– Christmas is ruined

European fears over the new mutation of the virus have isolated the British on their islands. Many families will not be able to celebrate Christmas together, and the mood among the population is at an all-time low.

With a worldwide ban on entry from Britain until January 6, unless the rules change, the British are forced to celebrate Christmas in the British Isles. 20 million people in London and the south-east of England are totally locked out after news of the mutated virus, which will be up to 70 percent more contagious than the original variant, has created great insecurity.

– It is with great regret that I must announce that we cannot celebrate Christmas as planned, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said as he moved London and the south-east of England into the fourth most serious infection category on Saturday night.

This means that people have to stay home for Christmas and New Years. No one should know people from other households.

Serious mood

– It feels like the virus surrounds us. It is getting closer and closer. With the new mutation, it feels different. Everyone knows someone who is infected, and that makes me feel very insecure, says psychotherapist Stephen Sheils of Camden, north London, when we speak to him on the phone.

– I’m going for a walk. We can go out once a day. And I notice that there is a more serious mood now, after the last measures were introduced, he says into the microphone.

For Stephen Sheils, this means that he has had to cancel his planned Christmas celebration with the entire family, including a daughter for whom he has shared parental responsibility.

– Christmas is ruined, he says.

There have been several outbursts at the daughter’s school in recent weeks, and together with the daughter’s mother, she made the decision to remove her from school before Christmas break began.

– We think it’s only a matter of time before we infect ourselves, says Stephen Sheils.

The government’s decision to put London and south-east England into infection category four with a few hours’ notice meant thousands of people flocked to train and bus stations to reach their families further north sooner. the closure was implemented, despite calls from authorities to the contrary. . It may have caused an enormous spread of the infection, according to various health experts.

The hoarding has started again

– It was a big shock. My father called me in the morning and said, “Have you heard that they have found a new variant of the virus? It is 70 percent more contagious.” I believe and hope that people are very attentive now. I’m not sure people have been careful enough so far, says Ria Belinda Mundell, who is very careful because she goes to regular hospital treatment and will therefore be more exposed to infection.

She lives in the South London suburb of Hampton Court with her boyfriend, Daniel Conant. The couple will have plenty of Christmas food left over.

– Four weeks ago we ordered lamb for eight people, when we were going to have dinner with our parents and brothers. Now it’s just the two of us, and Christmas is just over, he says.

2020 has hit the couple hard. They first had to cancel their planned wedding, and in July Ria Belina Mundell lost her job as the head of a chain of costume shops when the company went bankrupt.

She says the uncertain social environment is palpable.

– People have accumulated again in stores, as seen in the spring when the virus first arrived in the country. A friend who lives next door called us and warned us that there are almost no items on the shelves at the local store, so I think we need to go a little further to buy.

Christmas without guests from London

In the north of England, they have risen to infection category three. This means that contact between two households is allowed, but only on Christmas Day, which is the day the British gather for the Christmas holidays.

For pastry chef Angela Rogerson and her family, Christmas should have been an event that finally brought the family together after a year of separation due to the crown, but ended the latest restrictions. The recently introduced travel restrictions will particularly affect your family.

– We have relatives in London and outside England who should have been with us at Christmas. We haven’t seen them in a whole year because of the crown. It’s very sad, she says.

In Europe alone, at least 14 countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, have canceled all flights to and from the UK. Train traffic under the English Channel to and from the European continent is also suspended.

Stores are missing products

Angela Rogerson will now celebrate Christmas with her husband, two grown children and her 82-year-old mother-in-law.

– My mother-in-law will be vaccinated against the crown in two weeks. We are concerned about your health so we make sure to keep our distance and have alcohol on the tables. And all the windows will be open.

Carlisle, who sits near the Scottish border, is a shadow of himself, even on a crown scale, says Angela Rogerson.

– It is horrible to walk in the center of the city. Many of the stores that are open are short of products, he says.

She is also nervous that the mutated virus will spread from London and the southeast of the country.

Brexit just around the corner

By New Years, Britain will leave the internal market and the EU customs union, and with protracted negotiations on fishing quotas and a new trade deal at a Gordian knot, a ‘hard’ Brexit with no agreement between the EU and the UK seems like a real possibility. The unpredictable political game and the crisis of the crown are creating chaos in many minds looking to the future.

In Manchester, 38-year-old Lee Jones fears that England’s current shutdown could be a grim foretaste of the post-Brexit era.

– My fear is that we will be an isolated and xenophobic island with disturbingly high unemployment, poverty and crime, without the help of a government that does not understand its citizens and without global partners to come to our rescue. I don’t want my children to grow up in a future like this. But my fears may be unfounded, says Lee Jones.

In Camden, London, Stephen Sheils thinks the uncertainty surrounding Brexit is depressing:

– It is as if we have a disease in our country, and Brexit is part of this disease, he says.

Stephen Sheils fears that the British government will use the crown crisis as an excuse if Brexit turns out to be a total failure for Britain.

– The government will be able to blame the crisis of the crown for future economic crises and the decline of society, and it will be extremely difficult for citizens to know what the root of the problem really is, he says.

Angela Rogerson agrees that the crown crisis has overshadowed the Brexit debate, but she’s equally tired of both.

– At home with us, the attitude is that we just want Brexit to end now. We can’t bear to hear more about it. It has been going on for four years. We would be quite happy with a hard Brexit if it means we can move on, he says.

BERGENS TIDENDE / POLITIKEN