Sadiq Khan has also urged the government to be cautious
Two leading medical journals have come together to call on Boris Johnson to implement stricter rules over Christmas and not allow bubbles to mix.
The prime minister recently announced a relaxing of the rules over a five day Christmas period, between 23-27 December inclusive, that would allow people to travel to see their loved ones and form bubbles comprising multiple families.
For the second time in 100 years, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and Health Service Journal (HSJ) published a joint editorial, urging the government to take more caution over the Christmas period in order to avoid a third wave of the virus.
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan and BMJ Editor-in-Chief Fiona Godlee wrote: “The government was too slow to introduce restrictions in the Spring and again in the Autumn.
“It should now reverse its rash decision to allow household mixing and instead extend the tiers over the five-day Christmas period in order to bring numbers down in the advance of a likely third wave.
“It should also review and strengthen the tier structure, which has failed to suppress rates of infection and hospitalisation.
“If our political leaders fail to take swift and decisive action, they can no longer claim to be ‘protecting the NHS.'”
The news of the Pfizer vaccine being approved sent a wave of optimism around the country, but the spread of the virus has soared in recent weeks, prompting London to be placed into tier 3 from Wednesday onwards.
Even the discovery of a new strain of the virus hasn’t seen the government backtrack on their Christmas promise.
“Members of the public can and should mitigate the impact of the third wave by being as careful as possible over the next few months,” the medical journals warned.
“But many will see the lifting of restrictions over Christmas as permission to drop their guard.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has urged the government to review their policy on covid restrictions over Christmas, citing Germany and the Netherlands as examples to follow.
“I would encourage the government to look at their rules over Christmas.”
Mayor of London, @SadiqKhan says he’s “sure” the government is 'not right' to relax restrictions over Christmas.
Get live #coronavirus updates: https://t.co/6JwQsfBiU5 pic.twitter.com/IeuA2VkF3K
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 15, 2020
“I would encourage the government to look at their rules over Christmas,” he said.
“We have to have a four nation approach, we can’t have one rule for London and one rule for the rest of the four nations,” he added, in stark contrast to his mayoral opponent Shaun Bailey.
On Monday, health secretary Matt Hancock said: “There are no plans to review the Christmas guidance.
“What we’ve said alongside that is that the public should continue to be cautious.”
