigations were in place. It was a non event.

COVID is an actuality which hasn’t been planned for and for which we had no mitigations. Hoping something won’t happen is not a mitigation. Acknowledging it will happen and planning a mitigation after the event is shameful. Even worse is to deliberately relax the mitigation already there.

Our government are now saying they know Christmas will be a superspreader but are prepared to accept that and lockdown in January. A lot of people seem ok with that as long as they get their Christmas.

I’m in jersey. We’re now only allowed to mix households on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Why do the government need to change the rules? Seems like the majority of the population of Mumsnet and Facebook will be spending Christmas without their extended families regardless of whether they’re “allowed” or not.
Personally for me however, the government can fuck right off and I will make my own risk assessed decisions, they have not made a compliant robot out of me yet...

We are older, and have seen little of our children/grandchildren this year, they don't live nearby. We always go to one of them at Christmas, but made the decision months ago to stay at home, just the two of us, this year.

Both of their families have other, geographically closer, grandparents who live alone, and who they have bubbled with. They will see them at Christmas. No awkwardness, we're grown ups and it just seems the fairest solution. It doesn't mean we love them any less!

We're looking forward to getting together next year when hopefully the vaccine will be making a difference.

And before anyone starts, I regard people who’ve made their own risk assessed decision NOT to see any family at Christmas as non compliant robots too

OMG I've only just seen the biscuit with a Christmas hat.
I think there's a big difference between having a lonely relative over for Christmas Day and having a 5 day party with lots of people. I think if people are already in a family group then they shouldn't be mixing with another family group - much less three. It's still Christmas, just smaller.

We'll be having my mum over as she's in our support bubble and lives on her own, but otherwise it will just be our household as I want my family and friends to be around for next year- a relative is for life, not just for Christmas.

@LemonTT @Ethelswith

The poster talking about millenium was not referring to the computer bug, but about the Nightingale Hospital.

They have 'opened up' for Christmas because a lot of people would have ignored the rules and visited family anyway. This way stops the need for the army and police to be seen to be on the streets breaking up family gatherings as masses of people break the law.

Nobody wants to give their elderly parents or grandparents coronavirus.

Some of us have been working from home and have not left the house apart from a weekly shop. DS has come home from Uni, had two negative tests and not been out apart from an occasional late night run.

If DD was in the same position as DS we would have spent Christmas with DPs whatever the rules.

Unfortunately DD has only just finished school a week before Christmas so we won't.

My colleague has not been out since the summer and nor have her elderly parents. She will be spending Christmas with them whatever Boris says.

Let's just apply some common sense.

They should instead of continuously doubling down.

Yes, I know @LemonTT - I was working in a relevant area in the late 1990s and heavily engaged in planning.

We didn't know it would work, and that is why contingency planning included things like A&E. Which is where this diversion started, with someone wondering why. That was all I chipped in to answer.

(And we did heave huge sighs of relief when there were no major incidents! Even with years of planning, no-one was sure everything had been spotted and fixed)

I am seeing my mum and dad in my house come hell or high water on Christmas day!

@MercyBooth At least this thread is in the Coronavirus Quarantine zone where it belongs, home of the Scrooges; it's a shame it's spilling over into "trending now", MNHQ needs to do something about that, I've asked them before.

I wonder if this thread is Scrooge's wet dream? He would have loved cancelling Christmas, and would have gladly taken Boris's place to spread the anti-Christmas message, but he would also have loved the poor to get together and kill themselves in the process, while he enjoyed his lonely, virtuous Christmas alone. "There are far too many poor people." Yes, I know, it's not about rich and poor any more, he was pre-NHS (and yes, I know he was a fictional character, before anyone says), blah blah blah, we should be grateful. A recurring line is "Christmas will be here next year": will it? We were told in the summer that this Christmas would be "normalish".

And what would Dominic Cummings do, deciding how to celebrate his own Christmas? He is probably one of the main reasons for public non-compliance, even though so many people upthread who have been polishing their haloes since Boris told us "normal by Christmas" (let's not forget that) keep saying don't blame Boris - I forgot, he's not just Boris, he's Saint Boris, nothing is ever his fault. He could have sacked Cummings to make a point, but chose not to.

Don't bother replying - I'm hiding this thread, the only thing I'll see is the deletion message from MNHQ.

Unfortunately DD has only just finished school a week before Christmas so we won't

The DofE threatened schools with prosecution, even when they had rising levels of cases and a projected borough doubling time of 4 days. Whereas if allowed to close, the 10 days isolation would have been up before the 23rd. Which as people are likely to mingle, whether it's a good idea or not, just adds to the risk.

It was a terrible decision, and can't even be justified on a 'every single day matters' angle as they're perfectly happy with closures in January

A lot of people aren't bubbling up anyway, as they realised the lack of common sense of the idea. No covid over Christmas!

Many who are, having been self isolating this week and next in order to more safely bubble up.

Then you've got the deniers who will do what they want, meet up with as many they want.

Even though I didnt agree with the 3 household Christmas bubble, I think the bumbled message earlier in the week of it's ok to do it but please don't do it, will be as far as the government goes.

I think it's more the Puritan's dream, @wanderings

But Boris is a Cavalier - naturally on the side of business and enterprise. Decisions which impede the making of money do not come naturally to Tories.

If we could do Christmas and avoid Jan lock down fine.

But it’s highly unlikely and there’s no way I prefer a lock down.

If we do lockdown again, it has to be a proper one with all schools and universities shut.

I can’t believe people are still using Cummings as an excuse.

God wish people would stop wishing for full lockdowns.

Too depressing.

Yup yup

We will defo be in a national lockdown soon

The only question really is when?

I had originally predicted by Jan 14th - in my own mind - idly speculating.

Now looking at the numbers I'm thinking a heck of a lot earlier than that

I really can't see that they will want to 'cancel Christmas' now. Johnson won't want to be seen as the Grinch who stole Christmas. The cynic in me can't help but think that allowing Christmas to go ahead as planned and become a super spreader event is a very politically convenient way to justify a lockdown in January just at the same time Brexit happens and food supplies are hit.

I think lockdown 2 should have been in place for 6 weeks rather than 4. The numbers were only just really starting to fall when lockdown ended. If the government had done two more weeks of lockdown numbers would have dropped much lower and Christmas still would have happened.