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Boris Johnson warned that “a smaller Christmas will be a safer Christmas” as he urged the public to view the festive bubbles of three households as “highs” and not as “targets to aspire to.”
The prime minister confirmed that the Christmas COVID rules will not change in law.
But he admitted that the “general situation” is now “worse and more challenging” than when the relaxation of restrictions during the holiday period was announced last month.
For five days between December 23 and 27, people across the UK will still be able to mingle in private homes with those in their “Christmas bubble” of up to three households, while travel restrictions will also be lifted.
Johnson said it would be wrong to “criminalize” people who have already made plans and “just want to spend time with their loved ones.”
But he said he was asking people to “think carefully and in detail about the next few days and whether you can do more to protect yourself and others,” and urged the public to act well within the rules.
“A smaller Christmas will be a safer Christmas and a shorter Christmas will be a safer Christmas,” the prime minister told a news conference in Downing Street on Wednesday.
Johnson also advised the public that:
- reduce the number of people you are in contact with to the minimum possible during the five days before the relaxation of Christmas restrictions begins on December 23
- Avoid traveling from a high prevalence area to a low prevalence area, if possible
- Avoid overnight stays away from home if you can
- Consider waiting to see your elderly relatives until after they have been vaccinated.
- avoiding crowds at the Boxing Day sales
- don’t gather in large groups to celebrate the New Year
The prime minister told the press conference that there had been “worrying increases” in COVID infections in some parts of the country, and that London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire were included in Level 3 measures earlier this week.
“So have a merry little Christmas and, I’m afraid, this year I mean little,” Johnson said.
“But with the vaccine and all the other measures that we are taking, we know that things will improve in this country by Easter.
“And I am sure that next year Christmas will be normal for all the families in the country.”
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, told Britons to “be small, brief, local, and think of the most vulnerable people” when meeting for Christmas.
