By Ben Kerrigan-
Maintaining the relaxation of coronavirus rules over Christmas has been agreed by the UK four nations, despite calls for them to be toughened.
UK leaders bypassed pressure to review the five-day plan in the wake of a rise in Covid infections in Wales and parts of south-east England. Only two households are advised to mix in Wales, under new stricter advice.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons: “We should exercise extreme caution in the way we celebrate Christmas.”
He confirmed that discussions on Wednesday morning had resulted in “unanimous agreement” between the four UK nations “that we should proceed in principle with the existing regulations because we don’t want to criminalise people’s long-made plans”. He added it was “absolutely vital that people should, at this very, very tricky time, exercise a high degree of personal responsibility”.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick supported the joint decision of the four nations, but urged people to skip this year’s Christmas celebrations, as he stated that the onus was now on the public. Mr. jenrick s said people should ask themselves “why not wait” until after the vaccine is distributed to protect vulnerable elderly people. He confirmed that the Government is not going to change the law allowing Christmas “bubble” of up to three households who can get together indoors over five days starting December 23.
Mr Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that further guidance would be published to show infection rates are rising in many parts of the country, and to reflect that Covid cases surged in parts of the US following the Thanksgiving holiday. An information campaign is expected to be launched in the days running up to Christmas, with people being urged to think carefully about bubbling with elderly or at-risk relatives.
Mr Jenrick said based on the further guidance, the government would ask people to “weigh up the risks to their own loved ones” and “exercise their own good judgement” about their Christmas plans.
“You can come together as three families and bubble for up to five days – but I suspect many, many people across the country will choose to do less than that, to protect themselves, their loved ones, and broader society,” he said.
Medical Advise
Playing politics, Labour opposition leader Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of ignoring medical advice over the Christmas plan.
Mr Johnson said he did not want to “criminalise people’s long-made plans” for the festive season, but urged people to “exercise a high degree of personal responsibility”.
Earlier the communities secretary admitted the Covid-19 infection rate would rise as people mix together over Christmas.
“This is a virus that thrives on social interaction, so bringing more people together, even over this short period of time, is not cost-free. It will have consequences in terms of increasing the rate. It will rise,” Robert Jenrick said.
Meanwhile, it was announced that nearly 138,000 people in the UK received a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine over the last week.