Plans to relax Covid restrictions at Christmas must be undone or many lives could be at risk, according to a rare editorial from two of the UK’s leading medical journals.
The British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal said the government could no longer claim to be protecting the NHS if it went ahead with “reckless” plans to allow families to socialize indoors over Christmas.
“We think the government is about to make another big mistake that will cost many lives,” she says.
He warns that if current trends continue, there will be 19,000 Covid patients in English language hospitals by New Year’s Eve – as at the height of the first wave on April 12. These numbers do not affect the impact of Christmas mixing between families and the freedom to travel to see the family.
The editorial says the additional burden for Covid-19 patients is likely 40 times higher than it was at the start of the second wave.
The editorial warned that “the new year will likely see the NHS funds face a stark choice: to be overwhelmed or to stop most optional and non-urgent business.” “Instead of lifting restrictions on Christmas as currently planned, the UK should follow more cautious examples such as Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.”
The shift from journals, which cover both physicians, politics, and administration across the health service, will increase pressure on the government to rethink plans to allow three families to mix from December 23-27.
France It reopened nonessential stores this month, allowing Christmas shopping to begin. But the slight increase in new infections since then means that while travel is permitted from December 15, a nationwide curfew will start from 8 PM to 7 AM after that will be lifted on December 24, but not on Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve. New. Bars and restaurants will not reopen until January, and private gatherings will be limited to six adults.
Germany The “light lockdown” has been extended until early January, but amid a record rise in injuries and deaths, it may have to stop further before Christmas – perhaps allowing people to leave their homes just for fundamental reasons and store closures from December 21. Private meetings are currently limited to five meetings, which should be raised to 10 from December 23 to January 1, but this may change.
AustriaStrict closure ends this month. The country is implementing a collective program of 10 million tests over the next two weeks with the goal of allowing more families to be reunited during the holiday period. Christmas markets are canceled.
Italy Inter-regional travel ban from December 20 to January 6, except for work, health or emergency reasons, and Italians may not leave their cities on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day. Midnight Mass will be offered on December 24 for worshipers to return to their homes before the curfew in the country from 10pm to 5am, and people coming from European Union countries must submit a negative test.
Spain People pleaded to be responsible, but they would allow movement between regions for “family reasons” between December 23 and January 6. The regional curfew, which runs from 10 pm until midnight, will be delayed to 1.30 am on December 24 and 31, as the maximum for gatherings will be raised from 6 to 10, a measure that will also apply on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. New.
Authorities in Netherlands He said current restrictions will not be eased over Christmas and may be strengthened if infections rise. The number of guests for Christmas dinner will be limited to three (except for under 13 years old); Cafes, bars and restaurants will remain closed except for fast food; Non-essential stores must close at 8 PM and non-essential travel is not recommended.
Belgium He said families might only be in close contact with one additional person during the Christmas period, although people who live alone will be allowed to meet two more people. Fireworks will be banned on New Year’s Eve to limit gatherings.
Poland People will only be allowed to spend Christmas with their immediate family, with no more than five guests being invited to each family until at least December 27 and travel is banned outside of their home towns.
John Henley Europe Correspondent
The joint editorial, the second joint attempt in the history of the 100-year headlines, said it was time to rethink Christmas restrictions in light of the current rate of infection.
“When the government put in place the current plans to allow household mixing over Christmas, it assumed that the demand for Covid-19 on the NHS would decrease. But it is not, and rather, it is rising, and the emergence of a new strain of the virus has led to more potential danger,” the editorial says .
“The government has been very slow to impose restrictions in the spring and again in the fall. His hasty decision to allow domestic mixing should now reflect and instead extend levels over the five-day Christmas period in order to lower numbers in a potential third wave advance. It should also review and strengthen the stratum structure, which failed to suppress infection rates and hospitalization. “
The NHS trusts regional health systems most under pressure that are already having to cancel nearly all elective and non-urgent care due to the virus returning, the editorial says. “Even if the NHS in England succeeds in vaccinating all” at risk “by Easter, it will not be in time to prevent hospitalization and death for many over the next few months.”
BMJ and HSJ are also criticizing the NHS Track and Trace and the government’s plan for mass testing with side-flow tests. The tracing service “, which has almost nothing to do with the NHS, continues to waste money on failing. So does group testing for asymptomatic people who use lateral flow tests that don’t fit the purpose,” the editorial says.
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