Covid news: Boris Johnson urges UK to keep Christmas celebrations small as death toll passes 65,000
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson has urged Britons to “have yourself a merry little Christmas" but keep celebrations small and brief, adding: “I’m afraid this year I do mean little.”
The prime minister told MPs that the four UK nations have agreed to continue "in principle" with the easing of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas, allowing up to three households to mix for five days.
However, the Welsh and Scottish leaders appeared to have undermined the prime minister’s claim of an agreement, with Mark Drakeford saying only two households should come together in Wales and Nicola Sturgeon saying Scots should only meet for one day.
And opposition leader Keir Starmer accused Mr Johnson of ignoring medical advice over the Christmas plan.
The PM said he did not want to “criminalise people’s long-made plans” for the festive season, but urged people to “exercise a high degree of personal responsibility”.
The World Health Organisation has warned Europeans to have a quiet Christmas or risk a renewed surge of the disease.
Earlier, the communities secretary admitted the Covid-19 infection rate would rise as people mix together over Christmas.
"This is a virus that thrives on social interaction, so bringing more people together, even over this short period of time, is not cost-free. It will have consequences in terms of increasing the rate. It will rise," Robert Jenrick said.
Meanwhile, it was announced that nearly 138,000 people in the UK received a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine over the last week.
Follow the latest updates
South Korea reports country’s highest number of new cases with fears of national lockdown
South Korea has Wednesday reported their highest number of new cases since the country’s first recorded case of coronavirus in January.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 1,078 new cases. This came only three days after numbers topped 1,000 in the country for the first time.
These figures bring the national total to 45,442 cases and 612 deaths.
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South Korea reports country’s highest number of new cases with fears of national lockdown
Prime minister, Chung Sye-kyun, warned that a full lockdown could cause ‘irrevocable pain’ to the economy
Wales to put two-household Christmas limit into law
Wales's two household limit for mixing during Christmas will be made into law, the Welsh Government has said.
The decision came just hours after First Minister Mark Drakeford announced during a press conference that lowering the amount of homes that can form a Christmas bubble from three to two was guidance rather than a requirement.
On Wednesday morning, the UK's four nations had agreed not to amend the rules for the relaxed period between December 23 and 27, before Cardiff Bay's U-turn later in the evening.
Mr Drakeford had earlier said while the joint UK approach would still allow up to three homes to form a bubble, the coronavirus crisis in Wales is "so serious" that people should not take up the full allowance.
But hours after Mr Drakeford's announcement, a Welsh Government spokesman said country's guidance would instead be made into law to make it "easier" for the public to understand.
PA
Hornby blames Brexit ‘chaos’ as it pauses all non-UK orders until next year
Model train maker Hornby has paused all non-UK orders until January due to “chaos” ahead of the 31 December Brexit deadline.
With little more than two weeks to go until the transition period ends, companies still do not know what terms they will be trading under with EU customers and suppliers.
Announcing that orders had been halted, Hornby tweeted: “We hope you can understand the difficult position we are in and remain patient with us until we can find a solution.”
Read more:
Hornby pauses all non-UK orders until next year amid Brexit ‘chaos’
Uncertainty around EU departure as well as congestion at ports causes model train company to stop shipping products
How the UK is planning for Christmas with Covid this year
This is how Brits are planning for Christmas amid a pandemic this year, according to the Statista Global Comsumer Survey.
Johnson urges people to ‘follow guidance’ at Christmas
Sky News has provided a clip of Boris Johnson’s response to questions about the government’s guidance for people over Christmas not being backed up by the law.
“We don’t want to cancel Christmas, we don’t want to ban it, we don’t want to criminalise people for planning they have already made,” the prime minister said, “and often very expensive decisions they may already have taken, but we do urge everyone to follow the guidance … and help to reduce to a minimum the number of meetings with other people that we have, because that’s the way to stop the spread of the virus.”
BREAKING: Further 612 deaths from coronavirus in past 24 hours
Sky News has reported there have been a further 612 deaths over the past 24 hours, and 25,161 new cases.
Biden says he will take vaccine publicly after White House refused to say if Trump would
President-elect Joe Biden said he is working on a plan to take a coronavirus vaccine “publicly” but does not want to “jump to the front of the line” a day after a White House spokeswoman declined to say the same about Donald Trump.
The incoming chief executive said he sees his taking the vaccine in view of television cameras as important to help build public confidence in the drug. Some Americans, for various reasons that break on race and ideological lines, say they are reluctant to take it.
Medical experts have said life may not resemble “normal” until 70 per cent of Americans are either inoculated or have been infected by Covid-19. Mr Biden has acknowledged the difficulty of getting to that point.
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Biden says he will take vaccine publicly after White House refused to say if Trump would
Some senior Trump officials will take the drug publicly
Government says further 612 people have died from Covid-19
The Government said a further 612 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the UK total to 65,520.
Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 81,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
The Government said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 25,161 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.
It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 1,913,277.
PA
Governments issue statement on Christmas restrictions
The UK, Scottish and Welsh governments have issued a joint statement insisting this "cannot be a normal Christmas" due to the coronavirus crisis, as they called on people to think carefully about forming bubbles for the festive period.
The statement said: "The UK government, Scottish government and Welsh government are seeking to balance pragmatism with the overriding priority of protecting public health.
"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."
It added: "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."
The joint statement from the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments added: "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."
Regarding travel, the joint statement said: "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."
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