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Original poster

Has everyone just given up on social distancing?

185 replies

Esbm2015 · 19/08/2020 22:31

It certainly feels that way and is making me very anxious and frustrated.

I’ve been following the rules with my friends when I have seen them and have been working from home.

This morning on a work call many of my London based colleagues attitude was basically that I was being too sensible and that i need to get over my concerns about travelling into the city on the tube and train as there’s nothing to worry about. I still don’t feel comfortable taking an hour long journey by train and bit more by tube - esp as trains were so unreliable and unclean pre-Covid and of what I’ve seen many on board are not wearing masks etc.

Also they were happy to say they are not SD at all with friends and family, just strangers. Many have shared pictures of themselves on social media with no SD at all hugging etc.

I just find it very frustrating - plus I didn’t get chance to say that actually I don’t really care about going back into London for the foreseeable. I’m having a great time where I live right now, even while sticking to the rules and seeing friends. But I was made to feel ‘uncool’ and anxious that am still trying to follow the rules and care about SD!!!! I’m just frustrated at working with people who have such views that they feel they can now do as they wish and change the rules as they see fit! End of rant!

OP posts:
lovelemoncurd · 20/08/2020 05:25

I'm still in the habit of social distancing so I've just carried it on. It's not that big a deal to do and whilst we still have the potential to catch the virus it seems sensible to do it. I'm not a hugger or a kisser except to close family so personally it suits me.

LumiPear · 20/08/2020 05:33

I am social distancing. I agree I keep seeing Facebook posts from friends all snuggled round a table. One friend in particular has huge numbers of friends and posts photos everyday of herself with them all, she is literally going out every single day for meals, picnics, walks in confetti fields, nights on the town. Every photo is everyone all hanging off each other. If she does get the virus she'd be a super spreader. It really really annoys me.
We've played by the rules the entire time and it's been hard in some ways but ultimately we're fortunate enough to have a sizeable house and garden (no mansion but it's not a matchbox). I get that people are in different circumstances BUT some of them are taking the piss.

MaverickSnoopy · 20/08/2020 06:10

I understand how you feel and this is a huge topic of conversation between myself and DH atm. Nearly everyone we know has given up on social distancing.

Our children go back to school soon and I think their friends parents and our friends with children just think what's the point? Vs us who think...well the point is that the decisions to get to where we are have been made on the basis that people continue to social distance. If people don't social distance maybe we'll have another wave and then the schools will shut again. We want our children back at school for their education but also for their fractured mental health, so we keep social distancing.

I've also noticed a big, "why should I social distance" culture. For me the answer to that is to save lives. Maybe the person themselves not social distancing is low risk but that's not going to help the people who are high risk. My parents are high risk, my 1yo I suspect is high risk, with multiple allergies and has had several hospital admissions, in the last 2 weeks she's had 3 different things, 2 of which needed antibiotics. I don't fancy her chances with covid. I'm very overweight (and although I'm losing, it doesn't happen overnight) so I've got a higher level of risk too. So we keep social distancing. I wish others would too.

It is frustrating OP. It's frustrating because I just want things to get better and I feel that we're all stuffed. It's frustrating because it feels like everyone else is getting to see/be close to their loved ones and frankly it's bloody hard having to social distance when you need a hug.

PhilCornwall1 · 20/08/2020 06:31

Not doing it anymore either. Nobody around here has done it for weeks.

hopefulhalf · 20/08/2020 06:37

Yes, why wouldn't you ? Cosys nothing and is the single most effective intervention.

Egghead68 · 20/08/2020 06:38

I’m social distancing. As others have said you get a whole range of behaviours and quite a lot of hostility between the different groups. Please just continue to do your own thing and let anyone who criticises do theirs (and catch Covid). This situation certainly teaches us to develop a thick skin and to learn who our friends are.

BillywilliamV · 20/08/2020 06:46

5 new cases per 100, 000 people here in Derbyshire now. I am not snogging strangers, I wear a mask in public, but I
am seeing friends and family and sending my children back to school ( Thank Heavens!)
It’s called playing the odds!

Egghead68 · 20/08/2020 06:50

100 current cases per 100,000 here (excluding care-homes and those with long-term symptoms) and rising. The levels are back up where they were in April. I’m social distancing.

Look at your local figures and make your own judgements.

StealthPolarBear · 20/08/2020 06:51

Feels like it's still going on here. I have the opposite worry that we'll never be told that restrictions have lifted. It feels as though everyone has forgotten that this isn't how it used to be.

Egghead68 · 20/08/2020 06:52

And P.S. those are just positive test figures. The real figures will be much higher.

NatalieH2220 · 20/08/2020 06:53

I'm socially distancing with people I don't know and when out and about (which isn't very often still). We've seen my mum twice since lockdown but haven't distanced with her. Due to see some other family in the next few weeks for the first time and won't distance with them. To be honest I have no faith in the government and their 'rules' seem to be motivated by money so I'd prefer to just stay safe in our own way doing what makes us comfortable.

AlternativePerspective · 20/08/2020 06:55

Shielding as much as possible here. The exception has been that my partner has been here but socially distanced and not staying, and having seen a medical professional last week she reiterated that those at greater risk like myself should still be as cautious as it is possible to be.

walksen · 20/08/2020 06:57

It is generally being ignored in shops etc. I'm in the northwest and local families are still having friends over for sleepovers etc.

