Prime Minister to hold press conference at 16.00

Essex is in the East of England and has been put into Tier 4, but three districts have been excluded.

Then again, they haven't seen 19 year olds dying have they ?

vegansrock

Last minute u turns again. My local ( big as seen on TV) teaching hospital are doing Covid vaccinations for over 80s. Very few of those invited have turned up. They are putting out a call for anyone over 80 to come along. Why don’t they give the vaccine to the frontline healthcare workers?!

Last minute U turns? Well I think this one is needed.

For many their nearest teaching hospital is miles away. Maybe lots of over 80s simply can't get there.

Tier 4 areas:

Kent
Buckinghamshire
Berkshire
Surrey (excluding Waverley)
The boroughs of Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings
All 32 London boroughs and the city of London.
Bedford, Central Bedfordshire Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough,
Hertfordshire
Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring).

Even the scientists et al were not old enough to remember when we had the Asian 'flu pandemic or deadly Hong Kong 'flu. So what do they know ? This mutation will affect children and young adults as Asian 'flu did.

vegansrock

Last minute u turns again. My local ( big as seen on TV) teaching hospital are doing Covid vaccinations for over 80s. Very few of those invited have turned up. They are putting out a call for anyone over 80 to come along. Why don’t they give the vaccine to the frontline healthcare workers?!

It's not a U turn. Vaccinating a handful of frontline healthcare workers would be a U turn.

Many 80 year olds in our area relied on a car service to get them to hospital, all now cancelled, plus they have to go in on their own, not easy if you can’t manage easily, or don’t know where you are going, then you have to get there again a couple of weeks (or is it 3) later for the second one.
Not to mention trying to park a car at our nearest Hospital it’s an absolute nightmare. Let’s hope their appointments are flexible with the timings.

EllanVannin

Even the scientists et al were not old enough to remember when we had the Asian 'flu pandemic or deadly Hong Kong 'flu. So what do they know ? This mutation will affect children and young adults as Asian 'flu did.

How do you know that? Do you have a hotline to Porton Down? Neither Asian nor Hong Kong flu was a coronavirus.

Covid: What are the new tiers and lockdown rules in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518

I always feel that Chris Witty wants to say more..but isnt allowed to...

The detail for Wales in now incorrect as Wales is going into lockdown from
Midnight it seems, apart from some relaxation on Christmas Day.

I felt Johnson spoke like an adult for a change (with no reference to whacking moles, sombreros or putting his arms round anyone).

That was the most worrying part!

Can’t stand Johnson & I think it was obvious that the 5 day 3 household idea was daft. But I am pleased to see him doing this now - it is the right decision. A lot of his Party have been agitating for fewer restrictions so I think he deserves some credit for not pandering to them.

I can’t help thinking that given the spread of this new strain opening schools again in January while relying on lateral flow tests which are known to miss large numbers of cases isn’t the most sensible of plans.

He should have done this weeks ago. If 80 year olds can’t get to hospital, it isn’t the fault of the hospital, they should vaccinate health care workers rather than waste the vaccine.

Nezumi65

Can’t stand Johnson & I think it was obvious that the 5 day 3 household idea was daft. But I am pleased to see him doing this now - it is the right decision. A lot of his Party have been agitating for fewer restrictions so I think he deserves some credit for not pandering to them.

I can’t help thinking that given the spread of this new strain opening schools again in January while relying on lateral flow tests which are known to miss large numbers of cases isn’t the most sensible of plans.

I hope the majority of secondary school pupils will be told to stay at home. Schools are better prepared now for blended/online learning. The DfE needs to distribute the promised laptops as soon as possible. They really have had enough time to plan all this.

The mass testing in schools idea is bonkers. The idea is not to send any pupils home, but to keep testing them if somebody in their bubble proves positive. However, the test only picks up about 50% of cases and the virus will continue to spread like wildfire. Not only that, but the people administering the tests won't have had adequate training and are expected to teach face-to-face and online at the same time - and spend their Christmas holidays planning all this.

vegansrock

He should have done this weeks ago. If 80 year olds can’t get to hospital, it isn’t the fault of the hospital, they should vaccinate health care workers rather than waste the vaccine.

But some 80 year olds maybe can get to hospital, so the vaccine won't be wasted. Only 400,000 people can be vaccinated anyway.

I have just found an email from my boy's school saying more or less the same.

It states that until or unless they are informed about how the testing is to be implemented then they're unable to update parents.

Just on the phone to DD. GS secondary closed after Christmas except the exam year students.

All of mainland Scotland to be placed into level 4 from Boxing Day, family mixing only allowed only on Christmas Day, a travel ban and schools returning later than planned ....
Didn’t see that coming .... ?

I wasn’t surprised, and given the new facts around Covid, it’s the right thing to do.
We are in tier 3 so Christmas Day plans stay the same for us, but as our family are all local it wouldn’t have mattered too much if things had to be postponed.I do feel very sorry for those who had made plans and now can’t do it and who haven’t seen their AC for a long time.

Johnson’s mistake was in saying ( too early) what could happen over the Christmas week, when it should always have been more flexible depending on virus transmission.

We 7 in T3 will still meet on Christmas Day. 1pm till 6pm.
I feel dreadfully sorry for all those in the new T4 area.

growstuff I agree with everything you’ve said on this.

Bizarrely I agree Lemongrove. I don’t know why he needed to say anything about Christmas !

Urmstongran

We 7 in T3 will still meet on Christmas Day. 1pm till 6pm.
I feel dreadfully sorry for all those in the new T4 area.

growstuff I agree with everything you’ve said on this.

Well! That could be a first! I'm not really an argumentative ogre and know it all.

Whatever your plans are, I wish you the best Christmas you can have!