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Original poster

Christmas IS going to be cancelled - last minute.

726 replies

Elephant4 · 18/12/2020 23:35

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.

OP posts:
Santababy56 · 19/12/2020 08:09

sorry @MarshaBradyo no one is 'wishing for a lockdown'

I'm sick to the back teeth of the whole thing - but it is what it is - and we all have to suck it up whether we like or not.

PhilCornwall1 · 19/12/2020 08:10

@MarshaBradyo

God wish people would stop wishing for full lockdowns.

Too depressing.

Some will stop when eventually it catches up with them and starts to really negatively impact them.

We had one like it at work, shouting that we should be locked down for a year and how stupid people were to not agree. They were made redundant due to belt tightening and changed their tune rapidly, saying lockdown was going to ruin them.

AuntieStella · 19/12/2020 08:10

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

I can, as it was a turning point when the Government endorsed using your common sense to do what is best for your family.

MarshaBradyo · 19/12/2020 08:11

Santa so many posts going on about wanting it to be a hard lock down everything shut

Too much.

sanityisamyth · 19/12/2020 08:11

@MercyBooth

It doesnt matter. I dont need them to do anything. Not now!
Are you HelenaDove? I can't read your posts because you double/triple/quadruple space all your words. It makes me irrationally angry.
clopper · 19/12/2020 08:11

Such blame and bitterness on this thread against ‘rule breakers ‘ when in fact the virus is rife in senior schools. You have to send your kids into school to avoid breaking another set of rules about school attendance.

Most people I know have sensibly scaled down their Christmas plans. I wonder if transmission might in fact be reduced by not having all these young people mixing daily.

My elderly mum agrees with pp Emeeno1,she has said throughout this pandemic that as a society we have forgotten how to die and that people feel cheated somehow if they don’t make it until 90. She wasn’t able to have the vaccine as she takes blood thinning medication and they weren’t happy to give it.

ravensoaponarope · 19/12/2020 08:12

They did it to us in Wales this week. Made it LAW that only two households can meet (and one other single person). I am spending the day with two others who also live alone. Two of us have mental health problems and one is elderly. If they changed it again, I don't know how we could cope. People say oh it's only one year. Of course. But for those of us already on the edge, it could be what pushes us over.

Expat2 · 19/12/2020 08:12

For those talking about Australia and NZ, you do realise what is happening in Sydney right now don’t you? Christmas has just been cancelled for thousands of families in Sydney under our govt approach of swift, sharp, hard action. We’ve had no community transmission for a couple of weeks, then 2 cases out of nowhere (preliminary testing suggests a US strain which then suggests it might be from flight crews given how hard it is to get in to this country). Those 2 allegedly chose not to isolate while waiting for test results and we have gone from 2 cases on Wednesday to 70 today. Anyone from Sydney hoping to spend Christmas with family in most other states have had the borders closed on them over the course of yesterday and today. A large area of Sydney (Northern Beaches) is in lockdown and a large number of people from that area who happened to visit certain cafes, restaurants etc are now in 14 day isolation regardless of their own test results. The rest of Sydney is waiting to see what is going to happen to us.

So basically yes, we have it pretty easy here most of the time but we have to do the hard yards at even a hint of trouble - that’s how we maintain it. Active cases are literally 70, not 700 or 7000, just 70 for this sort of action.

ramblingsonthego · 19/12/2020 08:12

We have had to cancel due to our pre schooler having to self isolate until midnight Christmas Eve. My ECV Mum didn't want to take the risk (which I totally understand) luckily we will be able to go out and get shopping but we are not going to bother with a big dinner. We are going to do a totally different Christmas Day and go to the local nature reserve for a good walk and the park is open so we will do that. Our daughter will be stir crazy from 10 days completely inside (we don't have a garden) so a couple of hours walking and in the park will do her the world of good, and hopefully it will be quiet as its Christmas Day.

BlueSkies2020 · 19/12/2020 08:15

@pollyglot I don’t think you can compare NZ to the UK

You’re the end of the line in terms of global travel. No one passes through NZ. You have a tiny population and low population density. So it’s a different ball game.

