Christmas break?

Listen to yourselves Olive - and AlanaV and ajaswan
Arguments such as

There were no masks worn at the beginning of lockdown as we were told they won’t work. Now everyone is wearing them and guess what, The rate of infection is increasing
If it’s all a hoax - what rate?
What infection?
I find it hard to credit that anybody (apart from Donald Trump) still believes this is all some sort of hoax .
Live in your bubble of denial if you must but take a peep outside at the real world.

winterwhite- sadly so true what you have said. Yet, largely totally ignored by the selfish people on these sort of threads who just keep on repeating how they have locked themselves down in their homes for months (forgetting they have only been able to do that because so many others have continued going out to work).
If shops, and hospitality are not permitted to open for December, many (indeed, could be most) of them will NEVER re-open.
Our High Streets are already looking so very sad, so very many empty shops and premises, and so many of the last few are hanging on by their finger tips.
Yes, this is a nasty virus, yes, it kills, particularly the older people. So does flu, and pneumonia and heart attacks, and strokes and many, many other illnesses.
Death had not been invented in 2020, has always been with us with tens of thousands of people dying in the UK every year, particularly during the winter months.
BUT,,,,,,we have trashed the economy, the education of our young people, the lives of tens of thousands who will have lost their jobs, maybe their homes and their relationships.
It will be decades before things have recovered.
I do not care about Christmas or any other festival, but I am very, very concerned about the rising rates of suicide,, mental breakdowns, etc.

Surely to goodness people can wait until the year's out ? Or we'll be going through all this again second time around and I know I couldn't hack another year of solitary confinement , especially brought on by the sheer selfishness of others.

Totally agree with you Jillybird - and I think we might have shared a father

Well said, Jillybird! I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ajswan agree with every word you said. There were no masks worn at the beginning of lockdown as we were told they won’t work. Now everyone is wearing them and guess what, The rate of infection is increasing. People are even wearing them in their cars, all alone, do they also wear them in bed!!
Get the country back to normal, the suicide rate is increasing at an alarming rate
And what about those poor people waiting and waiting for life saving surgery and treatment. Their lives obviously not important.

If you want to see your family over Christmas,and it's allowed,you could all self isolate for the two weeks before Christmas and then in theory you would be safe to meet up

I think BoJo is going to say its fine because people are going to do it anyway.
Let's face it, how will the government stop families getting together and breaking regulations? They haven't managed it so far, even with MPs!!
Thats not to say I think its a good idea.
But the thought of people sitting on their own Christmas day is too bleak for some to bear .

NO! NO! NO! There should NOT be a Christmas break. This lockdown should continue into the New Year, preferably until Spring. By then the vaccination programme may be under way and the colder months and flu season will be easing. Our NHS need all the time and help we can give them to get through this winter, and beyond. If we all start travelling around to family and friends just because it's Christmas we will only perpetuate this virus and the inevitable lockdowns right through next year as well. CHRISTMAS IS JUST ONE DAY! We can all speak to and keep in contact with our loved ones on that day without physically being with them. We haven't seen our GC since last Christmas and we won't see them this year (we have told them not to visit us), but we can send them presents and speak to them, and I certainly don't worry that they will forget us. As the saying goes 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'. Sadly some businesses will not survive, that was always going to be inevitable, but others will adapt through online selling/delivery/take-out menus etc etc. None of them will be helped by us rushing out and partying which will only result in further restictions being imposed on them when the virus spikes again. So lets ALL be sensible this season and have some consideration for those around us.

ajswan
I know what I'd like to say to you here but my comment would probably be removed. Suffice to say YOU are the selfish one. You just carry on with your 'normal' life and lets see if you find it so normal when you, or a loved one, is on a ventilator fighting for their life. How will your family feel about you if you (even unknowingly) pass the virus on to them? For God's sake use some common sense and abide by the rules.

ALANaV are you suggesting it’s all a hoax? I had a phone call from a close friend this morning. Her neighbour has died as a result of covid. She was a fit and healthy 30 yr old mother of 3 small children who was left feeling “under the weather” after a bout of covid 2 months ago. It left her with an underlying heart condition which caused a massive heart attack.

I must phone back and tell my friend to pass on to her grieving husband, who’s been left to bring up 3 little children, that this is all a hoax.

As you said, this all has to end sometime. But thanks to folk with your attitude and behaviour it it’s all going to take much longer. More lives will be lost.

Merry Christmas

Doreen 5 I too have not left my house and garden since March elderly and to be honest scared as dont think I would survive if I caught it. Best wishes to you.

Our children all have school aged children, so we won’t be seeing them until we’ve been vaccinated. Sharing Christmas with friend who is shielding.
Seems ridiculous to open up a five day window to let covid loose again.

I think we have to continue over Christmas but then the Governments of all countries need to take stock of what is happening. There are so many other things which are in meltdown because of the way this pandemic has been dealt with.

I think the five day break will happen and then we'll be banged up again!

