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Original poster

What are the chances of lockdown this Christmas?

559 replies

43leftfeet · 05/12/2021 23:19

I've been away this weekend (UK, but I've been distracted and not following the news).

I see there's been talk of Johnson announcing a "ban on Christmas" possibly, around the 17th - or not, depending on what happens with Omicron - is that about right?

I know we can't know yet what's going to happen, but what are people's feelings?

What do you think the restrictions, if any, are likely to be in England & Wales & in Scotland?

OP posts:
BarbaraofSeville · 06/12/2021 06:40

Even though cases are rising, hospitalisations and death are still trending downwards, I always find this page on gov.uk a good picture of where we currently are.

Plus there's the current push to get as many people as possible to have the booster vaccination, so unless Omricron turns out to make people more ill than current variants, we'll probably get through Christmas at least.

Having said that, the next 'three week review' is expected at some time around 18 December? so that will be when we have a better idea how Omricron is spreading and how it is affecting people, so that will be when they have to make any changes for Christmas, but I think they'll leave any tightening of restrictions until early January unless things have gone really terrible when if things aren't improving, we might go into the full Plan B, ie WFH if you can, but hopefully not a full lockdown.

But the current mixed messages about office parties and the like are not particularly helpful and feel a lot like early March 2020 when they were saying 'well if you wouldn't mind, perhaps give the pubs a miss' and people did, so the pubs and restaurants saw a big drop in trade with no help, which is a really terrible way to treat them and I don't think the hospitality trade will accept being shit on like that (again) at their most lucrative time of year.

Plus people aren't going to follow any new restrictions unless they are forced to, as in obviously you can't go to the pub, restaurant, hairdresser etc if they are closed, but people will continue meeting each other in private homes.

RosieLemonade · 06/12/2021 06:43

They are slowly turning up the fear so companies feel they have to cancel events but without the government actually saying so therefore nobody can claim anything.

rrhuth · 06/12/2021 06:45

lets be honest NHS struggling in winter cannot be blamed on covid. This is news every winter What total bollocks - it is far worse this year, due to covid.

Pisses me off when people won't listen to the frontline doctors and nurses. Idiotic.

MrsJackWhicher · 06/12/2021 06:50

@XenoBitch

They can announce it, but I doubt many would follow it. Me included.
Me neither. Have been socialising normal this weekend snd no-one is remotely bothered by ‘Om….’ -the ludicrous name has made most people realise it’s just hype.
Remmy123 · 06/12/2021 06:51

Who would listen anyway ?!!!

JuneOsborne · 06/12/2021 06:55

Right now, the data doesn't seem to support lockdown. Atm there are about 7000 people in hospital with covid competed with the peak of 40000. That's a massive difference.

What happens in 6 weeks when Omicron has established and subsequent hospitalisations occur from the infection is what's going to be interesting and likely to have an effect of any new measures. Even then, I suspect it will be things like wfh as opposed to a full lockdown, but, who knows?

TwilightSkies · 06/12/2021 07:02

Have been socialising normal this weekend snd no-one is remotely bothered by ‘Om….’ -the ludicrous name has made most people realise it’s just hype

Hype? You clearly aren’t following what scientists are saying.
Omicron is MUCH more contagious delta and loads of children in SA are being hospitalised.
Just because you’re bored of the pandemic and want to socialise, the virus really doesn’t give a damn.
Give it a few weeks and we will see the inevitable.

Sombra · 06/12/2021 07:08

Ludicrous name? It's just one of the greek letters Confused

Chr1stmasCarole · 06/12/2021 07:10

I don't think they'll "cancel Christmas" unless something catastrophic comes to light by then.
At most I think they might reintroduce the rule of six and some distancing rules in pubs and restaurants.
What's most likely though is another miserable January with lots of restrictions and possibly even a short lockdown.

Fairylights25 · 06/12/2021 07:21

Zero chance for Christmas, so enjoy it, because I also feel January there might be more restrictions to get 'on top' of the infection rate post party season and ensure we get through to the spring - and another booster!

Have fun everyone! We deserve it after last year

Claudethecat · 06/12/2021 07:23

Have been socialising normal this weekend snd no-one is remotely bothered by ‘Om….’ -the ludicrous name has made most people realise it’s just hype

Well lucky you and your friends. There are still a lot of people who are worried about getting even a "mild" version of covid as it could still seriously impact them.