MarshaBradyo · 19/12/2020 08:15

[quote BlueSkies2020]@pollyglot I don’t think you can compare NZ to the UK

You’re the end of the line in terms of global travel. No one passes through NZ. You have a tiny population and low population density. So it’s a different ball game.[/quote]
Exactly. You’d think at this point we’d have dropped this endless comparison.

cherryblossomx3 · 19/12/2020 08:17

dont care. have stopped watching the news this week. all a load of bollocks.

Fizbosshoes · 19/12/2020 08:17

I agree with you,JinglingHellsBells. So many posters love to blame Boris et al. for all the problems. Some of the problems, okay. But be honest - the level of compliance with basic guidelines has been shaky at best. You cannot blame Boris for that. These things cause infections to recirculate, then lockdowns need to reimposed, and the population turn on Boris again ...

Agree. I didnt vote for this government, and cant imagine I would in the next election either. I have criticised them (a lot) for some of the huge failings but they are dealing with something that hasnt happened in anyones life time. The timing of the first lockdown was hugely criticised at the time and a long time afterwards for being too late. Then around September , it was mooted it was actually to early for the North.
I found the Dominic Cummings saga quite disgraceful, but lots saw that as the greenlight to do whatever they wanted.
People want to flout the rules to somehow "spite" the government when I feel we should try to stick to guidelines in spite of having this government. If the only consequence of breaking the rules or guidelines was causing the government problems I'd say crack on, but the problems caused affect everyone and lead to more rules and restrictions.its like a vicious circle.

User158340 · 19/12/2020 08:19

@helloxhristmas

Anyone with an ounce of sense would have seen this coming.
They should have waited till after lockdown to see what happened. But Boris wanted his Boris saves Christmas headlines.
megletthesecond · 19/12/2020 08:19

Last time I checked the 25th December will happen regardless. So, no, it's not cancelled.
It's just me and my dc's this year anyway. No bubble and no family nearby. We decided it wasn't worth the risk.

SoupDragon · 19/12/2020 08:20

There is absolutely no point in "cancelling" it as people are going to carry on anyway.

Friendsoneuptown · 19/12/2020 08:20

Sigh

Australia 25 million people
Uk 66 million people

Australia is 32 times bigger than the UK.

It’s not difficult to work out that the UK is nothing like Oz.

IndecentFeminist · 19/12/2020 08:21

We will be carrying on as planned, we are in tier one however.

FuckeryOmbudsman · 19/12/2020 08:22

@megletthesecond

Last time I checked the 25th December will happen regardless. So, no, it's not cancelled. It's just me and my dc's this year anyway. No bubble and no family nearby. We decided it wasn't worth the risk.
By the same reckoning Eid wasn't cancelled either
User158340 · 19/12/2020 08:23

@whiteroseredrose

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.

But why couldn't they just say in the first place 2 households, including support bubbles, can meet on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and leave it at that?
Frostythesnowwoman · 19/12/2020 08:23

@SoupDragon

There is absolutely no point in "cancelling" it as people are going to carry on anyway.
Why do people keep saying this? I really don’t understand. There is a pretty high level of compliance to coronavirus rules actually. (Vague guidelines are another matter.)

Yes, some people will ignore the law (if it changes), but it’s simply not true that most people will.

User158340 · 19/12/2020 08:24

@Friendsoneuptown

Sigh

Australia 25 million people
Uk 66 million people

Australia is 32 times bigger than the UK.

It’s not difficult to work out that the UK is nothing like Oz.

It's a social virus. The countries with the big populations, particularly with high density, have struggled the most to contain it.

The exception is Asia who learned from SARS.

forwardsbackwardsrebound · 19/12/2020 08:26

@pollyglot

Why bother coming on with a pointless story about NZ? A tiny speck on the globe completely isolated can close its borders (indefiitely?) Europe cannot do that.

CherryPavlova · 19/12/2020 08:26

The announcement to full tier arrangements rather than a Christmas reprieve is almost certain. I should think on around the 22nd when most people have done their shopping but not yet travelled.

userxx · 19/12/2020 08:28

dont care. have stopped watching the news this week. all a load of bollocks.

I'm with you. Beyond giving a fuck.