Ironically of course, lots of posters are saying I'm not socially distancing with friends and family (but am distancing with strangers) is exactly how it spread here. It is a bit frustrating as it means I can't go and see family in other areas although I suppose I technically could as the lockdowns aren't really being enforced - but then I might unwittingly spread it to them....

iVampire · 20/08/2020 06:59

I really hope not

I was shielded and so (along with the 2.5m exceptionally vulnerable, and several million more clinically vulnerable) depend on adequate social distancing to be even remotely safe

vanillandhoney · 20/08/2020 07:00

Pretty much. The likelihood of catching it is absolutely minute now. Life is too short.

If I was hit by a car tomorrow I wouldn't be glad I hadn't hugged my mum for six months.

morosetinkler · 20/08/2020 07:06

@vanillandhoney

Pretty much. The likelihood of catching it is absolutely minute now. Life is too short.

If I was hit by a car tomorrow I wouldn't be glad I hadn't hugged my mum for six months.

It won't be minute if people carry on being foolish and not social distancing.
EasilyDelighted · 20/08/2020 07:11

Yes and no, I'm out and about as much as I ever was now (which is a lot, I'm very sociable) but small groups, not going inside people's houses, not hugging, sticking to the 2m rule as much as possible. Been inside one restaurant, otherwise all eating out has been outdoors, same for going to the pub. The rates are very low here and I do not want to head into winter when I won't have so many outdoor socialising options having not made the most of it now.

FinnyStory · 20/08/2020 07:14

I was never particularly anxious about all this but I am a rule follower and have complied with everything asked, which was easy to begin with when the rules were so clear and being repeated at us regularly.

Now though, they are vague and I honestly think people have forgotten that there still are any, apart from masks in shops.

In my area masks are being worn, I don't think I've seen anyone in a shop without one. Personally I am still only socialising outdoors in small groups but no one is staying 2m apart.

I haven't been in my parents' house yet nor them in mine but we only live around the corner and the weather's been good so that's been easy. My sister lives 3 hours away but even they only visited for the day rather than staying overnight as usual.

I have accepted an invitation for coffee at a friend's house today. I'm hoping we will be in the garden.

I am planning to go to the pub with 3 friends tomorrow which feels like a very big step for me, especially as, it breaks the rules by being a group from more than 2 households (I think). Friends who've been previously say it's very well organised with well spaced tables and drinks ordered via an app, no mingling.

Cases are very low in our area, the hospital currently has no positive patients, so it feels like either it's time to start getting out a bit or it's necessary to make the most of it before things get more risky again. I work in school, I want to believe everything is going to be OK in Sept but.....

vanillandhoney · 20/08/2020 07:14

It won't be minute if people carry on being foolish and not social distancing.

Community rates of COVID are absolutely minute at the moment. A thousand positive tests per day out of population of almost 68 million.

If people want to live their lives in a fog of paranoia then they can do 🤷🏻‍♀️

Bluesheep8 · 20/08/2020 07:16

I’m not socially distancing because the risk Covid poses to me is minimal and I don’t mix or socialise with anybody vulnerable.

But what about people who you don't know who get it because of this? What if you or the non vulnerable people you're socialising with are asymptomatic?
Still, as long as you're OK then that's alright.

LadyofTheManners · 20/08/2020 07:16

This was always going to happen when masks became mandatory.
I found before they did, people wearing them were always far more likely to get in my personal space and ignore Social Distancing, I even had one woman elbow me out the way to look in a cabinet in a supermarket and when I said, "excuse me, 2 meters" she just said "err I'm wearing a mask I don't need to".
They cause shocking levels of complacency.

lilylion · 20/08/2020 07:22

[quote Userzzz]@morosetinkler because we refuse to stop living our lives over a virus that has a very low mortality rate. Our family and friends don’t socially distance either. Most people are waking up to the fact that this whole lockdown has been a farce.[/quote]
For fuck’s sake do you think it’s just about deaths and not also things like long-haul COVID?

ginsparkles · 20/08/2020 07:23

We are still distancing wherever possible. We are socialising with a few friends, but predominantly outside. Only this week have we had people from outside our bubble into the house. We haven't had close contact with anyone except my DM who is in our bubble. I work in retail so am at slightly higher risk of exposure to it and whilst I'm sure I would be fine if I got it, I would never forgive myself if I passed it on to one of my more vulnerable family members.
From what I see in our shop around here in the main people are still social distancing wherever possible. I'm not concerned about passing people in shops or streets at closer than 2m, I worry more about prolonged periods of contact so we are not eating out yet.

FinnyStory · 20/08/2020 07:24

[quote Bunnybigears]**@morosetinkler really? 1 hr outside exercise a day, no stopping for a chat, 1 person 1 trolley at the supermarket, no none essential shops, no pubs or cafes, no work unless essential or working from home? I'm impressed you haven't cracked up yet![/quote]
THE WAS NEVER A 1 HOUR EXERCISE RULE. Yes shouting Grin

Waxonwaxoff0 · 20/08/2020 07:25

I'm not social distancing from my family any more. I have to work outside of home and family members are looking after DS while I work, they're not distancing from him so there's no point me doing it.

It's also a struggle to social distance properly at my workplace although I'm trying.