So, who is going out in the run up to the 25th. ?

Noname

Me! I went out with three friends last night for a meal at a chain restaurant, where there was good spacing of tables and mask wearing by staff etc. Felt very safe. Am meeting two other friends for lunch today and will be sensible! Life has to go on (I am LFT three times a week and PCR once a week. Triple jabbed)

Why do you take a PCR test once a week if you have no symptoms? They're expensive and it seems a waste of money.

We have cancelled nothing. We're fully 'jabbed up' and still taking all precautions as before. All the family will be doing LFTs prior to coming together at Christmas. Life really must go on.

I don’t have any pre Christmas plans other than tomorrow night as I’m going to my sons house to babysit so that he and her s DW can go out for a meal to celebrate his birthday .

Usernametaken

I have never been as concerned as i am now about what this government is getting away with! We are testing people for what is now the common cold, ARE WE MAD?! levels are going to be through the roof, its respiratory season, and we have all been locked away for a year making us more susceptable to illness!! WAKE UP ITS THE SNIFFLES!!!!

No, this is not the common cold !!! Ridiculous to remotely think it is .
Your lack of knowledge and empathy leaves me cold.

Cancelled friends meet up, cancelled Pantomine cancelled circus. Family made decisions together regarding children and elderly members of our family, so we can hopefully enjoy Christmas together.

No more Christmas events planned for this year - my couple were last week, but tbh I am struggling to have much heart for Christmas so quite happy to just stop in. I have bought the turkey and stuff but would be quite happy not to even bother with that, don't this DH could care less either.
I feel for the hospitality industry as they are really suffering due to the volume of cancellations but they can't claim the financial recompense from the govt that would be available in the event of an official lockdown; many won't survive and I think that there will be numerous closures of pubs, cafes, hotels, B&Bs etc. Let's face it, we have to accept that there will be no end to Covid (once this mutation dies out there will be another waiting in the wings, doubtless as or more transmissable/deadly etc) and that our lives for the forseeable future will be governed totally by it. China have a lot to answer for!

We are having a quiet Xmas at home - no mixing at all. The Omicron variant is very obviously highly infectious and will overwhelm the NHS so why add to the problem along with the unvaccinated?

We’ve been in Edinburgh for the last few days. Restaurants have been full but the manager in our hotel said they were getting lots of cancellations. I do think when you’re double jabbed and boosted you just need to get on with things otherwise what’s the point?

Hermit here too.
Why would I risk my family’s future.
Still saying home. Essential shopping and still having garden visits only. Christmas will have garden visits and Zoom lunch.
Don’t understand why some are reliant on ‘If they do it so can I’ Why all this stupidity,
I hear some saying “but I miss the family so I see them” This is being totally selfish and risking their future.
Sorry if this hurts it’s been a long long couple of years keeping my family safe with no family in my home. Garden visits and distant cuddles is our future. It’s not what I want but we have to be the grown ups.

I’ve been confined with a terrible cough for the last fortnight so no I worn’t be out and about before Christmas!

Quiet Christmas for us too. No run up events planned as we are being on the safe side. Going to DD on boxing Day, all being well, but we will play that by ear too.

I am struggling to understand why I have had 2 vaccinations and a (diabolical) booster to give me the freedom to be around other people, to have all the scaremongering about mixing that is worse than last year. I have no intention of changing any plans as I haven’t any and am probably going to book to go out for a meal next week, it’s important to support the hospitality industry. I am also quite a responsible person and don’t mix if I’m ill in any way. If you are worried about the Omicron variant please watch Prof Tim Spector (of the Zoe app) and Dr John Campbell - 2 voices of reason. We have to learn to live with this virus endemically. As one elderly friend said - she would rather die than live like a hermit.

My last Christmas jolly was last Saturday, pub packed and no sign of social distancing. Luckily taxis late picking us up so a swift half in heated garden was enough. Restaurant also busy but tables well spaced. Hospital appointment Monday but no other outings. Have been buying non perishables and freezer good for a few weeks, presents bought and wrapped so just online shop for delivery Xmas Eve. Just 6 of us at mine on Xmas Day- all jabbed and doing lateral flow tests before coming. Just a quick daily trot round block for me in the coming week.

