Most follow the rules as coronavirus spoils Christmas

But almost one in five found it tough to stick to the guidelines

TWO-THIRDS of people said they were easily able to follow Government guidelines for Christmas amid the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said that families would be allowed to mix for five days over the festive period.

But after a mutated variant of Covid-19 was blamed for a spike in infections, the planned relaxation of the rules was scrapped altogether in large parts of the south east and cut to just one day for the rest of the country.

It meant up to three households were allowed to mix only on Christmas Day in England; two households in Wales and three households up to a maximum of eight people in Scotland.

But despite the abrupt U-turn which was announced five days before Christmas Day - only eight per cent of respondents felt the rules were too strict.

Of those interviewed between Christmas Day and January 3, 65 per cent said it was easy or very easy to follow the rules for forming an exclusive Christmas bubble.

Meanwhile, 18 per cent said it was very difficult or difficult to follow the rules.

Of those who did struggle to stick to the restrictions, 48 per cent said they had already made plans, 40 per cent also said it impacted on their well being, and 42 per cent said they wanted to see family and friends on dates other than Christmas Day.

Some 18 per cent said it was difficult to choose between family and friends, 17 per cent felt it was difficult to stick to an exclusive Christmas bubble, and nine per cent said they did not feel that Covid-19 was a personal risk. The results of the survey were revealed in a regular report produced by the Office for National Statistics, which measures the social impact of the pandemic on Great Britain.

It also found that 44 per cent of people formed an exclusive Christmas bubble on December 25, while the same proportion chose not to.

Ten per cent of respondents lived in a Tier 4 area where a Christmas bubble was not allowed.

More than half of respondents (55 per cent) stayed at home with their own household over the Christmas period.

Of those who saw other households, 20 per cent visited family or friends for the day, while five per cent stayed overnight, and 15 per cent welcomed others into their homes for the day, while three per cent had people to stay.

Nine per cent of people travelled by car for more than 30 minutes to visit family or friends, while one per cent respondents went by public transport.

Only two per cent of people visited a church or other place of worship over Christmas, while another two per cent were able to meet up with family and friends in a pub, bar or cafe.