What does cancelling Christmas actually mean?

[User135644]

A lot of talk and fear now that Christmas is going to be screwed again with this new variant causing a lot of fear and panic.

What does that actually mean though in practice? Christmas to me is spending time with family and i'll be doing that regardless. They aren't going to stop people visiting relatives this year (at least not locally).

As a family we will 100% be having the Christmas we want

My 'responsibility' to the rest of society ended long ago. The government no longer gets the dictate my responsibility to my family

Add to that the fact that for a couple of elderly family members this may be the last Christmas they ever share with us

Completely agree with you. We've just this week lost an elderly relative to cancer. She missed Christmas last year for fear of this virus and has died now. No more. Absolutely no more.

@QueenofKattegat

As a family we will 100% be having the Christmas we want

My 'responsibility' to the rest of society ended long ago. The government no longer gets the dictate my responsibility to my family

Add to that the fact that for a couple of elderly family members this may be the last Christmas they ever share with us

Completely agree with you. We've just this week lost an elderly relative to cancer. She missed Christmas last year for fear of this virus and has died now. No more. Absolutely no more.

100% agree!

Press conference at 5 apparently, probably to say don't get that turkey.

[quote PriamFarrl]The list is dated the 17th but to take effect from the 19th.

www.gov.uk/government/speeches/review-of-local-restriction-tiers-17-december-2020[/quote]
Somethings not right with that because I am in Kent and we were most definitely in tier 4 last Christmas. Sussex weren’t - they stayed in tier 3 hence loads of people in tunbridge Wells areas going over the borders to enjoy meals and activities that weren’t available in Kent

@Heyvedge

Covid board will go into meltdown now

Situation normal.

[quote PrincessNutNuts]@PriamFarrl It predates Tier 4. [/quote]
Ah so it does.

I’ve found the restrictions for Christmas last year here.

www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-announces-tier-4-stay-at-home-alert-level-in-response-to-new-covid-variant

As a result, the following areas will move from Tier 3 to Tier 4:

Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings;

London (all 32 boroughs and the City of London); and
the East of England (Bedford, Central Bedford, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Essex excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring).

So please forgive those of us who live outside those areas for forgetting that it was the case. (I’m in the East but not the areas mentioned, my family are in the south west, midlands and north, so also not effected)

Once Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and most of Hampshire were moved into Tier 4 on Boxing Day it affected 43% of England's population. (24 million people.)

@Dozer

last year there were restrictions on that, as you know.

There was, but I'm not convinced people would give that much of a shit this year.

@HunterHearstHelmsley no we weren't allowed to mix three households last Christmas. That had been the plan but was cancelled by Boris at the last minute. I was meant to share Christmas with my sons both coming to me for a few days. In the end, we travelled to spend the day with just one of them.
We have all been pretty sensible. We wear masks in shops and on public transport. We are double vaccinated and my MIL has had her booster. My husband and I will have had our boosters in a couple of weeks. If everyone wants to, and hasn't had a better offer, we will spend Christmas together this year!

I will be hosting a big family christmas with lots of friends and relatives from all over, regardless of whatever the "rules" may be.

I've got two grandparents dying of cancer and they want to spend time with their family and enjoy their great grandchildren who they have missed out on tremendously since this started - my daughter was days old in March 2020 which we went into lockdown and they have missed out on so much already.

My duty to protect the rest of society is well and truly over and if you're scared of contracting it, stay at home and enjoy the endless nothingness.

Thankfully we're miles from the nearest neighbour down a mile long farm track, so there are no wankers to report us to the "covid police".

Silverswirl, some of sussex was tier 4 some areas weren't. I like in the south east, my dad 3 miles away. I was tier 4 he was not.

@gloriousgordons

I will be hosting a big family christmas with lots of friends and relatives from all over, regardless of whatever the "rules" may be.

I've got two grandparents dying of cancer and they want to spend time with their family and enjoy their great grandchildren who they have missed out on tremendously since this started - my daughter was days old in March 2020 which we went into lockdown and they have missed out on so much already.

My duty to protect the rest of society is well and truly over and if you're scared of contracting it, stay at home and enjoy the endless nothingness.

Thankfully we're miles from the nearest neighbour down a mile long farm track, so there are no wankers to report us to the "covid police".