Lazyriver

The fact that we are on this website means we are older and maybe wiser. What would you have thought about all this when you were a child or a teenager? I know full well that at 17, I would have met the 19 year who would one day be my husband, wherever and whenever we could. That was our 'time' and we would have taken it. Can you honestly say you wouldn't have too?
I hear what you are saying and believe that you must all do what is right for you, but don't begrudge others who decide to meet their families.
We cannot go on like this as human beings, without social contact we wither and die. To live in fear is not to live at all.
How much damage has been done to our next generation already?
They have a right to live their lives as much as we did when we were their age.
No I don't think mass gatherings are a good plan, but there needs to be a sensible, individual approach. It is your choice to remain separate from others, but don't let the fear culture drive us mad.
My own Xmas is always close family and quiet, as we all work right up until the last minute anyway ( not me this year)
So this year will be much the same.
Just for the record, I do follow all the rules although live in a rural county. Mostly I'm fed up with being told endless lies by politicians and the press, and seeing how frightened everyone is.

Agree wholeheartedly time for large gatherings are for the future, hopefully. Only difference to keeping within your bubble this Christmas would be to allow two grandparents to visit together, and sort the visiting for care homes and prevent people having to die without seeing their loved ones whether in a home or in hospital. Large family/ can’t choose? Just put a limit on numbers and if necessary the family can split into multiple small gatherings rather than one large one if you can Zoom/FaceTime etc, have a family quiz. My son is getting married in February in Australia but I won’t be there of course, except in spirit, and watching the live broadcast. I haven’t seen my grandchildren there for over two years and it looks like at least one more, but we have to learn to cope with what life throws at us and take care of ourselves and others by heeding advice and regulations

This news makes me disgusted and sick to my stomach. I, like anyone else am desperate to see my loved ones, especially after nearly dying of the virus myself, but we have to put our wants and needs aside for the greater good of mankind. Once we're through this, have all the parties you want, I'll come to all of them, but not now, it's irresponsible.

Barrygirl

Other important celebrations have been carried out under lockdown - Eid, Diwali to mention but too. Why should we complain if Christmas ends up being a bit of digital fest?

Christmas isn’t a Christian festival for the vast majority of people in this country now though. It’s a national holiday when everyone I know, of all faiths and none, apart from the Jehovah’s Witness families, get together with family and friends, and share many of the same traditions. We’re all going to miss out, sadly, not just Christians.

Of course it’s a shame that people of all faiths have had to put up with very different celebrations this year. Including Christians at Easter.

I despair of the selfishness of some humans!

Oh please......this HAS to end sometime !!!! the whole situation is getting out of hand ...scaremongering tactics without a grain of truth just to keep the population under control ! I shall NOT be isolating and as soon as any travel ban ANYWHERE is lifted I am off ....my life my choice, AND before anyone jumps on me for being 'selfish; or irresponsible, well, all I can say is if I catch it, then SOMEONE else must have been !!! fait accompli

Personally I’d rather sacrifice Christmas for the chance to have much reduced infection rate in the Spring and then a better Summer

It's completely mad. Not only covid 19 wise but just think how much pollution will be avoided and accidents prevented if there is less travelling at the worst time of year. Much better for us all to be a bit calmer.

ajswan

Oh bah humbug, I do not believe the figures for deaths. I saw a graph somewhere that showed that the majority of deaths were aged over 80. Also if someone for example had terminal lung cancer and had tested positive just before they died, they would count as having died of Covid. This lockdown is unreasonable and unworkable. We have people still going to work and children still going to school. My bus was full of teenagers and hardly any of them wore masks. I also saw figures that more people are dying of other untreated conditions such as heart attacks and cancer. The economy is shot. I feel so sorry for small businesses. I think that people calling for more lockdowns especially over Christmas are totally selfish. If you are that worried then stay in and let the rest of us get on with a normal life. Oh and let’s not forget get the young who are suffering with mental health issues who are isolated from their friends etc.

Unless one is religious I can't see why Christmas is so important that it must be celebrated by families getting together this year. Assuming that we do get a vaccine reasonably soon, why not have your celebration in the spring, or the summer?

If there is a break, people will be traveling the length and breadth of the country, taking their germs with them and covid too, if they have caught it. It is now known that young people are transmitters of the virus, even if they don't have it.

The number of deaths this year from covid is approaching 60,000, During WW2 the number of civilian deaths in England and Wales was 70,000. It's possible that the latter number will be exceeded by the end of the year. The number of deaths yesterday was 598.

If the numbers of daily deaths increases further then a greater burden will be placed on the NHS. The cost of this treatment will be phenomenal. Surely it behoves us all to stay in lockdown thereby trying to get the numbers down?

Since my dad died three years ago, my elderly mum (who lives 130 miles away) has struggled to cope alone, and made it clear long before Covid struck that Christmas was the one time of year when she absolutely could not bear to be alone.

To her, it really would feel like the end of the world if she was left home alone this year, especially as she knows that we have been as cautious as it is possible to be since all this began, meaning any risk of any of us catching or spreading the virus through being together would be absolutely minuscule!

I don't know what we will do, but I suspect that as well as being distraught, she may well never forgive us if we don't get her here for Christmas, no matter what the rules are.

As wonderful as it would be Daisymae,i would rather stay away and keep all the family safe.
This covid nightmare will go on for ever if we start mingling again.