In order to minimise the spread of Coronavirus over the winter period, government scientists have suggested that celebrating Christmas with the family next summer would be more appropriate – as cases in the UK continue to soar over the colder months. The reports come as England spends its first weekend under the new lockdown rules, with the R number currently sitting between 1.1 and 1.3, according to the Prime Minister.
New documents released by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) named ‘Positive Strategies For Sustaining Adherence to Infection Behaviours’ have made the suggestion to wait until the summer to celebrate the festivities, with the document considering what would reduce the spread of the virus, the Metro reports.
The report said: “These could include carrying out the activity at a later date e.g. planning a summer family get together to replace meeting at Christmas.
“If people find it emotionally or practically impossible to avoid making contact with someone outside their household then they should be encouraged to make meeting that person as safe as possible.
“For example by self-quarantining before meeting (reducing contact with other people as far as possible for 14 days) and avoiding close and prolonged contact when meeting.”
The documents also suggest replacing indoor gatherings with outdoor activities, and even swapping out hugs for a ‘hand over heart’ gesture.
Set to end on December 2nd, there are growing fears that the November lockdown regulations will be extended past their current expiry date – with many questioning what this means for Brits spending Christmas with their families this year. The Prime Minister has confirmed that he is ‘confident’ the measures will not need to be extended. Johnson also confirmed that the tiering system would be reintroduced following the month-long lockdown measures – with some areas potentially seeing tougher rules than the tier three restrictions that were placed on much of the North last month, according to reports.
