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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:
latticechaos · 20/08/2020 09:38

[quote Strawberrypip]@latticechaos if there is no vaccine then the virus being circulation is something we will have to live with either way.[/quote]
'We will have to live with it' is just another meaningless phrase.

No one is advocating mass suicide or euthanasia which are the only ways to not live with it.

Whether we live with it with stringent measures (a la New Zealand) or live with it without (a la Brazil) we will be living with it, yes.

Hyperfish101 · 20/08/2020 09:39

Yes we will have to live with it but we can slow transmission. That’s the point.

Also we may not face a UK wide lockdown but there may be local ones. I am in one now and consideration is being given to tightening it up. Overwhelming the NHS is still something they wish to avoid.

Strawberrypip · 20/08/2020 09:42

@latticechaos riiiiiight not really sure what you're getting at now, you seem to have accepted the fact that living with it is a possibility in the long term which is the only point I made

crankysaurus · 20/08/2020 09:49

Yes, were still largely distancing with the one exception of staying with my parents for the first time this weekend. We do meet up with friends but keep the 2m and aim to when we're out and about too.

I know more people than I thought I would who have either been really ill or have died. I'd also like infection rates to get lower so that vulnerable/ shielding friends and relatives can have a fraction of their lives back without worrying about getting very seriously ill or worse.

latticechaos · 20/08/2020 09:50

[quote Strawberrypip]@latticechaos riiiiiight not really sure what you're getting at now, you seem to have accepted the fact that living with it is a possibility in the long term which is the only point I made[/quote]
My point is what do you mean by 'live with it'?

We can't live with it without SD unless we accept extreme health and economic impacts.

But lots of people say we have to live with it as in we have to ignore it.

The phrase 'live with it' doesn't mean anything.

SapphireSeptember · 20/08/2020 09:54

Where I work no one bothers anymore. And when I move away I get told by whoever is invading my personal space that they haven't got it. Well I don't know if I've got it, having been working in a supermarket all the way through this. Maybe I'm trying to protect them? They don't know if they've got it either.

Also where I live things have got ridiculous, 3 out of my 4 housemates have had people to stay over. Is lockdown over now? That seems to be their thinking. (Meanwhile I'm wondering if I'll be able to cope with the trip to London I have planned in a couple of weeks. I might end up hiding in my hotel room, but at least I'll be somewhere different.)

Egghead68 · 20/08/2020 09:59

Thanks @savagebaggagemaster. If people knew what long Covid was like they would definitely be social distancing!

inpontypandyallday · 20/08/2020 10:00

3 out of my 4 housemates have had people to stay over.

That's allowed and has been for a while.

Egghead68 · 20/08/2020 10:01

if you're that paranoid about the possibility of a stranger coming within a couple of feet of you, you probably shouldn't be going out

Nice. Or maybe you could obey the rules so other people don’t have to be prisoners in their own homes.

Egghead68 · 20/08/2020 10:04

*That's a lot actually, and they are the ones you are most likely to catch it from

I've already had it*

There’s no evidence to suggest any immunity lasts more than a few months.

SqidgeBum · 20/08/2020 10:13

Find I try to SD when out and about, so at the supermarket, walking on the paths, in the playpark. However, I dont SD from family when I visit. I went and sat in my friends sitting room for a cuppa and a playdate last week and didnt SD. I have had a few people to my house and we didnt SD. I actually dont think about it much anymore. I am not entirely sure why. Maybe its because I am a teacher and in 2 weeks time SD will be a thing of the past in my workplace. Or maybe its because I am young and a little pessimistic in the idea of 'I cant be afraid of a virus forever so I may as well accept the risk and get on with it', obviously sort of linked to my job too. My DH is also in a job where he goes into peoples houses (trade) so SD isnt really a thing for him either. I hand sanitize, wear a mask, but SD has just sort of slipped away for me.

