UK Christmas 2021 is Saved/Ruined

[jdc]

decision on whether Christmas is saved or ruined due on 18th December

Cracking. Thanks for listening Boris, mate. Get well soon.

5th Nov and 17 Dec are the two crucial dates to avoid

[Bird on a Fire]

Lol. Got my tests booked anyway.

[bob sterman]

Given the near impossibility of getting Brits to "cancel Christmas" we need to think about more plausible options - like inventing time travel to go back to Wuhan in autumn of 2019, or increasing the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere so that critically ill COVID patients can survive on room air.

[Bird on a Fire]

Portugal has already planned a 1 week "firebreak" for early January. The idea being that the extra infections from Christmas and NYE won't have a chance to go exponential like they did last year.

[dyqik]

Given the near impossibility of getting Brits to "cancel Christmas"...

I thought Christmas was banned every year anyway?

[KAJ]

Given the near impossibility of getting Brits to "cancel Christmas"...

I thought Christmas was banned every year anyway?

Well that's what I've been telling my family </grinch>

[Herainestold]

Given the near impossibility of getting Brits to "cancel Christmas" we need to think about more plausible options - like inventing time travel to go back to Wuhan in autumn of 2019, or increasing the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere so that critically ill COVID patients can survive on room air.

I like that idea, but would it not increase the chance of fires?

[Millennie Al]

Given the near impossibility of getting Brits to "cancel Christmas" we need to think about more plausible options - like inventing time travel to go back to Wuhan in autumn of 2019, or increasing the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere so that critically ill COVID patients can survive on room air.

I like that idea, but would it not increase the chance of fires?

Yes, massively. The current atmospheric oxygen level is about 21%, but it has been as high as about 35% in the past. At that level you had better be living somewhere damp - such as a rain forest.

[Trinucleus]

Given the near impossibility of getting Brits to "cancel Christmas" we need to think about more plausible options - like inventing time travel to go back to Wuhan in autumn of 2019, or increasing the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere so that critically ill COVID patients can survive on room air.

Would be easier to light the brandy on the Christmas pud, though on the downside crackers might burst into flames....

[bob sterman]

Ok scrub my atmospheric geoengineering idea.

Instead we just need to create a lockdown, not through legislation, but by issuing everyone in the country with enough Quality Street chocolates to keep them glued to the sofa for 2-3 weeks.

[shpalman]

My mum has basically pivoted to telling me not to come (last week it was just that she realized it would be "getting awkward").

So that avoids ruining my Christmas by trying to travel and getting stuck in quarantine somewhere or traipsing covid around the place. And I can have a nice low-key thing here with Dance Partner.

[headshot]

My mum has basically pivoted to telling me not to come (last week it was just that she realized it would be "getting awkward").

So that avoids ruining my Christmas by trying to travel and getting stuck in quarantine somewhere or traipsing covid around the place. And I can have a nice low-key thing here with Dance Partner.

Basically the same decision as we made on our trip to Germany. I don’t think we’ll regret it. We’ve got lots of things lined up with friends on and offline, so it should be rather jolly.

[temptar]

My mum has basically pivoted to telling me not to come (last week it was just that she realized it would be "getting awkward").

So that avoids ruining my Christmas by trying to travel and getting stuck in quarantine somewhere or traipsing covid around the place. And I can have a nice low-key thing here with Dance Partner.

Waiting for same from my father. They told me not to bother with Christmas presents. Just try to get there.

I got to them three times since July 19th. bl..dy relieved now that I know Christmas is hanging in the balance.

[raven]

Ok scrub my atmospheric geoengineering idea.

Instead we just need to create a lockdown, not through legislation, but by issuing everyone in the country with enough Quality Street chocolates to keep them glued to the sofa for 2-3 weeks.

Shoot, and we finished our tub of Quality Street a week ago....

<slight rant>

If we're at sufficient panic levels to attempt boosting everybody over 18 in less than 3 weeks, at the expense of routine GP appointments which are like gold dust anyway, and we're probably about to start cancelling elective surgeries again too -- that'll be my brother-in-law's overdue knee replacement (already cancelled once) and my cousin's urgent lymph node removal that's already been delayed twice and was late getting picked up anyway due to them faffing about treating a cough as an infection not signs of metastases -- we ought surely to be asking people to limit contacts too.

