Are you intending to see your family this Christmas come what may, or if there are restrictions will you abide by them ?

Floradora There are plenty of ways you can break the rules without putting anyone under threat of death. If instead of meeting 6 people from 6 different households, I meet 7 from one other household I would say I was actually reducing my risk of either catching COVID or passing it on and there are other similar examples.

I am not saying we should flout the rules, but providing our overriding principle in everything we do is to avoid anything that might increase our risk or that of anyone else of getting COVID, a deviation from the rules is not going to be fatal.

Witnessed a child’s party clearly happening yesterday

I’m concerned that if there is an easing of restrictions for a few days over Christmas to allow for that “normal” Christmas with extended family there could be a high price to pay in January. Numbers will soar and we could all be in a prolonged lockdown to attempt to get it under control. Hospitals are already under immense pressure due to the current covid high numbers filling ICU beds. We haven’t hit the peak yet for flu and other respiratory illnesses which swamp the hospitals every winter. January/Feb could be the perfect storm.

I’ve accepted we’ll have a Christmas like no other. I really don’t care as long as we can all stay as safe as possible. We owe it to each other to take all the precautions we can to save lives and do our bit to try to ease the pressure on our hospital staff who are already expected to work extra shifts to cope with demand. Including my daughter and her colleagues who won’t have a day off to spend with their families on Christmas Day as they’ll be at the bedsides of sick and dying patients. If these last few weeks are anything to go by they’ll be lucky if they get a tea break never mind a Christmas dinner.

Sorry for the rant, but I’m feeling seriously p****d off !

Anyone breaking the rules is a potential killer , blunt but true. We live in a 2 tier area in Scotland . Yesterday , while doing my hair , my hairdresser admitted to going to the nearest city which is in a tier above our ( so forbidden ) and shopped there and visits her daughter there frequently . Most of her clients are quite old so I was really appalled . Thing is we live in a small town and I cannot really go elsewhere . I am glad I only go about every 6 months.

As many of us are wondering what are fate will be over the Christmas holidays and if there will be a lift of restrictions so some of us can see family I have this morning read an article saying that at least 9 Tory M.P.s are warning there will be a rebellion in the party if the lockdown is not lifted on 2nd December and also the British nation as a whole will not take to being told what to do after that date. Some Tory backbenchers saying that Boris is only showing the worst case scenario data and trying to show he has this pandemic under control.
It's getting hard to believe what anyone is saying once again I just switch off listening to it all

All hospitals in Gtr Manchester have stopped anything other than emergency/cancer etc surgery. Our local R is steadily reducing. Most people are wearing masks in shops and the town centres. On our long walks yesterday, we met lots of other walkers, usually in groups of 2 but everyone stepping aside to let each other pass on the narrow paths in the woodlands

The pandemic is effectively over but SAGE won't let this nightmare end.

Not in my area. I was shocked to see numbers in my area had doubled yesterday.

Anyone who thinks that the average Briton will obey any guidelines over Christmas is in my (grumpy Sunday morning) opinion, deluded.
Even now I see people having their “walk with one friend” nothing like 1 metre apart, ditto sitting on benches

I am going to be very daring by saying that what I do will depend on the rules. However I will do nothing that endangers either my health or anybody elses.
Friday,6 November 17.38

I said I would wait for the rules and see what they said and that I would put no-one at risk
Friday, 6 November, 18.13

No 'at last' about it Maw. It is what I have said right from the start(see above) and if the DT article is correct about what the government has in mind, I will definitely be ignoring government rules over Christmas and setting my own rules and they will be a lot stricter than those the government sets.

I find it rather worrying that if anyone expresses any doubts on government policy and rules on COVID, they are immediately classfied as a rule breaking party goer, even though they make the point in every post that they currently obey the rules but are just not prepared to commit to obeying rules they have yet to see - and when it looks as if the rules will be very lax - most emphatically will ignore them.

It is impossible to discuss what anyone will do over Christmas because we do not know what the Christmas rules will be and you cannot discuss what you do not know

M0nica precisely - at last!
How often have others on this thread as well as I, said exactly that in response to the question on the thread title?
So I do not understand why there need have been any argument.

