Britain hopes Christmas can be saved as Covid cases flatten
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
January 27, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023
Britain hopes Christmas can be saved as Covid cases flatten

World+Biz

Reuters
20 November, 2020, 05:20 pm
Last modified: 20 November, 2020, 05:23 pm

Related News

  • Twin shocks call for stronger domestic policy response
  • China rings in Lunar New Year with most Covid rules lifted
  • WHO recommends that China monitor excess Covid-19 mortality
  • China retaliates against S.Korea, Japan over Covid curbs
  • PM Rishi Sunak sets out priorities for Britain, responds to critics

Britain hopes Christmas can be saved as Covid cases flatten

“It of course won’t be like a normal Christmas, there will have to be rules in place,” Hancock told Sky News

Reuters
20 November, 2020, 05:20 pm
Last modified: 20 November, 2020, 05:23 pm
Britain hopes Christmas can be saved as Covid cases flatten

Britain could ease stringent Covid-19 rules to allow families to gather for Christmas as signs indicate that coronavirus cases are starting to flatten as a result of current lockdowns, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Friday.

The United Kingdom has the worst official Covid-19 death toll in Europe and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed some of the most stringent curbs in peacetime history in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

But heading into the holiday season, the government faces a dilemma - to ease restrictions, with the risk of renewed spread of the disease and death, or to ban large get-togethers.

"It of course won't be like a normal Christmas, there will have to be rules in place," Hancock told Sky News.

He said he hoped that restrictions, which include a strict lockdown in England, could be eased to "allow for a bit more of that normal Christmas that people really look forward to".

Hancock said he was working with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - which manage their own policies on combating the pandemic - for a UK-wide approach to rules for Christmas.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford told BBC TV that there would be a meeting next week to work out the details, and he hoped people in Wales would be able to see relatives and friends in England "in the most simple and straightforward way that we can devise together".

The head of London's Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, said that while police might try to stop wild parties, there were better uses of police time than trying to catch families out.

"Let's see what the rules are, but I have no interest in interrupting family Christmas dinners," she told LBC radio.

England has been under lockdown for two weeks, which Hancock said was helping to flatten case numbers. It is due to end on Dec. 2, although ministers have not ruled out that it could be extended.

Scotland's biggest city Glasgow and parts of the country's west and central regions begin a stricter lockdown regime on Friday to last until Dec. 11, including the closure of pubs and restaurants and non-essential shops.

Christmas in Britain normally features a hectic round of boozy office parties, as well as family gatherings which often entail long journeys.

Cambridge statistician David Spigelhalter said rules over ventilation, distancing and speaking volume, as well as people's natural caution, might help over the festive period.

"I wonder if they'll ban singing and maybe they'll try to make a rule against family rows at Christmas," he told BBC radio.

The death toll from the pandemic in the United Kingdom stands at 53,775, while the number of positive tests is 1,453,256 positive tests.

Britain / Covid -19 / cases / flatten

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infograph: TBS
    State banks spend 80% of their forex for govt imports in H1
  • Manufacturers feel the pinch as consumers tighten belt
    Manufacturers feel the pinch as consumers tighten belt
  • Production remains halted in 8 Ctg power plants
    Production remains halted in 8 Ctg power plants

MOST VIEWED

  • A woman on a mobility scooter drives past a mural praising the NHS (National Health Service) amidst the continuation of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, London, Britain, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
    Hundreds of thousands of UK healthcare workers balloted for strikes
  • FILE PHOTO-Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov in Ufa, Russia January 13, 2023. Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS
    Putin requests clarifying methodology for oil price determination in taxation by 1 March
  • Chief Executive of oil producer Rosneft Igor Sechin attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia February 15, 2021. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo
    Russia's Sechin says Taiwan will return to China 'on schedule'
  • A still image from video, released by the Russian Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be Russia's Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launched during exercises held by the country's strategic nuclear forces at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia, in this image taken from handout footage released October 26, 2022. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
    Hungary will veto EU sanctions on Russia on nuclear energy
  • China's and U.S.' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
    China says willing to communicate with US military but 'red lines' should be respected
  • Photo:Reuters
    India expects more clashes with Chinese troops in Himalayas

Related News

  • Twin shocks call for stronger domestic policy response
  • China rings in Lunar New Year with most Covid rules lifted
  • WHO recommends that China monitor excess Covid-19 mortality
  • China retaliates against S.Korea, Japan over Covid curbs
  • PM Rishi Sunak sets out priorities for Britain, responds to critics

Features

Sketch:TBS

Why we need consumer education for consumer wellbeing

2h | Thoughts
Dr Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute. Illustration: TBS

Twin shocks call for stronger domestic policy response

3h | Thoughts
December-er shohor, taxi taken for airport and the Park Street bathed in lights. Photo: Jannatul Naym Pieal

Exploring Kolkata on foot, empowered by Google Maps

4h | Explorer
Island hopping in Bangladesh?

Island hopping in Bangladesh?

6h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Kajol’s road paintings bring change in Gafargaon

Kajol’s road paintings bring change in Gafargaon

18h | TBS Stories
Carew & Company witnessed a remarkable growth

Carew & Company witnessed a remarkable growth

19h | TBS Stories
PCB recalls cricketers from BPL ahead of PSL

PCB recalls cricketers from BPL ahead of PSL

21h | TBS SPORTS
Why Misha Sawdagar became villain instead of a Hero?

Why Misha Sawdagar became villain instead of a Hero?

20h | TBS Entertainment

Most Read

1
Picture: Collected
Bangladesh

US Embassy condemns recent incidents of visa fraud

2
Four top bankers arrested in DSA case filed by S Alam group 
Bangladesh

Four top bankers arrested in DSA case filed by S Alam group 

3
Illustration: TBS
Banking

16 banks at risk of capital shortfall if top 3 borrowers default

4
Photo: Collected
Splash

Hansal Mehta responds as Twitter user calls him 'shameless' for making Faraaz

5
A frozen Beyond Burger plant-based patty. Photographer: AKIRA for Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Special

Fake meat was supposed to save the world. It became just another fad

6
Representational Image
Banking

Cash-strapped Islami, Al-Arafah and National turn to Sonali Bank for costly fund

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]