For Christians across the world, Christmas is a time for families and friends to come together and revel in their importance to one another. Similarly, for Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists, Diwali represents a celebration of the relationships between family and friends. The importance of each celebration for their respective cultural groups cannot be overstated. The connotation of family in both Christmas and Diwali is particularly of note given research has consistently shown the significance of family and friends for the mental health and wellbeing of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.1

The UK Government’s recent announcement of new national restrictions mentions that university students “should only return home at the end of term for Christmas”.2 Diwali occurs before Christmas and, more importantly, during term time. In effect, the UK Government has just forbidden a large proportion of minority ethnic university students from returning home in order for Christmas not to be affected. This seems to have been done without much thought about the impact this would have on an already marginalised community. The worst thing about this is that it was entirely avoidable. The government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies advised a 2-week circuit break in early October, 2020, and warned of the impact on minority ethnic communities if this advice was ignored.3 Their advice, of course, went unheeded.

This is just another example of the institutionally racist remarks and policies that have typified the UK Government’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, following the publication of the higher COVID-19 mortality rate in black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, a government official in the UK claimed that BAME individuals are “not taking the pandemic seriously” and suggested they are to blame for the spread of COVID-19.4 This suggests an unwillingness to accept or inability to appreciate the concept of institutional racism. For the sake of clarity, institutional racism is formally defined as “the collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour that amount to discrimination through prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people”.5