Social distancing in Christmas bubbles

Laughterlines! With a name like that I realise you must be joking with your comment of : why not postpone christmas lunch till summer!! lol!

So many of us will be spending Xmas with just one family member or alone and yet we shall ALL be paying for the consequences of the people who don't take care or be sensible. It is because so many have stayed at home and not mixed that it leaves others free to mingle, and they will take advantage as they did when the pubs and restaurants opened. In the end we all have to pay

The reality is if you in the same room for a number of hours with a number if people all talking, even with air flow and strict social distancing if one person carrying covid you will all get it thats for sure. You cannot know who these others have been jn contact with. I think the government and we the public are completely mad. We arein the middle of a pandemic with the vaccine available yo all next year and everyone wants to risk lives and overwhelming the NHS. For God's sake Christmas is not worth risking lives. Yes it has been a bad year for everyone and we have all sacrificed but don't undo all that sacrifice for Christmas, it is just mad. We all miss our families but you won't see much if them in the future if you or some of them are dead. Some people may disagree that is their stance and this is mine. The case rise and jncreased deaths after Christmas will show how absolutely stupid the government and public have behaved.

I have posted about school infections. As most people want to see their GC at Christmas the consequences are just so obvious. It's just been posted that we as a country will pay the price in January.

If the Government hadn’t allowed this, some people would have done it anyway without this official ‘consent’. There may then have been the temptation to break the rules again because they did it over Christmas. We can’t be allowed to think we ‘got away with something’, even though the whole situation is asking for trouble!

Coffeebix well said.

My son and his Girlfriend live with me. I have a daughter in St Albans so unfortunately will not be travelling to see her. I have another son in the same town with his family, and on Christmas Eve we will be going to exchange presents, windows will be open and I don’t expect we’ll stay any longer than an hour and I do think it’s absolutely ridiculous what the government has said can happen, free reign for the virus.....

My town ?

My DH and I will spend Christmas alone and only meet our GS who is 4months with his Dad and mum in the garden on Boxing Day just to exchange gifts
Won't see my mum,dad or sis and her family until the 12th of never !!!!
I wish everyone a safe ad happy Christmas

well , at the time I thought the "clapping" a bit.... huh!

pay more money, help,,,

but then I am a practical person, (sighs)

yes, I agree , open windows, heating up, windows open... most basic of things to do..

It can't work. Numbers will rise in January. The government has only done this because they know people will flout the rules. Over 3,000 deaths today in America. This virus isn't subsiding It's dreadful. We need to be patient and write off this Christmas.

We are planning to see 2 of our daughters so a bubble of 3 But on different days. That way social distancing will be easier. Non of our Grandchildren are in school, one sil is going to work from home for the next 2 weeks and the other isn't coming, because he works in school. They are all doing the best they can to still see us and protect us too

We all know now that there will be a massive spike after Christmas. Whether the Government allowed it or not, people would still go ahead and mix. Hopefully by limiting it to 3 households, people just might listen. We will visit my daughter's for an hour on Christmas morning. Both her and her hubby have just come out of being ill with covid, so know the rules well. We'll also spend around 30 mins with our son and his family. They've also obeyed all the rules and as the children are in their teens they understand what they can and can't do. Merry Christmas everyone and keep safe.

The government have had to make some awful choices throughout all of this. I really don't think Labour would have been any betters faced with the same choices. Lock down was soft right from the start and too many people broke rules because they knew they wouldn't be punished.

I'm sure they have been swayed by idiots in the media. They asked the most stupid questions at the daily updates. Will Christmas be cancelled Prime Minister?

Pity he didn't say yes.

Sorry that comes across as really miserable!

I think it was Daisy who said, rather like Brexit this pandemic seems to have divided people into the fearful and the fearless.
And then there's those in between like me who will be seeing family at Christmas, after making a risk assessment and whilst taking every precaution.

Do we need all this .........
the government is stupid
we will all pay for this next year
ridiculous, dreadful, scandalous etc.
Most families won't actually be breaking the law, they're not doing anything wrong.
Look at other European countries, they are allowed 10 or 12 people at a time over Christmas and New Year. I think our government has got it just about right, though I agree with those here who say there will still be many rule breakers, and I do think they are being selfish.

They are testing out the herd immunity!

We’re not going to meet with our adult children and their children. Who wants to inadvertently give or receive the ‘gift’ of Covid?

I decided at the start f this pandemic lark that I would shut up and do a I’m told. It’s been difficult but, hopefully, worthwhile. As I live in Spain it hasn’t been too difficult apart from staying here over the summer. I cannot imagine being with my sons and their children and not hugging them. And what would I do if my 2year old DGS wanted to climb onto my knee - push him away?!?!?! Hardly! Maybe better to stay away and continue cyber grsnnying. I know my place - somewhere between his other, flesh and blood, grandparents and Pepe pig and captain underpants ??

It is going to be horrendous come January...big spike in cases and unnecessary deaths. All for the sake of meeting up at Christmas. Why cant people just wait?

I think the government have had to allow people to meet with restrictions. Far to many would just ignore the rules in any case! Both of my sons are coming. One is in our bubble the other with my daughter in law on boxing day. we have a large house and we have been given instructions to move all the furniture around so we are not sitting near each other! Role on the vaccine!

One of the problems is that a number of families think they can change there bubbles day by day, once your maximum of three bubbles is formed that is it. The other problem is that you may form a three bubble meet but each one of the orhter bubbles could have other bubbles and so on. Not worth the risk.

We will be doing Hermes visits this year, drive up to the house, throw presents over the fence and drive off quickly.

If during the war the Government had said 'Well just for five days over Christmas you need not put your blackouts up at the windows - the enemy will definitely be able to see where you are but you can let the enemy see you if you want to'. Would you have done it? Not I, and I'm not going to risk the virus getting into our homes at Christmas - it's not worth it! There's only one way to stop the spread - by not mixing and especially (although it breaks my heart) by not mixing indoors with those we love the most.

When I first heard the relaxation of rules for Christmas I was overjoyed. I have never spent a Christmas without one of my children. And since grandchildren have come along we now have our own fabulous 5 day Christmas of new traditions combined with some from when my girls were young.
However, as time has passed I have become more and more anxious to the extent that I have now told them I won’t be attending. It has broken me. Heart and head.
I know there is no way I can be even in their vicinity without hugging and smelling my 4 grandchildren, holding and squeezing my daughters and sons in law.
I have not left my home, other than for a few weeks in the summer when I would drive from my driveway to theirs, since before lockdown in March. So, I had a talk with myself and decided, for once in my life, to go with my head.
I am not paranoid, but we have done everything by the book for 9 months and to throw it all away for 5 days does seem a waste of everything we have done.
Every day, more than once, I nearly change my mind - but I know it’s the right thing to do
One son in law is a firefighter, and although they are all checked before they start work no one knows what they are leaving work with. All 4 grandchildren are at school and nursery and because I haven’t mixed with people for so long I am suspecting my immune system has gone to sleep.
Roll on my turn in the queue for vaccine. I’m 64 so at least I am nearer the top of the list than the bottom.
And thank goodness for modern technology

Why on Earth did we stand outside banging saucepans and clapping for the NHS staff if we now guarantee a spike in Covid cases after Christmas? Christmas is a special occasion but for one year, surely it is not beyond us to behave like educated adults and stay away from mixed gatherings.