MilkRunningOutAgain · 20/08/2020 10:21

While we have followed the rules until a few weeks ago and still are for the most part, it does seem a bit pointless now for many reasons, the kids will be in separate bubbles of 230ish at secondary school (which makes a mockery of ‘bubble’) in a couple of weeks, plus both my DH and my DS have been out working throughout the whole thing. DH is commuting 4 days a week using trains and tube into central London (was 3 days a week in April/May) and DS works in a supermarket part time and got loads of extra shifts throughout. So I haven’t felt cut off at all. I am WFH and lots of my work colleagues feel similar to the OP, personally I’m bored WFH and find it hard to get any urgency going about work, I want to get back to the office. But the family is still following the rules.

latticechaos · 20/08/2020 10:21

@Egghead68

Thanks *@savagebaggagemaster*. If people knew what long Covid was like they would definitely be social distancing!
Agree with this and imo this topic is being underreported.

Please keep sharing real life experience Flowers

latticechaos · 20/08/2020 10:22

@MilkRunningOutAgain

While we have followed the rules until a few weeks ago and still are for the most part, it does seem a bit pointless now for many reasons, the kids will be in separate bubbles of 230ish at secondary school (which makes a mockery of ‘bubble’) in a couple of weeks, plus both my DH and my DS have been out working throughout the whole thing. DH is commuting 4 days a week using trains and tube into central London (was 3 days a week in April/May) and DS works in a supermarket part time and got loads of extra shifts throughout. So I haven’t felt cut off at all. I am WFH and lots of my work colleagues feel similar to the OP, personally I’m bored WFH and find it hard to get any urgency going about work, I want to get back to the office. But the family is still following the rules.
Don't pile risk on top of risk though. Observing SD elsewhere than school still makes a difference to your risk levels.
linmanuel · 20/08/2020 10:28

What are you defining as social distancing?

FluffyKittensinabasket · 20/08/2020 10:31

I don’t social distance from family. I don’t have many friends so nobody to social distance from apart from if I’m in a shop or public space.

RosieLemonade · 20/08/2020 10:43

This thread is hilarious. People are so hysterical. They clearly don’t understand numbers

inpontypandyallday · 20/08/2020 10:44

There’s no evidence to suggest any immunity lasts more than a few months.

There no evidence to suggest that it doesn't, either. I'll take my chances. When I had it my only symptom was a runny nose.

latticechaos · 20/08/2020 10:48

I think it is the people not distancing who don't understand numbers, especially exponential increase...

Strawberrypip · 20/08/2020 10:49

@latticechaos people are not going to social distance forever. that isnt sustainable. and I dont blame them either - would rather take my chances like I do with everything else in life than merely exist thanks

Egghead68 · 20/08/2020 10:52

Unfortunately the people you transmit it to @inpontpandyallday might not be so lucky.

There IS evidence suggesting immunity might be short-lived: (a) antibodies start fading within 2 months (although admittedly there are potentially other aspects to the immune system that don’t) and (b) immunity to other coronaviruses is only short-term.

latticechaos · 20/08/2020 10:52

@linmanuel

What are you defining as social distancing?
This is a pertinent question.

I define it as 2m or 1m+ (masks) plus no touching and care taken with objects passed etc.

I only don't do this with household.

I don't worry about distance passing on pavements, they are not 'contact' imo.

latticechaos · 20/08/2020 10:56

people are not going to social distance forever

This is another phrase that crops up. People need to decide what they are happy to have happen when they stop I guess.

PiataMaiNei · 20/08/2020 10:56

Exemption is for people who can’t wear masks, not people who just don’t like them.

It's really nowhere near as clear cut as that, when the regulations state that severe distress is an exemption, and there's currently no tested legal definition of that nor any case law as to what it amounts to afaik. Obviously a moot-ish point at the moment though, when the rules aren't really being enforced and the police have made clear they don't have the resources.

inpontypandyallday · 20/08/2020 10:57

Unfortunately the people you transmit it to@inpontpandyalldaymight not be so lucky.

The people I mix with are prepared to take the risk and that's up to them.

It is not realistic to expect social distsncing from loved ones to continue until there is a vaccine available.