Sounds blissful 🙌🏻🎄❤️

@GoldenOmber

Less shit than the consequences of spreading Covid around at Mass for each worshipper to take it back home, to the food bank, to the homelessness shelter, to the workplace, to the vulnerable relative that needed help in accordance with normal lockdown requirements, onto the bus that essential workers used and everywhere else, though.

Yeah, let’s just ban all religious services forever until we’ve eliminated all forms of infectious disease.

Look, I did the last lockdown, I went along with the last lockdown, I even think it was the least worst option to buy time for vaccinations. But I am fed up of people claiming it wasn’t really that bad. It was that bad. It was awful.

Lots of people make a significant part of their income (myself and DP included, well, we used to) from facilitating collective worship and rites of passage in one way or another.

I have no desire to be able to pay the gas bill more easily at first, only to find that as larger numbers of vulnerable congregation members die off due to Covid spread at Masses/Services/Concerts/Weddings/Funerals/Baptisms/FHC/etc (which really would make the payments feel like blood money to me anyhow) that there's reduced demand/attendance and churches closing and being converted into executive housing.

I understand that it's desperately sad that people weren't able to have the comfort of attending Mass in person and funerals were strictly limited in numbers - but that doesn't mean it's OK to put so many at risk.

@gloriousgordons pretty much the same situation here. We'll be doing what suits us regardless of what 'rules' are in place. I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas 🎄

[quote Solmum1964]@HunterHearstHelmsley no we weren't allowed to mix three households last Christmas. That had been the plan but was cancelled by Boris at the last minute. I was meant to share Christmas with my sons both coming to me for a few days. In the end, we travelled to spend the day with just one of them.
We have all been pretty sensible. We wear masks in shops and on public transport. We are double vaccinated and my MIL has had her booster. My husband and I will have had our boosters in a couple of weeks. If everyone wants to, and hasn't had a better offer, we will spend Christmas together this year![/quote]
In much of the country you were. Tier 4 was a lot of people on Christmas Day but not everyone.

@Oncebittentwice

Totally agree.
Mine are not with us but no way would I be avoiding them unless they wanted me too and I'd be isolating before hand etc and doing lateral flows.

I also didn't have long term friend who normally comes but this year we will all be double /triple vaccine and dc have had covid.

But selfishly I'm happy for a January lock down so we can hunker down again and avoid dark nights etc.

[quote Solmum1964]@HunterHearstHelmsley no we weren't allowed to mix three households last Christmas. That had been the plan but was cancelled by Boris at the last minute. I was meant to share Christmas with my sons both coming to me for a few days. In the end, we travelled to spend the day with just one of them.
We have all been pretty sensible. We wear masks in shops and on public transport. We are double vaccinated and my MIL has had her booster. My husband and I will have had our boosters in a couple of weeks. If everyone wants to, and hasn't had a better offer, we will spend Christmas together this year![/quote]
We absolutely were in tier 3. As well as tiers 1 & 2.

The one thing we can be sure of is that they are extremely unlikely to close the schools this time. Given the untold damage it caused last time to children, this time we can expect the schools to remain open with restrictions. (in the worst case scenario that a lockdown is needed) I hope we can scrape through the dregs of the winter using plan B and ride it out until the warmth of spring arrives.

I can't imagine another lockdown as furlough has finished and I reckon we don't have the money to reintroduce it. I don't think schools will close their buildings and teach online.
Other restrictions may be introduced like masks (I am in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 and wear mine in every shop and every day in work (school) )

@Fairylights25

The one thing we can be sure of is that they are extremely unlikely to close the schools this time. Given the untold damage it caused last time to children, this time we can expect the schools to remain open with restrictions. (in the worst case scenario that a lockdown is needed) I hope we can scrape through the dregs of the winter using plan B and ride it out until the warmth of spring arrives.

It might not be an option, if staff absence rates skyrocket.

All of our teachers and the vast majority of children had covid in the early part of this autumn, I guess that must be replicated all over the country. In any case I think teachers will be considered front line workers and schools will remain open, or covid will be the very least of our worries for sure with a third lockdown.

@Naughtynovembertree

I also didn't have long term friend who normally comes but this year we will all be double /triple vaccine and dc have had covid.

But which variant did they have? 🤔

We found some people at school who caught the Kent Variant last Christmas caught the delta variant in the summer 😬

"In any case I think teachers will be considered front line workers and schools will remain open"
They will be considered front-line workers, except for being afforded the luxury of being prioritised for any jabs going (as other front-liners e.g. in the NHS are).