Priti Patel urges public to change Christmas plans
The home secretary has urged the British public to change their Christmas plans in a bid to limit “people-to-people contact that leads to the spread of this virus”.
“I would urge people to change their plans. I won’t be seeing my parents this Christmas. They live in a different part of the country and I will not travel to see them,” Priti Patel told the BBC’s Today programme.
She added that the government’s plans to ease restrictions over Christmas did not amount to a carte blanche to travel between tiers.
“If you’re in a low tier area, why would you travel into a high tier area? People will exercise their judgement,” Patel added.
It comes after the Prime Minister yesterday rejected calls to U-turn on plans to temporarily waive tier restrictions between 23 and 27 December to allow people to meet up for Christmas.
The four nations split over the official guidance, with Boris Johnson remaining committed to the Christmas window, while Wales and Scotland tightened limits on gatherings.
In England, festivities involving up to three different households will be allowed to meet during the five-day Christmas period.
In Wales, gatherings will be limited to two households, while in Scotland, festive shindigs will be restricted to just one day on Christmas.
But in a stiff warning appealing to the public’s “personal responsibility”, Johnson urged the country to keep their Christmas plans “small and short”.
“Have a merry little Christmas,” said the PM. “But I’m afraid this year I really do mean little”.
In a rapid winding down of previous guidance, Johnson called on the public to self-isolate for five days before visiting friends and family over Christmas.
“If you’re visiting others over Christmas we’re asking you in the five days beforehand, as early as this Friday, to reduce the number of people you’re in contact with to as low as possible,” he told a Downing Street press conference.
The public should also “avoid staying away from home overnight”, and hold off on seeing elderly relatives until they have been vaccinated, according to the PM.
It comes as coronavirus cases continue to spike across the UK, with a further 25,161 cases and 612 Covid-related deaths reported yesterday.
Wales is set to add an additional 11,000 positive tests to its figures today, after an IT glitch meant there was a “significant underreporting”.
The government’s decision not to scrap a relaxation of rules over Christmas has stoked concern that a new coronavirus mutation could spread across Britain and lead to heightened restrictions in the New Year.
Speaking in the Commons on Monday, health secretary Matt Hancock announced a new variant of coronavirus has been identified in the southeast of England that could present problems for the UK’s vaccination programme.
“Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability in the UK, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the faster spread in the south of England,” he said.
“Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than existing variants.”