There has been much debate about arrangement for Christmas today with The Prime Minister’s official spokesman telling a Westminster briefing: “I think the PM has been clear in his desire to try and allow families to have Christmas together.We accept it won’t be a normal Christmas but as I say the PM has been clear in his desire for families to be able to see each other.
Several papers were speculating that households may be allowed to mix for five days over Christmas
In an upbeat press conference this morning Government health advisors have suggested five days of socialising could require ten days of heavy restrictions to counteract an increased spread of the virus.
Mayor Andy Burnham has said that he has started talking to Government about what happens post-lockdown.
He is asking for an end to widespread business closures, Gyms and leisure centres to reopen and Greater powers to close businesses of concern as well as more money for business support and improved self-isolation payments
“We have heard that the Government are looking at a revised tier system, so we have wanted to put our thoughts into that. The first is that the ask of the public needs to be simpler and minimising widespread closure of businesses.” he told the Press Conference
Meanwhile the British Medical Association has called for a ‘two households’ rule on social mixing instead of a ‘rule of six’, and a ban on travel ‘between or across different local lockdown tiers’ as part of a ‘blueprint for leaving lockdown’ in England.
BMA council chair Chaand Nagpaul said:
‘We must not squander the efforts of the many people who have followed the law, stayed at home, sacrificed freedoms and incurred financial loss in order to contain the virus.
‘When the first lockdown ended, there was no coherent plan for keeping COVID-19 at bay, no clear and simple public messaging; this was followed by spiralling infection rates, more businesses failing, new ‘local’ lockdowns, and now we have a death toll at more than 52,000.’
Dr Nagpaul added: ‘As England prepares to exit its second lockdown, it is unthinkable that we make the same mistakes again because this time, the impact will be far worse. It’s reasonable to conclude, that without these measures, the NHS will not be able to cope with caring for even the most critically ill patients.
