Don't treat Christmas as a 'free for all', leaders warn families
People are being urged again to "use good sense" at Christmas and not treat it as a "free for all" – so not to force the region into a third lockdown in January.
West Midlands leaders have issued another plea for people to "act sensibly" and not forget about coronavirus when they are seeing loved ones this festive season.
The Government is allowing people across the UK to have a five day lockdown "break" at Christmas from December 23 to 28 – where three households can bubble together to celebrate the holiday.
But ministers have warned people to exercise caution, especially around elderly and vulnerable relatives.
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Chiefs in the West Midlands have said the break should not be treated as a "free for all".
Lola Abudu, of Public Health England for the West Midlands, said people needed to make careful decisions to ensure the hard work of the second lockdown wasn't undone in less than a week.
"Covid is spread by social mixing, and if we have more of that then there is a higher risk of transmitting the virus," she said.
Careful
"We know people have had a difficult year and they miss their relatives – but we are asking people to make careful judgment and calculations. The reality is that in December Covid is still dangerous. I would be encouraging everyone to be very careful. We need to do it not just talk about it.
"We have seen what has happened in other countries, for example, Thanksgiving has been followed by a huge surge in cases."
Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands David Jamieson echoed the call for safety.
"I think everyone really just needs to act sensibly," he added.
"My biggest concern is that mixing at Christmas will allow the virus to spread inter-generationally and across neighbourhoods and then we’ll be in a greater lockdown in January.
"Carry on using good sense – don't treat this as a free for all. Act with caution. If we relax too much then we might find ourselves in worse situation in the New Year.
Leader of Birmingham Council Ian Ward urged residents to remember a vaccine had recently been approved, and that nobody wanted to "fall at the final fence" by making poor decisions at Christmas.
