The figure has doubled, particularly among older people, reflecting the social fracturing caused by the pandemic
Twice the number of people as normal are expecting to spend Christmas alone this year as a result of the pandemic, according to figures that have prompted new concerns about a “silent epidemic of loneliness”.
The issue is particularly acute among those aged 65 and over, with as many as 1.7 million people saying they expected to be alone on Christmas Day. The figures, revealed in a new Opinium poll for the Observer, confirm the extent of the continued disruption that the pandemic has wrought on family get-togethers.
