Coronavirus rules for gatherings over the Christmas period are expected to be announced in early December, with a minister saying the decision on festive household mixing will be made “as close to the end of England’s national lockdown as possible”, Clea Skopeliti reports.
It is important that decisions are made after the effect of England’s month-long lockdown has been assessed, the defence secretary stressed.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Ben Wallace said: “The best time to make those decisions about how we can get together for Christmas, how we can get through this festive period, is when we have seen the impact of this lockdown on the figures.
“The best time for me to give you better advice, for the government to make that decision, is as close to 2 December as possible.
“I know some people would wish to know earlier, but if we were to do it now, and the facts were changing on the ground, we’ll end up having to change it again.”
– US Covid death toll reaches 250,000
The confirmed US death toll from coronavirus has topped 250,000, the highest figure of any country in the world.
The grim milestone was confirmed by Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University, which collates worldwide data on Covid-19 fatalaties and cases, on Wednesday.
