What Iâm still puzzling over is what is the guidance now about the number of people round a dinner table?
âLes rĂ©unions privĂ©es devront ĂȘtre limitĂ©es, a averti le chef de lâEtat ce mardi. Il faudra donc limiter au maximum le nombre dâadultes rĂ©unis dans une mĂȘme piĂšce et respecter les mesures sanitaires. â
Is it 6 people? 10people? 20 people?
Isnât it meant to be fleshed out by Jean Castex today like the last time.
If it is not laid-down⊠it will be left to the common sense of those who are mixing togetherâŠ
He has asked that Christmas and New Year family gatherings be kept to a minimum⊠which seems a reasonable guideline to begin withâŠ
I hope Castex will expand as otherwise itâs a confusing mess. For some families it is normal to have 20 people around a dining table (not just at christmas) so they may well have different idea of what âa minimumâ is.
Surely people can work it out for themselves by now. I donât know how many times Iâve seen the TV spot that shows a family meal for Mamieâs birthdayâŠ
Nope, not seen that advertâŠbut then adverts are always the moment to do something else.
I donât think it is clear. Yesterday the news was full of the government telling sncf to run 100% of trains to allow people to go home - which gives a different message. Chatting to a neighbour this morning she said how good it was that christmas could carry on as normal⊠(she has three children and 7 grandchildren, so 15 peopleâŠ)
Macron is appealing to familiesâ common sense to weigh up the risks for themselves. Meanwhile, over in Blighty, Johnsonâs lax bubble rules for Christmas look likely lead to a third wave.
My completely unscientific straw poll suggests this message is not getting through. Although perhaps a bit is as weâve just had a request to book our gite from a neighbour so they will have more roomâŠ
I would think it unwise to expect that a ânormalâ Christmas with proximity indoors and lots of hugging will be a good idea.
Well Macron and co have much more work to do to drive that message home.
your neighbour is obviously not understanding the message⊠Macron clearly said that Christmas/New Year will NOT be like the others
âIl ne sâagira pas de vacances de NoĂ«l comme les autresâ : lors de son allocution tĂ©lĂ©visĂ©e ce mardi, Emmanuel Macron a donnĂ© le ton. Si le confinement doit ĂȘtre levĂ© dĂšs le 15 dĂ©cembre si la situation sanitaire le permet, les fĂȘtes de fin dâannĂ©e auront un caractĂšre spĂ©cial. On fait le point.
Hopefully people will work out for themselves that if the number of infections rises then more people will get sick and die and the confinement and/or curfew will continue. If physical distancing is taken seriously the govt will be able to loosen things up. Carrots and donkeys come to mind.
This is what Prof Andrew Hayward, a member of the governmentâs Sage advisory committee, thinks of household mixing at Christmas,
Effectively what this will be doing is throwing fuel on the Covid fire.
He said household mixing at Christmas would âlikely lead to a third waveâ and is a ârecipe for regretâ.
The same message applies to France and indeed any other country. Iâm sure some people will show common sense but unfortunately many wonât.
Not being a fan of christmas 2 seems to be the optimum number for christmas dining.
Yes I donât think appealing to peopleâs common sense will work. This second confinement has shown how little people respect rules. I think they need to set out extremely clear instructions of what is considered acceptable and what isnât. As in if your table is 2m long then that is only big enough for 4 people at correct social distancing, no more.
You all seem to have more faith that people will actually pay any attention to Macron amd Castex than I do.
Most families will ignore this as it will be the usual âIt wonât happen to us gov, itâs only one dayâ most will take it as the go ahead to have a normal xmas, cue third wave mid January.
This applies to here, the UK and the USA.
Seems to me that folk need to understand what they are being told by Macron and Castex⊠that would be a good first stepâŠ
And to do that the public authorities at all levels need to stop giving out mixed or vague messages.
I really canât see anything vague in Macronâs message⊠Christmas and Reveillon will NOT be as usualâŠ