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Scientists concerned about rising coronavirus levels have called for scrapping Christmas in favor of a summer vacation.
The Independent SAGE advisory group said the UK could see a massive spike in Covid-19 cases in January if the Christmas festivities run normally.
Families thinking of visiting relatives should limit these visits to family members who may be celebrating their last Christmas, the group said.
The organization said: “It must be emphasized that if everyone chooses to take advantage of the three-household rule (in England), there is a very serious danger of a third wave of the pandemic.
SAGE also said there should be a “pandemic fuel allowance” to cover heating bills, while households keep windows and doors open during the Christmas holidays, the Mirror reported.
Professor Stephen Reicher said: “If people decide to come together, there needs to be clear guidance on how to maintain safe and clear support.
“I think there should be a fuel subsidy for the pandemic so that all families, including the poorest, can keep the windows open and get warm.”
He added: “It is not just that the government tells us what to do, it is that the government supports us.”
In Wales, Prime Minister Mark Drakeford said the country could enter another national lockdown after Christmas if cases continue to rise.
A four-tier lockdown system will be introduced which will likely cause Wales to move to the upper tier after Christmas, equivalent to a full lockdown.
Speaking on Friday, the Prime Minister said the virus is spreading faster in Wales than all of his models had predicted and he was facing having 2,500 patients in hospital by Christmas.
He added: “The plan establishes four alert levels. We are at alert level three. The traffic light is red. The risk level is very high.”
“I must be clear with you: if the reinforced measures of last week and the additional actions of this week, together with the efforts of each and every one of us fail to turn the tide of the virus, then it is inevitable that we will have to move on to the alert level four after Christmas. “
Wales has by far the highest coronavirus infection rate of any part of the UK and a significantly higher coronavirus death rate than anywhere else in the UK.
There are now nine local authorities with rates above 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Have you changed your plans for Christmas in recent weeks due to the pandemic? We want to know
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