![]() It is unclear how work-from-home guidance would affect Christmas parties, but any such ban would likely go down very badly in the wake of the current scandal.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, cordons sanitaires and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countries and territories around the world. You can also order paper versions if you cannot access the app. The NHS app would be used to display the passes, as it is for travel. Proof of a negative lateral flow test taken in the last 48 hours could also be valid, meaning those who are not double jabbed may not be locked out of large events. ![]() You may not necessarily have to be fully vaccinated to be able to use a vaccine pass. “In the New Year we’re likely to see a lot of challenges and that could mean more stringent measures.” “The travel restrictions are only going to slow things down a little, they’re not going to stop it. “What happens after Christmas is another matter,” he told Sky News. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge who helps advise the Government, said the new Covid strain poses a “high risk” but believes ministers are determined “not to disrupt Christmas”. “Clearly if you’re a vulnerable person, and if you’ve not been vaccinated or you’ve not had your booster then think twice about maybe going to the office party, that sort of thing, but in terms of the Christmas Day and surrounding days, I don’t think that is really under threat.” So personally, I don’t think the primary focus of the Christmas break where you meet with your family on Christmas Day, Boxing Day is under threat. “Often respiratory viruses like Covid spread less rapidly through society while we’re on our Christmas break than they do at other times. He told BBC Breakfast last week: “The thing about Christmas Day itself is that when we meet with our families, we actually interact with fewer people over the Christmas break than we do in our normal working week. Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said he does not think Christmas is under threat. “That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it actually is potentially a lot in terms of allowing us to characterise this virus better and boost population immunity.”Īnd on the possibility of another lockdown, he added: “It certainly might be possible at the current time.” “So, if you imagine a kind of Plan B-plus with working from home might slow it down – it wouldn’t stop it but it could slow it down, so it’s doubling rather than every two or three days, every five or six days. On working from home guidance, he said: “There is a rationale, just epidemiologically, to try and slow this down, to buy us more time principally to get boosters into people’s arms, because we do think people who are boosted will have the best level of protection possible, but also to buy us more time to really better characterise the threat. “We’ll start seeing an impact on overall case numbers – it’s still probably only 2-3 per cent of all cases so it’s kind of swamped, but within a week or two, we’ll start seeing overall case numbers accelerate quite markedly as well.” “It’s likely to overtake Delta before Christmas at this rate, precisely when is hard to say. Professor Ferguson, whose data was instrumental to the UK going into lockdown in March 2020, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday: “Certainly case numbers of Omicron are doubling at least every three days, maybe even every two days at the moment, so it’s accelerating very fast and, to put that in context, it’s the same if not faster than we saw with the original strain of the virus in March of last year. ![]() “But some companies might normally bring hundreds of people in from around the world to a big party, and they may decide, this year, is that sensible given the pandemic and given where we are?” What have scientists said? “For many small businesses, four or five staff, who are working together every day anyway, gathering to have a drink isn’t a big step up in risk. Energy minister George Freeman told Sky News his department has already cancelled its Christmas party.Īsked if he thought other businesses should follow suit, he said: “It slightly depends on the nature of the business. ![]()
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