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High streets and markets were packed with Christmas shoppers as scientists urged Britons to rethink Christmas gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Photos show shopping streets rammed in London, Leeds, Newcastle, Cardiff and Birmingham with shoppers urged to social distance and comply with face mask rules as they looked for gifts and bargains 13 days before December 25.
In central London, Oxford and Regent streets were packed as millions of Britons were expected to spend an estimated £1.7bn in shops amid fears London and other places could soon be moved into Tier 3 due to rising infection rates.
Romford Market, in the east London borough of Havering, which has one of the highest infection rates in England, was also rammed as the council begged residents to follow the rules and “take action now” to stop the spread of the virus.
(Image: PA)
Havering’s rolling seven-day rate of new cases of Covid-19 was 430.7 in the week up to December 7, with 1,118 new confirmed infections.
It is up significantly from 302.4 in the seven days to November 30, when there were 785 new cases.
On Friday, Havering Council pleaded: “Due to coronavirus cases rising, Havering is at risk of tier 3 restrictions.
“We’re working hard to inform our residents of the dangers of not following the rules, and to remind everyone to take action now to help stop the spread of infection. Do your bit to keep Havering safe.”
(Image: Howard Jones/i-Images)
(Image: North News & Pictures Ltd)
In northern England, shoppers descended on Northumberland Street in Newcastle, which is in Tier 3 ahead of the Government’s review of the local lockdown tiers next week.
The infection rate has fallen in the city, but its top public health official, Prof Eugene Milne said he doesn’t expect the North East to be moved down to Tier 2 following Thursday’s review.
There were similar scenes in Cardiff as shoppers began to make their final preparations for Christmas.
It came as Vaughan Gething, health minister for Wales, said the country faces an “incredibly serious situation” with a “rising tide of infections” since the relaxation of rules on November 9.
(Image: PA)
(Image: PA)
He told BBC Breakfast: “This is hugely serious. It’s for all of us to play our part.
“All those people doing the right thing should keep on doing that, everyone needs to think again about how many people they are seeing, what contact they are having with them, and think about how you can reduce your contact to protect yourself and each other.”
In Birmingham, the council leader Ian Ward has said the city should remain in Tier 3 over Christmas and New Year’s Day amid calls for it to be bumped down to Tier 2.
Shops in Leeds also appeared to be busy amid hopes parts of Yorkshire could go from Tier 3 to Tier 2 next week due to falling infection rates and hospital admissions.
(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: PA)
As the UK recorded the most Covid-19 deaths on a Saturday since April, British consumers were expected to spend £1.7bn in the shops on Saturday.
It works out to more than £3million every minute over nine hours trading. Many stores are extending their hours in the run-up to Christmas, and Primark is even keeping two of its locations open for 36 hours this weekend.
About 130,000 shoppers were expected at Manchester’s Trafford Centre, as well as 60,000 at Brent Cross in north-west London and 80,000 at Lakeside in Thurrock, Essex.
Online shoppers have faced significant delivery delays as the pandemic has caused a surge in pre-Christmas sales on the internet.
Royal Mail warned that strict Covid-19 restrictions and self-isolating staff have left it struggling to handle “exceptionally high volumes” during the online shopping boom.
The UK reported 519 new coronavirus deaths – the highest total on a Saturday since April and up by 30% on last Saturday – and a further 21,502 lab-confirmed cases of the disease.
The number of confirmed cases was up by 5,963, or 38%, on the 15,539 infections announced on December 5.
It takes the total number of fatalities within 28 days of a positive test to 64,025, and the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,830,957.
However, the true toll is thought to be much higher as 75,092 deaths have so far been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the latest reports from the UK’s statistics agencies.
(Image: PA)
(Image: PA)
Meanwhile, a public health expert warned that relaxing coronavirus restrictions throughout the country over the five-day Christmas bubble period is a “mistake” which will have “consequences”.
Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said she was concerned about people travelling from areas with high infections to parts of the country with lower prevalence of the virus.
The UK Government and devolved administrations have agreed a joint plan to relax social distancing rules for five days over the festive period, between December 23 and 27, allowing friends and family to hug for the first time in months.
But Prof Bauld told BBC Breakfast: “From a public health perspective, I have to be perfectly honest, I think this is a mistake.
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“I think people have to think very carefully whether they can see loved ones outside, or do it in a very modest way.
“I’m also concerned about the travel, people going from high to low-prevalence areas.
“I think it’s going to have consequences.”
However, Prof Bauld added if the Government reneged on the pledge then trust in politicians could erode further.
(Image: PA)
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She went on: “I completely understand why governments are doing that. Behaviourally people are fed up.
“If you’re meeting people indoors from other households, there’s poor ventilation, maybe older family members are in those bubbles, unfortunately because the virus hasn’t been eliminated… I think that means the Christmas period is a risk.”
The latest coronavirus data shows, for the seven days to December 7, of the 315 local areas in England, 179 have seen a rise in case rates, 135 have seen a fall, and one is unchanged.
Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, earlier this week warned the public to be “very, very sensible” and not go “too far” over Christmas, which he called a “very risky period”.
Scientists have already urged people to rethink Christmas amid rising infections, warning the country is heading towards “disaster”.
Just because people can meet up, it does not mean they should, according to Independent Sage.
Independent Sage is also calling for a pandemic fuel allowance so people can keep their homes ventilated while at the same time turning up the heating to stay warm.
Prof Stephen Reicher, of the University of St Andrews, said: “Right now we are heading towards disaster.
“Given high levels of infection across the country and the increasing levels in some areas (such as London) it is inevitable that if we all do choose to meet up over Christmas then we will pay the price in the new year.”
