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.

Thank you.
I'm so lucky I don't have to go anywhere or have elderly relatives to worry about this year but to anyone who does it's such bad news.
Something they should have done on Monday though

@willsantausesantatize

T4 means what does anyone know?

Express says no household mixing

The north east had something like that in September.

We couldn't mix with anyone anywhere in or outside unless in our household or support bubble.

T4 means what does anyone know?

The mirror is saying no commuting, non essential shops shut and schools closed for first week of term (Jan)

I just don’t understand why they made the call so early on Christmas bubbles?! Wasn’t it the beginning of December? Why! It wasn’t necessary and things change daily with this virus as we have seen.

@Delatron

I just don’t understand why they made the call so early on Christmas bubbles?! Wasn’t it the beginning of December? Why! It wasn’t necessary and things change daily with this virus as we have seen.

Totally agree

@WhatWouldTheNeighboursSay

I am in a similar position. My dad had months to live. He is dying anyway. He could die of cancer in April not having seen anyone, or he could die in January of covid but at least having seen all his family at Christmas. Therefore we have made the decision to travel to his house for Christmas.

Matt Hancock knew about this new strain on Monday. Boris Johnson said that the restrictions would be same for Christmas etc : now today it's a u turn.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing , but they've had all week to say something or break the schools up earlier than they did etc.
It is a shitshow ( another one)
To add to a long list of them.

If it's a stay at home order....what will that mean for cross region shared custody children? I'm so scared now. Have never had a Christmas without my kids before and they're still very young ☹ But equally their Dad has always had them for half the day.

Yes so pleased my DS was in school this week watching Christmas films. Much better that they miss the first week back in January when they may actually do some work.

‘2021 will be worse than 2020 that’s for sure, never mind once they realise the vaccine does sod all....’...Based on what scientific evidence @Thewiseoneincognito.

Pretty sure the vaccine has been tested and is effective. The new strain is a spanner in the works but doesn’t necessarily negate the impact of the vaccine.

People need to calm down.

@WhatwouldAnneFrankthinkofus

As much as I don't like Bojo and his cronies, the government can't win on this one. If he imposes lockdown , people will say "what about the businesses, we are finished, we have already bought our turkey to feed three families etc " , if he doesn't impose lockdown and strict rules during Christmas people will say " he's incompetent , NHS is under pressure etc". No one can predict what can happen with a virus and the government are trying their best to please the people(and their own cronies i dare say) and also stop these very people from getting killed by the virus. People have become so very entitled about merry making at Christmas, its no longer a celebration of the birth of Christ. It's just another opportunity for us to indulge ourselves. We are very lucky we don't have to hide underground to stop bombs falling on our heads or that as a nation we don't have to worry about the next flood or famine. Surely we should be able to curtail our eating, drinking , merry making and indulging ourselves for the sake of not only our own health but also for everyone else's health during this pandemic. While we are eating, drinking and indulging ourselves and merry making please remember there will be doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers at work trying to save lives, whilst putting their own lives at risk.

This. 100%

What ways please?

Firstly, palliative care only for people over a certain age presenting with severe Covid.

Secondly, shutting down of all/some non critical care functions of the NHS for the foreseeable future. Pivoting of large numbers of staff and resources to Covid management. Huge programme of retraining of staff to be redeployed to Covid care. Investment in building more hospitals (on top of what’s being done already).

Obviously that’s very difficult to discuss, but if the vaccine doesn’t get us out of this soon, lockdowns simply aren’t realistic long term, so these options would have to be looked at.

Sorry to hear that @LoopyGremlin , I'm glad you have made that decision. Wishing you and your dad a peaceful Christmas

I'm pretty sure we'll go, and I can accept that if anything happens everyone will assume it was me (nasty unclean school-dweller!) and not the other two who have been fannying about random shops, eating out, and travelling between high tier cities on the train.

@Delatron

I just don’t understand why they made the call so early on Christmas bubbles?! Wasn’t it the beginning of December? Why! It wasn’t necessary and things change daily with this virus as we have seen.

It was earlier than that - seems to have been 24 November (so a week before the end of lockdown v2 in England). Presumably they wanted positive news and thought that giving people something to look forward to was a good idea. They don’t seem to understand that looking forward to something that doesn’t happen is worse than having nothing much to look forward to. But then I’m not sure the government consider psychology at all when (allegedly) following “the science” - they seem absolutely woeful at understanding human behaviour.

Does anyone know if it's the whole of the South East or just parts of it?

My parents and brothers live in the same area of the South East and cases seem to be increasing rapidly. We aren't seeing them anyway, but it would be good to know.

@firthy85

i am very sceptical about this entire thing anyway. i am not doubting that this virus is dangerous to a person with a compromised immune system but if it really was so bad why risk relaxing the rules for christmas? wouldn't it make more sense to leave things as they are until more vaccines can be roled out? granted i don't know anyone who has died from the virus but over these past few months i have been starting to feel all this is about suiting own agendas from the people at the top. more political than about public health

you sound like one of my DDs.

I know of one death, one friend's partner (my age) in a coma, two friends with long covid. Only this week I heard that my friend's partner, who got a "mild case" back in March, was in Hospital with a collapsed lung, they say she will have compromised breathing due to lung damage.

This IS about public health, we just don't have a government we can trust so that fuels the scepticism.

@2LittleSpeckledFrogs

If it's a stay at home order....what will that mean for cross region shared custody children? I'm so scared now. Have never had a Christmas without my kids before and they're still very young ☹ But equally their Dad has always had them for half the day.

@2LittleSpeckledFrogs I'm pretty sure that joint custody arrangements have remained unchanged thus far. Children can move between their parents, and travel to facilitate this is allowed.

@Mintjulia

I think anyone with any sense already realises travelling in those five days will be hell and is leaving family get-togethers until Easter.

Travelling from region to region during a pandemic is obviously ill-advised unless absolutely unavoidable.

Furlough has been extended to Easter so I am certain that lockdowns and restrictions will continue throughout 2021 including Easter, Summer etc. "Variant strain" reporting makes his highly probable, sadly.

I am complying with the temporary lifting of restrictions over Christmas am driving six hours and staying with my 83 yr old mum (who lives alone now dad has passed) from 24-27 December, with DH and grown-up DS and DD. We will see no one else. It is more than enough that I haven't seen her or my kids all this year due to compliance of rules.

Yes, so stupid to announce this on the 24th November then @OublietteBravo

We’re not children. I’d have completely understood it if they’d have said ‘lots change in a month, we’ll make announcements nearer the time’.

Now there’s lots of people who have made plans, put the food orders in etc, as they told us this was allowed. Then actually no it won’t happen.

Hopefully they'll set road blocks up around London and bring the army in. And an automatic criminal record for anyone caught attempting to breach the regulations. It might be a good moment to set up an official neighbourhood surveillance system, too - with a hotline and financial incentives for people to call up and report their neighbours and friends for flouting the rules

Why London?

Why not Kent where there is many more areas that have much higher numbers per 100,000

Hopefully they'll set road blocks up around London and bring the army in. And an automatic criminal record for anyone caught attempting to breach the regulations. It might be a good moment to set up an official neighbourhood surveillance system, too - with a hotline and financial incentives for people to call up and report their neighbours and friends for flouting the rules

I'm actually speechless at this.

@WankPuffins

Does it not have a ring of familiarity about it for you? Mao's China? Nazi Germany? Stalinist Russia?

Think irony.

The roadblocks poster confirmed a while back that their post was sarcastic...