A Christian health expert has warned against underestimating the new strain of Covid-19.
Professor Francis Davis, a Christian professor of religion and public policy at Birmingham University and non-exec director for an NHS Trust, told Premier people should be extra cautious.
"I won't be going to church, because even though that's been permitted, it seems to me that that's a high risk situation. But that's also because I care for people who are more vulnerable.
"So I think we just need to follow the guidelines even more strongly washing hands, staying two meters clear, and not congregating in spaces.
"I went for a walk yesterday, I'm living in a tier two area, and there are loads of young people out on the street drinking beer having a street party almost in the middle of a sunny day, with none of the rules that have been communicated over the last year put into practice at all.
"These sorts of things are just irresponsible, and they're the things that need to be knocked on the head. We really need to get back to these basic interpersonal responsible behaviours of staying clear of people, wearing masks, not inviting people into our homes. And making sure that we do self-isolate when we've got those symptoms.
"I've had Covid, it's really not nice, it took me four months to get over it."
His comments come as a scientist advising the Government has said the new mutated virus found in the UK is likely to become the dominant global strain of Covid-19.
Calum Semple, professor of outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said the new strain is infecting many more people in the same amount of time that the previous variant did.
Concerns about the spread of the new variant has led to the dramatic scaling back of Christmas plans, with mixing banned in Tier 4 areas and the three-household provision being allowed for just Christmas Day in the rest of England.
Boris Johnson said the new variant was up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the original strain, while Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted it was "out of control" and the Tier 4 lockdown may have to remain in place for months.
France, along with more than a dozen other countries, imposed a travel ban on passengers from the UK due to a new strain. It also stopped lorries carrying freight from entering, but it's hoped the Port of Dover will reopen later on Monday.
Prof Davis told Premier Christians shouldn't give into doom and gloom despite what's happening:
"All this talk of cancelling Christmas is absolutely hysterical, because you can't cancel the arrival of the Son of God.
"Christmas is there, Christmas is full of hope, and Christmas is light in the darkness. And it seems to me that we need to hang on to hope and the journey then onwards towards Easter, so that we keep anchored to what's really important without swaying one way or another in a kind of a sense of undynamic panic."
Listen to Premier's interview with Prof Francis Davis here:
