PM Johnson To Hold Press Conference At 1530GMT On Christmas COVID-19 Rules

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to hold an impromptu press conference in 10 Downing Street at 1530GMT (1030ET, 1630CET) alongside England's Chief Medical Officer Prof. Chris Whitty.

• Presser likely to address the planned five-day relaxation of COVID-19 rules due to take place in England from 23-28 Dec, rather than announce any new lockdowns or change to the tiering system (which should come later this afternoon or tomorrow depending if any of the details leak).
• Despite initially causing little furore, in recent days (especially since London and some of its surrounds were put into the highest level of COVID-19 restrictions at short notice on Wednesday), the latest chapter in the COVID-19 culture war has broken out. Some (including a number of major medical journals) have said the rules should not be relaxed to allow for household mixing at Christmas due to the spike in cases. Others have said that a change to the rules now risks widespread non-compliance with the rules, and risking greater non-compliance with rules going forward as people view them as arbitrary or not thought through.