not sure if it’s ‘fear of death’ or just not wanting to be ‘pinged’ as a ‘close contact’ of someone who tests positive, necessitating a 7-day self-quarantine, which would mean missing Christmas and New Years. They’d rather get infected after seeing family for Christmas, which is a very big deal for most in England :)
Brits aren’t Karens, they’re smart. Smart enough to survive a thousand years.
If they get infected, be quiet about it. Omicron is the weak variant plus everyone will get infected now or later so there’s no point of a quarantine. I have not heard anything about the NHS getting overwhelmed.