Coronavirus news – live: Christmas ‘may lead to third wave’ but life ‘could start to normalise by spring’

Follow all the latest updates and statistics

UK governments unveil coronavirus Christmas plans

Experts are warning the planned relaxation of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas could lead to a third wave of the pandemic, after the UK’s four nations agreed three households would be allowed to mix in a bubble for five days over the festive period.

Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), told BBC’s Newsnight “it will definitely lead to increased transmission”, adding: “It is likely to lead to a third wave of infection, with hospitals being overrun, and more unnecessary deaths.”  

He also described the bringing together of families with elderly relatives “for hours, let alone days” as “a recipe for regret for many families”.  

And as the UK recorded its highest number of total daily deaths since the start of May, the British Medical Association (BMA) also warned that the Christmas period will “almost certainly” lead to a rise in the infection rate. 

Meanwhile, England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty has said that “many of us hope that things will begin to normalise” by spring 2021, but cautioned that this will be a “steady” rather than immediate return to normality.

• Five days of looser Christmas restrictions with three households allowed to mix
• Which areas are likely to be in Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3
• Christmas Covid rules: Will I be able to see my family?

Key Points

• Spring could see ‘steady’ return to normality, Whitty says
• Christmas bubbles ‘could lead to third wave’
• Pandemic has ‘slowed down’ in Europe, WHO says
• No signs of herd immunity slowing down virus in Sweden
• Coronavirus mutations not speeding up spread, say scientists
• Business travellers to England could be exempt from quarantine
• Pubs say new rules ‘mockery’

[25 November 2020 21:52 · Andy Gregory]

Exeter’s Nightingale to receive first patients

The Nightingale Hospital in Exeter, which opened in July, will receive its first coronavirus patients on Thursday.

“The Nightingale Exeter will accept patients tomorrow who will be transferred from the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E) which is very busy,” a spokesperson said.

Local MP Ben Bradshaw said:

[25 November 2020 22:29 · Andy Gregory]

How does the government decide tier restrictions in each area?

With ministers preparing to announce tomorrow which areas will be placed in which tier, here are the five factors which the government says it takes into account.

These include case detection rates in all age groups, case detection rates in the over 60s and the rate at which cases are rising or falling.

The two other measures are the positivity rate – the number of positive cases detected as a percentage of tests taken – and pressure on the NHS, including current and projected occupancy.

But Downing Street has declined to give any further details on the indicators, nor any estimate of the thresholds.

[25 November 2020 22:57 · Andy Gregory]

Germany extends partial lockdown until 20 December

Germany’s so-called “wave-breaker” lockdown, announced on 2 November, will be extended until 20 December, Angela Merkel has said, in a bid to push national infection rates below 50 cases per 100,000 people.

“I remain convinced that we have to continue to pursue this goal,” the chancellor told reporters in Berlin.

The shutdown – initially slated to last four weeks – has seen restaurants, bars, sports and leisure facilities shuttered as schools, shops and hair salons remained open.

One major new restriction stipulates that only up to five people from two households – not including young children – can meet, except over the Christmas period when the number will be increased to 10.

[25 November 2020 23:42 · Andy Gregory]

‘We’re at war with the virus, not one another’: Biden delivers Thanksgiving address as US reels from Covid

My colleague in the US, Alex Woodward, has this report on the president-elect’s Thanksgiving address.

“Service to country, service to each other, and gratitude in the face of suffering have long been part of what Thanksgiving means in America,” Joe Biden said from Delaware.

“We find ourselves again facing a long hard winter,” he said. “I know the country has grown weary of the fight … We’re at war with the virus, not with one another.”

Read more details here: