Clear messaging on celebrating safely?

A joint statement on staying safe at Christmas from the UK Government, Scottish Government, and Welsh Government:

As we approach the festive period, the UK Government, Scottish Government, and Welsh Government are seeking to balance pragmatism with the overriding priority of protecting public health.

To do this, we have joined together to issue clear guidance and recommendations, as follows:

A smaller Christmas is a safer Christmas, and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas. The safest way to spend this Christmas is with your own household or your existing support bubble in your own home – and we strongly recommend that this is what you do if at all possible.

We know the extraordinary lengths that people have gone to this year to protect their loved ones and the NHS. We know that people want to see life return to normal. And with vaccines now being deployed, next year we are confident it will do. But to get there safely, this cannot be a normal Christmas. We must continue to work together to prevent the spread of the virus, and to protect our friends, our families and our front-line workers.

In some areas, the number of people with COVID-19 is rising rapidly, as it is in much of Europe. It is vital that we all act responsibly over Christmas to limit the risk of further transmission and keep each other as safe as possible. One in three people who have COVID-19 don’t show symptoms but can still pass on the virus.

To protect you and your loved ones, we recommend that you think very carefully about the risks of forming a bubble. Discuss alternatives to meeting up in person, or ways of meeting up outdoors instead. Only form a bubble if you feel you absolutely need to.

If you do decide you need to form a Christmas bubble, take precautions to minimise risk by stopping unnecessary social contact outside your immediate household as soon as possible, and for at least five days before you meet other households in your bubble, and by working from home if you can. On no account should you visit another household if you, or anyone in your household, is feeling unwell or is self-isolating.

Scientific advice is clear: the longer you meet others for, the higher the risk of you catching and spreading the virus. If you do intend to form a bubble, you should keep the bubble small and your visits short.

The five day period is a window of opportunity and should be seen as a legal maximum, not a target. If you do form a bubble, we recommend that you meet with it for the shortest possible time. You should not stay overnight unless absolutely unavoidable.

It is particularly important to think about the greater risks to more vulnerable people. If you are over 70 or clinically extremely vulnerable, think carefully about the risks. The safest approach may be not to form a Christmas bubble.

If you do form a Christmas bubble, then be especially careful to observe the guidance: meet outdoors where possible, wash your hands regularly, keep a distance from those you do not live with. If you meet indoors, ensure good ventilation by letting in fresh air. The clinically extremely vulnerable and the elderly will be prioritised for vaccination in the early part of next year.

If you are in an existing household or support bubble with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable, think carefully. To help reduce the risks to their health, the safest approach would be to celebrate with your household or support bubble and not with others.

If you are forming a Christmas bubble you should consider carefully the risks of travelling at all. If you live in an area with the highest level of protection, for example, tier 3 in England and level 4 in Scotland, you should avoid travelling to lower prevalence areas where possible.

Each administration will issue specific travel advice based on its own circumstances. If you have to travel, book ahead to enable you and others to travel safely and plan your outward and return journeys carefully. Once you arrive you should stay local and not travel within the area.

If you form a Christmas bubble, practise safe behaviours: washing your hands, making space between members of different households wherever you can, and letting in fresh air. Following these behaviours, even within the home, will greatly reduce the risk of transmission.

We will all need to carry on practising safe behaviours after Christmas. This means shopping only if you can do so safely: shop online where you can; avoid crowds; and, if you are in crowded areas, wear a face covering and only go where it is well ventilated.

It is also really important to cut down on social contact after seeing your Christmas bubble, to reduce the risk of chains of transmission. This includes not meeting up with friends or family outside your household for New Year’s Eve. The tier or level rules will be in place on New Year’s Eve / Hogmanay and it is essential, as the minimum, that these are followed by everyone.

By taking these steps together, we can all enjoy a safer Christmas.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has joined with the leaders of the UK Government and the Welsh Government in issuing guidance on how the public should approach Christmas celebrations this year.

The First Minister has stressed that the strong recommendation of the Scottish Government to people across Scotland is to celebrate Christmas this year within  your own household and in your own home – and as far as possible to keep any interaction with other households to a minimum. This is by far the safest way to spend this Christmas and keep your loved ones safe.

However, certain flexibilities were agreed in recognition of the impact of loneliness over Christmas on wellbeing and the fact that some people will not be willing to leave loved ones alone.

These provide a window of opportunity and should be seen as legal maximum to work well within. The guidance being issued seeks to reduce risks as far as possible for anyone choosing to use these flexibilities.

The First Minister stressed that the following key points should be taken into consideration by anyone choosing to spend time with other households indoors: keep the duration of any interaction as short as possible: keep any bubble as small as possible; avoid travel and overnight stays unless unavoidable; and comply with all distancing and hygiene advice.