I can't really believe that I'm reading all this. I don't know why people persist in thinking it's going away or that it's only for, "another few months". We have to learn to live with Covid, accept masking in crowded areas, take our shots and just get on with life. Covid is here to stay and it will continue to mutate. The medics will continue to come up with boosters designed to counter the latest strains. In short, it will become like 'flu. It will continue to kill the weak and vulnerable and the rest of us will have to put up with the occasional bout of feeling thoroughly rotten while we fight off an attack.
Have we learned nothing from New Zealand? Everyone thought in summer 2020 that they were doing such a good job and their PM was feted all over the media. Then they unlocked and got it like the rest of the world. Viruses do not go away. They are amongst the most successful life forms on the planet.
Lighten up folks and have a good Christmas, see your loved ones, protect your vulnerable ones but, most importantly, live your lives.

Granddaughter tested positive this morning so my Christmas Day family get together is falling apart already. I think I'll just retreat to the back of my cave again!!!

You’re very brave getting your online food shop delivered on Xmas Eve Nannina. I wouldn’t risk things being unavailable so late. My Tesco driver has told me awful stories of people getting their deliveries that late only to find the turkeys had run out …

I have DH's funeral on 23rd, so am only going out if I need to! Don't really care what happens after that!

I don’t have too much planned but certainly going to what there is a lunch out today with some friends another on Monday with a best friend and a works meal on Tuesday
I ll do a test at home wear my mask to and from and hope for the best
I have heard of people (not rumours, known people) swapping tests at airports I know of people getting into clubs using each other’s passes It’s never going to work with so many frequent changes and woolly a b and cs We can only do what we feel is right if we test (if we can get the test boxes !!!) before going anywhere then we won’t put others in jeopardy

I never have much planned for Christmas, other than seeing my family and going on a few little jaunts with them. This year will be the same unless one of us tests positive for Covid. We have all been triple jabbed and according to the government’s endless pronouncements therefore have a good level of protection. Mind you, they may well change their minds tomorrow but I for one feel perfectly ok with my limited celebrations.

So sorry GrannyHaggis. How truly awful for you. Many of us have little to complain about.?

Not cancelled anything.Off tonight to a concert.Yee gods its the flu not the black death!

Friends for lunch here on Monday, all agreed to test before coming. 3 of us going for a meal on Christmas Eve, all fully jabbed so will go, only small! Avoiding big places and crowds. Only 3 of us on Christmas Day. Son, Daughter in law and one grand daughter positive this week. We are keeping well away but leaving supplies etc on the doorstep. Nightmare!

Yes just a cold. Nothing to worry about.?!

This picture tells a different story.

I'm not changing any of my plans, travelling up to Yorkshire to visit my DM (now permanently in a Care Home) with my DD, we're both double jabbed & boosted. LFC to be done before we go to Care Home.

I have been attending Hospital Appointment 2/3 times a week for months, my life won't change, I avoid shopping in busy supermarkets, preferring to use local shops.

I visit my family, DD & DGSs have had Covid so obviously I stayed away. I also visit my gentleman friend, we both do regular LFCs.

Christmas Day I will go to DDs in the morning & leave about 3pm as normal.

My neighbour has broken her pelvis so I pick up bits of shopping for her & go into her house (she's 76 & had all her jabs)

We must learn to live with Covid, I refuse to be frightened into becoming a hermit. I take all the precautions, mask in shops, wash hands regularly & use sanitiser. I'm 66 & have health & mobility issues so I refuse to miss out on seeing my family & friends whilst I am able

I went out for lunch with my crafty ladies yesterday, and the restaurant was very busy. I was given a lift and wore my mask in the car. I had to trail down to the Italian Consulate in central London today for a long-awaited appointment, so was travelling on public transport, then we had lunch in a pub, which was very quiet. Next week have arranged to meet friends individually in a pub for a drink and possibly a meal, but we are playing it by ear with regards to closure of venues and infection rates, as two of my friends are extremely vulnerable healthwise, and the decision will be theirs. Christmas will be spent with my daughter and her family. She only lives a couple of miles away, but I will stay overnight and come back home on Boxing Day.