Christmas NI lockdown rules: This is when, where and with who you could be spending the festive holidays this year
The Northern Ireland Executive, the United Kingdom government in London and the two other devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales are due to reveal a one-size-fits-all Covid-19 Christmas plan next week.
The details have yet to be finalised but it is reasonable to expect any relaxation of the restriction measures will be for limited and specific period of time e.g. a few days.
This is how Christmas 2020 in Northern Ireland could look in the time of Covid-19:
Early school closures
Earlier this week, Education Minister, Peter Weir, said there were “no plans” to close schools a week or two earlier in December.
It’s fair to describe the early closing of schools as the Education Minister’s nuclear option and whilst he will view it as an absolute last resort, it has not been taken completely off the table so watch this space.
Travel by car, not public transport
One surefire way to reduce the spread of the virus during a period of time when restrictions would be relaxed would be if people used private transport when moving from one place to the other.
This will be a challenge given the high volume of people travelling home all over the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
Meeting indoors with family and friends
There are some reports in the English media that every part of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, is looking at ways to allow people to meet their family or friends indoors.
It’s unlikely that large gatherings will be permitted.
However, there are some suggestions that protective bubbles could be increased from two households to three or four but this will only work if all households agree not to meet any other households outside of the bubble.
Whilst some will think it impractical, any decision to allow for the mixing of households will come with specific mitigations e.g. social distance and wear a face covering when possible.
How long will the restrictions be relaxed?
There are reports in some of the British tabloid newspapers that the governments in all four parts of the United Kingdom are considering relaxing the restrictions for five days from Christmas Eve but this has not been confirmed.
Bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants could remain closed
Experts like Professor Neil Ferguson whose scientific model shaped the UK-wide lockdown in March said a decision to reopen bars and pubs in the weeks leading up to Christmas would inevitably result in a significant increase in infections.
The price of relaxing the lockdown
Experts have stated that for every day the lockdown restrictions are relaxed it will result in five days of restrictions in the New Year.
This means that should we be permitted to interact with four other households in our protective bubbles for five days over Christmas we would potentially have to adhere to a lockdown of some description for 25 days in January.