Covid Christmas rules: Caution urged over household mixing

People have been urged to be cautious of the risk of spreading coronavirus when rules are relaxed over Christmas.

Up to three households will be allowed to stay together and form a "Christmas bubble" from 23 to 27 December, as agreed by all four UK nations.

A scientific adviser to the government said the relaxation of rules amounted to "throwing fuel on the Covid fire".

Meanwhile, it is expected most areas of England will be placed in the middle tier of a toughened three-tier system.

Details on what will happen when the current lockdown ends on 2 December will be announced on Thursday. The decision will be based on a number of factors including case numbers, the reproduction rate - or R number - and pressure on local NHS services.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says a "handful" of areas will be in the lightest regime of limits - tier one - but most of the country is likely to be in either tier two or three.

She said London is expected to be placed in tier two.

The measures for Christmas will see travel restrictions across the four nations, and between tiers and levels, lifted to allow people to visit families in other parts of the UK.

Anyone travelling to or from Northern Ireland may travel on the 22 and 28 December, but otherwise travel to and from bubbles should be done between the 23 and 27.

People will not be able to get together with others from more than two other households, and once a bubble is formed, it must not be changed or be extended further.

The guidance says a bubble of three households would be able to stay overnight at each other's home but would not be able to visit hospitality, theatres or retail settings.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told people to use "personal judgement" on whether to visit elderly relatives.

In a video message from Downing Street, the prime minister described the agreement as a "special, time-limited dispensation", saying: "This year means Christmas will be different."

Mr Johnson said people must consider the risks of who to form a bubble with and whether or not to visit elderly or vulnerable relatives, adding: "Many of us are longing to spend time with family and friends... And yet we can't afford to throw caution to the wind."

He added: "'Tis the season to be jolly but 'tis also the season to be jolly careful."

The prime minister has also reassured children that Father Christmas "will be packing his sleigh and delivering presents this Christmas".

In response to a letter from eight-year-old Monti, Mr Johnson said Father Christmas would not be a risk to children's health but that "leaving hand sanitiser by the cookies is an excellent idea".

It comes as the government recorded another 18,213 Covid cases in the UK. Figures also showed a further 696 people had died within 28 days of a positive test.

The number of deaths is the highest since the start of May and compares to 608 recorded on Wednesday.

BBC health editor Hugh Pym says many of those who have died are likely to have picked up an infection before the current lockdown measures were put in place. He said a rise in the death toll would not be expected to continue into December because the average number of daily cases is now falling and hospital admissions are levelling off.

A mid-week rise can also be down to delays in deaths being reported over the weekend.

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford said the ministers agreed they had to ease the rules because people would have flouted restrictions - creating further risk - if they were told Christmas had been "cancelled".

Ministers were shown behavioural science evidence that "too many people simply would not have been prepared to have gone along with such an instruction", he told BBC Breakfast on Wednesday.

Mr Drakeford also said a UK-wide approach to coronavirus rules after Christmas was needed.

Nicola Sturgeon has said guidance for people in Scotland is still being finalised and will be issued on Thursday, but that her government will not be "encouraging" people to meet up.

"The expectation should be that the guidance will probably look to tighten around the edges rather than further expand and that will be true with the travel window of opportunity as well - we want to limit that window, not expand it," the first minister said.

Published guidance for England gives further details of the rules for 23 to 27 December:

Prof Andrew Hayward, director of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, and a member of the government's Sage committee, told BBC Newsnight allowing families to meet up over Christmas amounted to "throwing fuel on the Covid fire".

He said it would "definitely lead to increase[d] transmission and likely lead to third wave of infections with hospitals being overrun, and more unnecessary deaths."

Prof Hayward said while you cannot ban Christmas, he called for clearer messaging to families about the "dangers" of socialising and inter-generational mixing.

Gavin Terry, head of policy at the Alzheimer's Society, said thousands of relatives would be in "complete despair" at government guidance which says only care home residents of working age should be allowed to leave their care homes to visit family, due to the increased risk of exposure to the virus.

"After eight harrowing months filled with devastation and tragic loss of life, the announcement that many care home residents will be facing Christmas alone is just heartbreaking," he said, calling for further testing to allow for more visits.

Meanwhile, Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, called on ministers to publish evidence for its Christmas bubble rules, which would "inflict unnecessary pain and irreversible damage on our sector".

Local rules mean many pubs and restaurants - such as those in England's tier three or Scotland's level four - will remain closed during the festive period, irrespective of the Christmas change.

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