Arrowheart · 06/12/2021 07:23

I'd love to see them try to lock us down after all the gaslighting and lying they have done. No one believes a thing they say anymore as they have made us all look like fools. We all comply with the rules and they laugh at us from Downing Street.

Explosivefarts · 06/12/2021 07:24

I think two week circuit breaker in January but not lockdown as we know. Maybe just schools or work from home advice.

Claudethecat · 06/12/2021 07:25

No lockdown in England for Christmas. Not sure about the rest of the UK though.

BoredZelda · 06/12/2021 07:27

Where have you seen this talk?

middleager · 06/12/2021 07:28

@SonicBroom

For everyone saying no one will comply, there won’t be a lockdown unless things get really serious. If they get really serious, especially among younger people, then they’ll comply. For no other reason than to look after themselves.

My view is that there is a LOT we can do before locking down. HH isolation if someone in the family tests positive would make a big difference, that’s why it’s spreading in schools. Same for bubbles and limiting the size of social gatherings. Vaccine passports, wfh, more masking, all effective tools we have available that together add up to allowing us to continue the fundamental things we want to keep going like schools, NHS and keeping businesses open.

I’m in favour of extra measures, localised if need be, to avoid a lockdown. What we have at the moment is farcical. Rates are so high that schools are half empty and round us anyway and at a guess I’d say 1/20 families I know have Covid of some sort right now.

You can lead a horse to water...

Where I live in Birmingham mask wearing seems to be about 50% or less in shops.

People won't comply.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 06/12/2021 07:36

Circuit breakers are utterly pointless as well and just delay the inevitable, as we've seen.

ZoBo123 · 06/12/2021 07:36

I don't think there will be another lockdown for the reason that it will destroy the vaccination campaign. What is the point of getting vaccinated to go back into lockdown. Those who haven't been vaccinated yet won't bother, less people will get boosters. Vaccinations were meant to prevent lockdown that is there selling point

GiveMeNovocain · 06/12/2021 07:36

@HelenaJustina

Conveniently any decision will be made after the majority of schools have broken up so that the Government can maintain that Covid isn’t a problem in schools and continue to push us to prioritise school attendance.
Excellent. Schools are essential services like care homes and hospitals and it's disgraceful they were ever closed. Look at the suffering it caused.
BarbaraofSeville · 06/12/2021 07:38

The variation in mask wearing between areas is interesting. Since the new rules, I've seen around 90% in most shops, up from maybe around 30%, but yesterday I went to a supermarket in another part of the city and it was more like 20/30%, ie about the same as before the new rules coming in.

SelfIdentifiedRightsHoarder · 06/12/2021 07:38

Boris can say whatever he wants, but personally I will continue with Christmas as planned. Me and my family have had all of our vaccinations, we regularly test and have followed every other piece of guidance. What's the point of complying if the end results are still the same? We might as well have not bothered getting the vaccines

Lovemusic33 · 06/12/2021 07:38

There will only be a lockdown if NHS reaches absolute breaking point. The NHS is always stretched this time of year as it’s flu/virus season. There’s nothing to suggest this new omicron is making people as unwell as other variants, although it spreads much faster it’s not really a huge issue unless it’s making people really unwell. I don’t think there will be a lockdown, maybe tighter restrictions but Christmas won’t be cancelled.

fakereview · 06/12/2021 07:38

As pps have said there's a lot more that could be done before a lockdown - eg the plan B restrictions and more mask wearing.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 06/12/2021 07:41

@TwilightSkies

Have been socialising normal this weekend snd no-one is remotely bothered by ‘Om….’ -the ludicrous name has made most people realise it’s just hype

Hype? You clearly aren’t following what scientists are saying.
Omicron is MUCH more contagious delta and loads of children in SA are being hospitalised.
Just because you’re bored of the pandemic and want to socialise, the virus really doesn’t give a damn.
Give it a few weeks and we will see the inevitable.

I wouldn't compare the situation with children in SA to here. SA is desperately poor in many areas, the healthcare is nowhere near as good as ours, a lot of children are malnourished.
rrhuth · 06/12/2021 07:41

Schools should not be closed - but the government aboslutely should be investing in making them places where viruses do nto spread so easily. HEPA filters, air monitoring, better ventilation and in some cases emergency additional space through temporary buildings are all possible.

It shouldn't be a straight chocie between closures or nothing.