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The rules that allow families to get together over Christmas could be revised after severe warnings from hospitals and experts about the risk to the NHS of an increase in coronavirus cases.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove will meet with representatives from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss the UK-wide approach that was agreed upon a fortnight ago, which would allow three households to meet indoors during five days.
A government source said the meeting had been called to discuss “the current circumstances” around the Christmas rules, but said nothing had been agreed yet. “We keep all policies under review, this is no different, it would be irresponsible not to assess where the circumstances are,” said a source.
It is understood that the options under consideration include reducing the period, the rules are relaxed from five days to three days, as well as reducing the number of households allowed to mix from three to two, although nothing has been finalized.
Another Whitehall source confirmed that discussions were underway and that if anything was to change, it was likely to be announced “sooner rather than later.”
They said, “It’s a really difficult decision. From a public health perspective, the implications may be clear, but there are many more things to consider. “
On Tuesday afternoon, Nicola Sturgeon reported to the Holyrood parliament that her government was now considering whether to make any changes to the Christmas rules while conducting its weekly review of Scotland’s 5-tier system of Covid controls.
He told the MSPs who had informed him that through genomic sequencing, nine cases of the new Covid variant had been identified in Scotland, all within the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
“We are considering whether additional precautions need to be taken in light of what we know so far, including whether there should be any changes over the Christmas period due to this or the wider context, and will discuss all of this with the other UK governments. on a four-nation call later this afternoon. “
This had been planned as the last review before Christmas, but Sturgeon told MSPs that, in light of the “volatile” case numbers in some areas, there will be another review next Tuesday.
Labor has asked the Westminster government to reconsider its decision to allow households to mingle between December 23 and 27, saying the consequences could be unthinkable. In a letter to Boris Johnson, Labor leader Keir Starmer urged him to call a meeting of the UK government’s emergency Cobra committee, saying that Labor would support the government if it changed the rules.
Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary who chairs the Commons health committee, also urged ministers to consider changing plans for Christmas, saying it would be “a very, very dangerous and precarious situation” for the NHS to enter in January with very high levels of Covid bed occupancy.
The meeting comes amid growing calls from senior doctors to reconsider Christmas relaxation plans. In a rare joint editorial, the British Medical Journal and the Health Service Journal said the government could no longer claim to protect the NHS if it went ahead with its “hasty” plans to allow households to mingle indoors during Christmas.
Countries in Europe have announced strict closures during the holiday period, including Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
