Government encourages people to stay home on New Year’s Eve

• With New Year’s Eve approaching, the government has launched a campaign urging people to act like they have the virus and to stay at home
• The public will be reminded of the rapidly rising rate of coronavirus infections, asymptomatic transmission, and pressures facing NHS hospitals
• The campaign is running across radio, print media and out of home advertising

Everyone in England is being be encouraged to stay at home as part of a public information advertising campaign urging the public to see in the new year safely.

‘See in the new year safely at home’ is running across radio, print media and out of home advertising until 31 December. 

It comes at a time where current data shows COVID-19 cases are at an all-time high.

The advertising reiterates people should not meet up with friends or family indoors, unless they are in the same household or support bubble, and they should avoid large gatherings of any kind.

The adverts remind the public how easily COVID-19 can be spread. 1 in 3 people who have COVID-19 have no symptoms and as such the public should act like they have the virus to avoid spreading it without realising. The new strain of the virus spreads even faster than before and NERVTAG’s early analysis suggested it could increase R by 0.4 or greater. 

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

With our NHS under pressure we must all take personal responsibility this New Year’s Eve and stay at home.

I know how much we have all sacrificed this year and  we cannot let up. Over 600,000 people have now been vaccinated and we are close to beating this virus.

Now more than ever, we need to pull together to save lives and protect our NHS. If we continue to do our bit by staying at home, we can get through this together.

NHS Test and Trace is reaching 97.5% of contacts within 24 hours, and more than 3.9 million people have been reached and the government is calling on people to do their bit and further prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

• Find all local restrictions and laws
• Download images of the campaign
• The weekly average case rate for England has increased by over 66% compared to 2 weeks previously (the weekly average at 15 Dec compared to the weekly average at 1 Dec)
• In London, the case rate has nearly doubled over the last week, with the new variant accounting for 60% of infections in London