The only reason we're not ,afaics, is to save Johnson's miserable skin from his own party rebels. Johnson will recover from being booted out of No. 10. My cousin, and thousands of other cancer patients, might not & can't wait.

<rant over>

[Herainestold]

My mum has basically pivoted to telling me not to come (last week it was just that she realized it would be "getting awkward").

So that avoids ruining my Christmas by trying to travel and getting stuck in quarantine somewhere or traipsing covid around the place. And I can have a nice low-key thing here with Dance Partner.

Well. As long as you actually don't go dancing.

[shpalman]

British health minister doesn't rule out 'circuit breaker' before Xmas

Most of the parties he had planned to go to have been cancelled or scaled back

[shpalman]

My mum has basically pivoted to telling me not to come (last week it was just that she realized it would be "getting awkward").

So that avoids ruining my Christmas by trying to travel and getting stuck in quarantine somewhere or traipsing covid around the place. And I can have a nice low-key thing here with Dance Partner.

Well. As long as you actually don't go dancing.

So far, I haven't really. Mainly laziness. But also with the outbreak in the lab I wouldn't want to confound the epidemiology by catching it last night at the Spirit de Milan.

[shpalman]

New lockdown measures being suggested could come into force before New Year's Day, meaning December 27 to 30 are likely candidates, and it will be announced on the 26th to give you plenty of time to adapt and another week or so for Omicron to spread.

I'm linking to Lincolnshire Live to save you having to read the Mail Online directly.

Pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants would only be able to serve customers outside in f.cking December because that's a great way to not catch colds, 'flu, and pneumonia.

The report also states that schools, which are closed for Christmas, and shops including non-essential ones which will be rammed thanks to Boxing Day sales, would remain open and there would not be a "stay at home" order, however people would only be able to see friends and family outside their household in groups of six outdoors because if they do it indoors it's not like anyone would notice.

[raven]

New lockdown measures being suggested could come into force before New Year's Day, meaning December 27 to 30 are likely candidates, and it will be announced on the 26th to give you plenty of time to adapt and another week or so for Omicron to spread.

I'm linking to Lincolnshire Live to save you having to read the Mail Online directly.

Pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants would only be able to serve customers outside in f.cking December because that's a great way to not catch colds, 'flu, and pneumonia.

The report also states that schools, which are closed for Christmas, and shops including non-essential ones which will be rammed thanks to Boxing Day sales, would remain open and there would not be a "stay at home" order, however people would only be able to see friends and family outside their household in groups of six outdoors because if they do it indoors it's not like anyone would notice.

Shite. That's our mid-winter gifting season up the swanny then.

We already can't go visit my sister tomorrow as they're self isolating, but all the other family stuff we had planned was after Christmas because that's when everybody else has time off. Our traditional getting together with old friends on New Year's Eve, something we couldn't do last year and involves overnighting 'cos we live so far apart, also shafted.

Who cares about shops being open? I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a rusty fork than go to a Boxing Day Sale. It's friends & family we want to see.

Ah, well. Christmas at Easter, anyone?

[Gfamily]

We'll just have to see what happens.

If NYE is borked, we're at least fortunate that our accommodation booked for that night is in relatively cheap 'Pod' rooms - and we'll save half the cost by not having to drive there.

[shpalman]

Sir Jeremy Farrar, a former member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has told the Today programme

“each of us can do things today that will make the chance of further restrictions lighter”.

For example, Boris Johnson could introduce some restrictions.

[shpalman]

What new measures are thought to be under consideration in England?

The prime minister is understood to be considering three options to curb the spread of Omicron. The least restrictive would be asking the public nicely to not catch Omicron please.

[Sciolus]

Let me guess:

Second option would be saying "pretty please".

Most extreme option would be adding "with knobs on".

[shpalman]

Let me guess:

Second option would be saying "pretty please".

Most extreme option would be adding "with knobs on".

... "with knobbing someone who isn't your wife"

[shpalman]

No new Covid restrictions before Christmas, Boris Johnson confirms

Ministers will not introduce any new Covid restrictions before Christmas in England, Boris Johnson has confirmed, saying there is not a high enough pile of bodies to justify tougher measures.

Wasn't it the case over the summer that Wednesdays were the "f.cking hell" day for case numbers?