I mean a smaller number if cases, not population.

JenniferEccles

I have often wondered how they arrive at the R rate and how accurate it is, especially since so much government policy regarding Covid-19 is based on it.

Doesn't the R rate become less meaningful when an area has a smaller number in the first place? Some areas also have huge extremes.

maddyone

Gaga I sincerely hope you are able to get home and see your little grandson this Christmas, but again, you need to consider the quarantine required before you can see your family.

I will sit in my house in the UK happy to quarantine to see GS. They had Covid a few weeks ago so I shouldn't be a risk to them. The risk on the flight will be to me. But living overseas with no family or friends isn't bearable if I can't see family a few times a year.

Maw Hetty I wasn't talking about Christmas, I was talking about everyday behaviour in the area we live in.

It is impossible to discuss what anyone will do over Christmas because we do not know what the Christmas rules will be and you cannot discuss what you do not know.

However, sn article in the DT today based on papers released by SAGE did suggest a significant loosening of restrictions over Christmas followed by what SAGE call 'voluntary' quarantine. They also speak of large family gatherings, pubs and parties. I must say that sounds excessive and madness to me, and I will be doing none of those three.

But until the regulations are officially announced, there is little we can say.

I have often wondered how they arrive at the R rate and how accurate it is, especially since so much government policy regarding Covid-19 is based on it.

I know maddyone - and it would be very difficult because of our dog, as discussed on another thread.

In our mind and heart, we have accepted that we probably won't see them until Easter. But should circumstances change, we will just jump in the car and drive- we are not expecting it to happen. If it does, it will be a huge bonus.

Gaga I sincerely hope you are able to get home and see your little grandson this Christmas, but again, you need to consider the quarantine required before you can see your family.

At the moment biba driving would probably be safer but you have to think about the quarantine when you arrive here. Maybe it’s not a problem as you’re probably retired, but in any case the rules at the moment don’t allow mixing, but hopefully that will be relaxed by then and you can see your family.

I think we have accepted that this won't happen for us- but we would drive.

I hope I will be able to go home to see my family but given that it includes flying, am going to wait to see how things are nearer the time.

All lives are important.
I was moved to see that there is an alternative Albert Hall remembrance festival tonight. We have a duty to remember those who paid the ultimate price so that future generations could flourish. It is all about thinking of others before ourselves and I agree with those GNs who want their children and grandchildren to lead their lives to the full.

Hetty58

M0nica, I can't see the logic in calculating risks according to your local area. People often travel vast distances to see family at Christmas.

I'm sure quite a few will still do so - and bring the virus with them. Therefore it's a time to be ultra careful/cautious, wherever you live.

This was my thinking too Hetty58

It was on the radio today. I think it was a discussion on the Today programmen R4. I should have said and if R is down to 1 or just below.

Iam64, we know quite a lot about COVID, we know that its primary method of infection is from aerosol droplets. Which means masks are essential, anywhere where we are in close contact with other people, which includes some outside locations. When queuing for vegetables in the market I always wear a mask, even though it is outside because social distancing is difficult. I also wear gloves.

While some areas do have a real problem with hospital admissions, when the DM looked into the statistics given in last weeks presentation, they found that the graph was truncated to only show hospitals under pressure, the majority of hospitals that had no COVID patients were excluded from the graph.

I am obeying all the COVID regulations and I am reasonably sure the day to day statistics of cases and deaths are correct but when government statistics are shown to have been deliberately incorrect and misleading, it behoves us to look very carefully at every statistic they publish and ask questions because they have shown they cannot be trusted.

M0nica, I can't see the logic in calculating risks according to your local area. People often travel vast distances to see family at Christmas.

I'm sure quite a few will still do so - and bring the virus with them. Therefore it's a time to be ultra careful/cautious, wherever you live.

You may think it’s immoral Casdon, but what I think is immoral is putting our child last. Thankfully the government have decided to keep schools open this time.

Iam I absolutely agree that the deaths of younger people are horrendous, in particular the several hundred medics who have lost their lives.