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Original poster

Boris Should Have said at Christmas- Everyone stay in their own house

86 replies

Catwoman76 · 02/02/2021 08:18

I have always said since before Xmas the Gvmt should have said to public everyone stay in their own houses for Christmas. I truly believe we would see as high of deaths/infections.
We can all celebrate when this is over.

OP posts:
redsquirrelfan · 02/02/2021 09:04

I suspect that those with vulnerable relatives didn't mix, and those without, did.

I know someone who saw her father who has diabetes, but they stayed outside in the garden, it was a cold day so they wrapped up warm!

People can carry out risk assessments. We work from home, ds hadn't been in college for two weeks before Christmas and my mother had had covid about six weeks before anyway - despite MNers' existence that everyone gets it twice, you can't get it again that quickly. Plus she qualified to be in a support bubble with us.

If I worked in a school and/or my mum was vulnerable we would have made different decisions. Or perhaps we wouldn't, if we'd thought it might be her last Christmas.

It wasn't Christmas that caused all the cases, it was people crowding into hot and unventilated shops, the more transmissible variant and employers refusing to let people work from home would easily could (and they are still doing that).

redsquirrelfan · 02/02/2021 09:05

existence - I meant insistence!

starfish4 · 02/02/2021 09:05

I wish they had. My Uncle is being transferred to a recuperation unit today, after spending the last three weeks in hospital with covid pneumonia. My DU and DA spent xmas day with their DS and DIL who both both tested positive a few days later.

We made the decision last summer we weren't going to mix with anyone over xmas.

Davros · 02/02/2021 09:07

I thought he did. It's all a blur!

Sparklingbrook · 02/02/2021 09:10

@Davros

I thought he did. It's all a blur!
IIRC first it was you can mix for 5 days, then late on he reduced it to Christmas day as he said it was 'inhumane' to cancel Christmas or something?

I went to my parents ( in their 80s) for an hour, sat two metres away in their large living room. Threw presents at each other and that was that.

3littlewords · 02/02/2021 09:17

@Catwoman76

I have always said since before Xmas the Gvmt should have said to public everyone stay in their own houses for Christmas. I truly believe we would see as high of deaths/infections. We can all celebrate when this is over.
Surely anyone with common sense could have made their own mind up that it was stupid to mix at Christmas. If Boris told everyone to drink their own pee how many would be sat on the toilet right now holding a cup ready to drink it? People need to take responsibility for their own actions no one was forced by gun point to mix at Christmas, everyone knew the possible consequences.
Ch3rish · 02/02/2021 09:25

It wouldn't have made any difference. Did anyone actually think that the virus took a day off?

It was quite clear that sensible folk would have decided not to mix and the feckless would have done it regardless

Maybe next time though let BJ know your good ideas ahead of time

trulydelicious · 02/02/2021 09:28

Welll...another Boris-bashing thread (with the usual haters chipping in)

Christmas was 6 weeks ago, give over now

Also, as some said up thread, those who got together did so because they wanted to, no one forced them

peak2021 · 02/02/2021 09:28

Boris Johnson should have acted a lot quicker in March and again in September. The Christmas question could have been managed a lot better I agree, but the main mistakes (criminal in my view) were made much earlier.

Whilst some would have gone regardless there are some who would have reduced the length of time with others, or who they celebrated Christmas with.

Lanzo · 02/02/2021 09:32

Lots of areas were in tier 4 over Christmas which was the same as being in lockdown.

Rosehip10 · 02/02/2021 09:33

@meditrina Boris announced yesterday that tier in England are unlikely in the future, so yes, we are potentially heading to the situation where tough restrictions apply to all, even when cases may be very low in on region.

trulydelicious · 02/02/2021 09:36

@peak2021

there are some who would have reduced the length of time with others, or who they celebrated Christmas with

Do you think people need to be explicitly told by the PM that it's risky to mix with a CEV relative for Christmas?

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 02/02/2021 09:38

I completely agree with dumped post

But her children were home from uni for 4 days isnt that the same as having family round? Or have I misunderstood your post dumped in which case abject apologies!

And i did very similar so im honestly not having a pop!

Im just a bit confused

Angel2702 · 02/02/2021 09:43

@Sparklingbrook

Can you imagine the threads on here if he had said that?

Post after post of reasons/excuses as to why people would absolutely not be staying in their house!

But he did exactly that for the many areas in tier 4. It was very clear mixing wasn’t advised elsewhere. The people who still went ahead are the people who would have ignored any rules put in place.
Sparklingbrook · 02/02/2021 09:49

Yes that was my point @Angel2702. I was in Tier 3.

Hopeful201 · 02/02/2021 09:49

Dumped is correct. No-one was told to mix, the message was clear, they couldn't ban Christmas as they had no way of stopping idiots doing exactly as they pleased.
Even in my area which was tier 4 there were people staying overnight. I don't blame the government for that, my own parents had people stay-they chose to break the rules and took the risk. I was livid at them, they are old and at risk. So whatever the government said people were going to do as they pleased.

DumpedWife · 02/02/2021 09:50

Yes, but both had the 2 covid tests upon departure and arrival at uni, each side of the trip.

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 02/02/2021 09:52

Thank you dumped 💐

Really don’t want to to be rude to anyone about this as i had 21 year old son and partner round 😀

CoronaIsShit · 02/02/2021 09:55

The Government knew there would be anarchy if they cancelled Christmas. Even though everybody knew it was absolutely necessary.

They had to leave it up to the people to decide. You’d have to be thick as mince not to be able figure it out for yourself really Hmm.

The increase in deaths absolutely was to do with Christmas. If it was due to shopping, we’d have started to see higher numbers before Christmas.

oakleaffy · 02/02/2021 09:57

@VettiyaIruken

Of course. But they knew the public would ignore them and so rather than show that the public weren't following the rules they removed the rules.
THIS. In spades.
GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 02/02/2021 09:59

People would still have ignored the rules - as many do anyway on a daily basis.
Brits aren’t too keen on being told what to do, and unlike in so many other countries, most people here aren’t afraid of a good duffing up by the police if they get caught. Let alone a locking-up.

TaVeryMuchLove · 02/02/2021 10:00

Boris was screwed. If he’d cancelled Christmas, there’d have been uproar. He allowed it, to an extent, and now there’s uproar. On this occasion, he couldn’t win.

oakleaffy · 02/02/2021 10:01

@CoronaIsShit

Very true re the shopping.

It was clearly mixing and mingling , kissing and hugging indoors that caused it.

Bythemillpond · 02/02/2021 10:03

People didn’t need to be told specifically not to mix at Christmas. There does have to be some level of personal responsibility.

I thought we were supposed to remain home anyway as part of the lockdown

Vanillaradio · 02/02/2021 10:06

And if he had people would have ignored the rules and mixed anyway. They would have then been more likely to carry on ignoring the rules having done so and got away with it. We were headed for increased cases and deaths and lockdown due to the season and the new variant whatever happened over Christmas.

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