She said: “Our strong advice this Christmas is to stay at home with your own household. Any interaction with other households should, as far as possible, be outdoors. That is the best way of keeping yourself and your loved ones safe this Christmas.

However, we recognize that in some cases, the isolation caused by being alone over Christmas will in itself cause harm to people’s welfare and that is why we have created a window of flexibility with accompanying guidance, to ensure that any household mixing is done as safely as possible,

“If you choose to form a bubble over the Christmas period, then you should take into consideration these key points:

“First, minimise the number of people in the bubble – while three households is the legal maximum, our recommendation is that two households would be better, and you should keep as far within the maximum of eight people over the age of 12 as you can. In short, the smaller the bubble is, the better and safer it will be.

“Second, you should minimise the time spent with your bubble, especially indoors. The five days is a window of opportunity, not a recommended time that it is safe for you to spend together – indeed, the Scottish Government recommends that you do not meet up with people in your bubble on any more than one day over the period and do not stay overnight unless it is unavoidable. And you should minimise the distance you intend to travel.

“You should also avoid all travel between high prevalence areas and low prevalence areas – in particular, that means avoiding travel to or from Scotland and Tier 3 areas in England, and to or from any Level 4 areas in Scotland (of which there are currently none).

The First Minister concluded: “Being asked not to see loved ones at Christmas unless absolutely essential is one of the toughest things imaginable. But, this year, it is essential to help keep people safe.

“With a vaccination programme now underway, a return to more normal life is on the horizon – and I hope that the prospect of brighter days ahead will help all of us get through this difficult Christmas as safely as possible.”

The Scottish Government guidance on Christmas and the festive period has been updated.

PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON’S CORONVIRUS UPDATE STATEMENT

‘So have yourselves a merry little Christmas – and I’m afraid this year I do mean little’

It is just a week since the United Kingdom began the biggest vaccination programme in our history.

And the public is coming forward at an extraordinary pace to get a jab, to protect themselves, beginning with the elderly and the most vulnerable.

With 138,000 recipients of the first dose – and more joining them every minute – there is no doubt we are winning and we will win our long struggle against this virus which makes it all the more important that we hold our nerve this winter.

Because we are now in a race to protect us all while doing everything we can to keep the virus under control.

And thanks to the colossal collective effort in November we did bring the R below 1; we did get the infection rate down.

But I must be frank with you – we are already seeing worrying rises in some parts of the country: Kent is still seeing rising infections; the number of cases in London is at 270 per 100,000 people. And that’s why we acted quickly by moving London into Tier 3 from today.

And tomorrow (Thursday) the Health Secretary will announce the outcome of the latest tiering review.

And so like every other European country facing similar challenges we have come to this moment, a great global festival – a turning point, a time of year that is of immense emotional and spiritual importance.

But also a moment for us to exercise extreme caution when we must remember that one of the most striking features of this virus is that it spreads invisibly from people who don’t even have symptoms which is in fact around 1 in 3 of everyone infected.

And that’s why from the beginning this virus has been so hard to fight and that’s why it’s so important to follow the rules – and why this Christmas it’s vital that everyone exercises the greatest possible personal responsibility.

And having looked at the latest data – with our colleagues in the Devolved Administrations, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we have decided that the overall situation is, alas, worse and more challenging than we had hoped when we first set the rules.

So while it would not be right to criminalise people who have made plans and simply want to spend time with their loved ones, we are all collectively across the UK, governments at every level, asking you to think hard and in detail about the days ahead and whether you can do more to protect yourself and others.

We are keeping the laws the same – but we all want to send the same message: a smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas, and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas.

When we say three households can meet on five days, I want to stress these are maximums, not targets to aim for.

And of course it is always going to be safest to minimise the number of people you meet.

And that means that if you are visiting others over Christmas, we are asking you – in the five days beforehand, as early as this Friday – to reduce the number of people you are in contact with to the lowest possible, because this virus spreads from human contact.

If possible don’t travel from a high prevalence to a low prevalence area and avoid staying away from home overnight if you can.

Remember, the vaccine is on the way and our aim is to inoculate everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable or elderly in the early months of next year.

So if you’re elderly, the best way to minimise your personal risk is to wait to be vaccinated before spending time indoors with others.

And if you have an elderly relative, you might want to delay seeing them until they’ve been vaccinated.

And whatever your plans for Christmas, please think carefully about avoiding crowds in the Boxing Day Sales

And no one should be gathering in large groups to see in the New Year – remember the rules in your local area will apply.

In most places across the UK, I’m afraid that means you cannot mix with other households indoors.

All the information about how best to protect yourself and your loved ones is being made available on gov.uk.

So have yourselves a merry little Christmas – And I’m afraid this year I do mean little

But with the vaccine, and all the other measures that we are taking, we do know things will be better in this country by Easter. And I’m sure that next year Christmas will be as normal for every family in the country.