[ad_1]
Boris Johnson is still ‘willing to relax Covid’s rules for Christmas’ as a growing number of government advisers and scientists line up to warn that the focus on ‘almost normal’ holiday gatherings will ‘throw fuel on the fire’ of the pandemic.
- Pressure mounts on Boris Johnson over whether to open Britain for Christmas
- Royal College of Emergency Medicine says it should be just a ‘date in the month’
- Ministers consider plans that could last up to five days, possibly just three
Boris Johnson was facing a battle to save Christmas last night after a government adviser warned that allowing festive gatherings would ‘add fuel to the fire’ of the pandemic.
Downing Street said again yesterday that the prime minister was determined to relax Covid restrictions to allow families a break at the end of “an incredibly difficult year.”
The ministers promised to strike a balance with the need to prevent the virus from spiraling out of control.
But a number of scientific and medical experts have warned that allowing families to get together for Christmas risks triggering a third wave of coronavirus in the New Year.
Boris Johnson faces mounting pressure to decide whether to ease lockdown measures over Christmas. A government adviser warned that allowing festive gatherings to take place would “ add fuel to the fire ” of the pandemic
Katherine Henderson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said Christmas should be treated as another ‘date of the month’ this year, adding: ‘If Covid cases turn into hospital cases and then sadly turn into deaths , we will regret a Christmas season that you gifted Grandma Covid for Christmas.
Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the Sage government scientific committee, said allowing family gatherings would create a “substantial risk” of new infections. “My personal opinion is that we are putting too much emphasis on having an almost normal Christmas,” he told Radio 4’s Today show.
“We know that respiratory infections peak in January, so throwing wood on the fire during Christmas can only contribute to this.” And Professor Gabriel Scally, a public health expert at the University of Bristol, said it “doesn’t make sense” to have a merry Christmas just to “bury friends and relatives in January and February.”
Drinkers gathered outside a pub near Battersea, south London, on Thursday night, as Boris Johnson faces pressure on whether the closure measures will ease over Christmas.
Ministers are considering easing the lockdown measures for three to five days over Christmas, but existing rules haven’t stopped people from gathering in Battersea Square on Thursday.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said, “I don’t want to be the Grinch who stole Christmas,” but added: “More than anything, I want us to get over this Covid and try to get this country back to normal.”
Downing Street declined to say whether door-to-door Christmas carols would be allowed, but the prime minister’s spokesman said there would be no ban on the sale of mistletoe.
Ministers are examining a number of options to relax restrictions on Christmas. Under one proposal, families from three or four households could meet, but could not meet anyone else. An alternative would be to simply relax the Rule of Six to allow for larger groups.
In both cases, the plans would last five days maximum, and possibly only three. A proposed schedule would run from Christmas Eve to the bank holiday on December 28.
Downing Street believes that a less restricted Christmas is vital to national morale and fears that families desperate to see their loved ones will ignore the strict rules.
Ministers want to see the latest data on the status of the virus before deciding how far they can go, and Wallace said a decision would be made around Dec. 2, when the current lockdown expires.
A warning from Public Health England that each holiday would have to be followed by five days of lockdown caused irritation in Whitehall and was downplayed.
Health sources said it was based on a “very preliminary model” and another government source said: “It is quite useless for PHE to talk about five days.” How can they know that when we haven’t even decided exactly what the restrictions should be?
People were seen eating and drinking at street forensics in Clapham as scientists warn that Christmas should be treated as another ‘date of the month’ this year.
A government adviser suggested yesterday that indoor socializing should be banned throughout England after December 2.
Sage fellow epidemiologist John Edmunds said the ban, which previously only applied to Level Two and above, would have to be extended. This would be a huge blow to the hospitality industry.
He told ITV’s Peston show: ‘I think we could negotiate Christmas without going into another lockdown; I really hope that is the case.
When I say a confinement I mean what we are in now. I still think that we will have to have restrictions, except probably this little window during Christmas, when I am sure we will relax a little.
He also said he hoped the social distancing rules would somehow last until at least next summer.
