The Guardian view on a Covid Christmas: better safe than sorry | Editorial

Easing of UK restrictions should not go ahead while they risk a third wave of coronavirus

Christmas is on hold. The governments of the four nations of the United Kingdom are reviewing the proposed relaxation of their Covid restrictions over the holidays. A common policy had been agreed which allowed up to three households to be able to travel and meet up indoors between 23 and 27 December. Many understandably will want to be reunited with friends and loved ones over the Christmas period. But a rethink is needed. The more people who choose to meet, the greater the risk that infections will run out of control, leading to surge in hospital admissions and unnecessary deaths.

The danger of runaway Covid cases has been heightened because the tiered" restrictions failed to make a significant dent in the daily coronavirus rates, as Downing Street's scientific advisers foresaw. Parts of the country were put under more stringent conditions this week but the concern is that this won't be enough to stem the tide. In a rare joint editorial, the British Medical Journal and the Health Service Journal warned that if current trends continue, even without the Christmas relaxation, there are likely to be 19,000 Covid patients in English hospitals by New Year's Eve - the same as at the peak of the first wave in April.