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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to remind you that we are actually allowed outside?

396 replies

Pishposhpashy · 04/04/2020 23:25

I am following social distancing guidelines.

I am not seeing friends or family.

I am getting nearly all my food delivered online.

I am going out once a day for my allowed daily exercise. Yes, to my local park, because I live in London, in a flat with a 4 year old and no garden.

I am constantly seeing threads on here berating "idiots" for "flocking" to parks and suchlike. But the thing is, if I go to the park for my walk, and see other people there - they aren't "idiots", they are people doing the same thing I'm doing - their ALLOWED daily exercise!

I mean, if you have a garden, bully for you. But I don't, we are allowed out, and I will continue to take my son for a walk in the fresh air once a day.

OP posts:
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5
chomalungma · 06/04/2020 10:17

We have someone near us who has appointed themselves as a watchdog and is going around filming people who are breaking the rules (in their opinion) and posting it on Twitter.

By making the film, they are also breaking the rules as they don't appear to be exercising.

ChristmasCarcass · 06/04/2020 10:51

NewPapaGuinea if you have room for fucking gym equipment in there, it sounds like your garage is bigger than my entire flat, which I share with DH and a very energetic toddler.

You cannot lie down on the floor in any of the rooms in my house, without removing large pieces of furniture (bed, sofa etc). If I did star jumps in the living room I would hit somebody. Why on earth would I do that when there is a 36 acre park directly across the road from me, and the guidelines allow me to go out to exercise?

I haven’t seen anybody sunbathing or BBQing in there, just people exercising, walking dogs, playing with their children (not in the playground, running about with them) and walking. There were a couple of patients from the hospital there smoking (in hospital pyjamas), but they are probably safer outside than inside given the inpatient infection rate currently. Everybody was keeping 2m apart, nobody was being an arsehole about it.

Ticklemeelmo · 06/04/2020 11:11

I think this is actually the kind of in-fighting that this government is hoping for. Make us fight amongst ourselves, blame each other, not the government.

This, in spades. They had ample opportunity to learn from other countries who were several weeks ahead of us, and squandered it by waiting weeks to lock down. But yes let's all blame these fictitious hordes of people out sunbathing.

CruCru · 06/04/2020 11:38

A friend lives in the Barbican, where they have private residents' gardens. The police came in and told everyone off for hanging out in those gardens, despite them being in separate family groups (far apart) and being in the gardens that they pay for.

Presumably someone reported everyone to the police for sunbathing in their own gardens.

People are going to get quite fed up with this sort of thing.

JudyCoolibar · 06/04/2020 12:22

I'm a bit sceptical about the pictures of busy parks being posted - some at least seem to be pre-coronavirus pictures.

JudyCoolibar · 06/04/2020 12:25

It would be quite difficult to clarify the guidelines further. They could say that exercise means keeping moving - but then they need exceptions for people in wheelchairs, children in buggies, and people who just need a sit down every so often.

Xenia · 06/04/2020 14:13

The Government should steer well clear of the guidelines and work out how long we can stand the pressure before things are worse than he extra coronavirus deaths which in my view is likely to be opening up on 1 May and not bother to clarify the law (by the way the law is what counts not some random person's interpretation - see Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020

In terms of going out to exercise (there are loads of other reasons you can go out - I am about to go out for work purposes which is allowed too) - the regulatoins say you can go out "(b)to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household;"

They do not say you can only run, walk or cycle. They do not say you cannot drive to exercise. they do not say you cannot do the allotment. They do not say you cannot exercise on a surf board or swimming. I would also say if you are not very fit and need a sit down briefly on a bench then you are allowed that - plenty of OAPs with sticks need a rest but don't sit for too long and sun bathing is not exercise.

Also if you have no home presumably including those sofa surfing you can do anything you like.

Restrictions on movement

6.—(1) During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), a reasonable excuse includes the need—

(a)to obtain basic necessities, including food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including any pets or animals in the household) or for vulnerable persons and supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household, or the household of a vulnerable person, or to obtain money, including from any business listed in Part 3 of Schedule 2;

(b)to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household;

(c)to seek medical assistance, including to access any of the services referred to in paragraph 37 or 38 of Schedule 2;

(d)to provide care or assistance, including relevant personal care within the meaning of paragraph 7(3B) of Schedule 4 to the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006(1), to a vulnerable person, or to provide emergency assistance;

(e)to donate blood;

(f)to travel for the purposes of work or to provide voluntary or charitable services, where it is not reasonably possible for that person to work, or to provide those services, from the place where they are living;

(g)to attend a funeral of—

(i)a member of the person’s household,

(ii)a close family member, or

(iii)if no-one within sub-paragraphs (i) or (ii) are attending, a friend;

(h)to fulfil a legal obligation, including attending court or satisfying bail conditions, or to participate in legal proceedings;

(i)to access critical public services, including—

(i)childcare or educational facilities (where these are still available to a child in relation to whom that person is the parent, or has parental responsibility for, or care of the child);

(ii)social services;

(iii)services provided by the Department of Work and Pensions;

(iv)services provided to victims (such as victims of crime);

(j)in relation to children who do not live in the same household as their parents, or one of their parents, to continue existing arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children, and for the purposes of this paragraph, “parent” includes a person who is not a parent of the child, but who has parental responsibility for, or who has care of, the child;

(k)in the case of a minister of religion or worship leader, to go to their place of worship;

(l)to move house where reasonably necessary;

(m)to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the place where a person is living includes the premises where they live together with any garden, yard, passage, stair, garage, outhouse or other appurtenance of such premises.

(4) Paragraph (1) does not apply to any person who is homeless.

tectonicplates · 06/04/2020 15:17

I am also amazed at how many couch potatoes have suddenly discovered a love of exercise.

Whoever wrote this, I bet you'd be the first person to start complaining about overweight/unhealthy people using up NHS resources when surely they should take responsibility for their own health by getting more exercise etc.

It sounds like a lot of regular joggers and runners don't like the idea of newbies taking up space in "their" park, forgetting that they themselves were newbies when they first started.

VegetableMunge · 06/04/2020 16:03

Yep. And it's not just the runners either. Loads of people who were doing a particular thing pre pandemic think that gives them a greater right than others to do it now. See also some of the supermarket delivery slot threads.

RuffleCrow · 06/04/2020 16:10

I'm with you op. Going to the park and other people being there isn't 'flocking'. If you're 2m apart you're doing nothing wrong.

I was in my local park on sunday. Acres of space, barely anyone there. Two police officers got out of an armoured van (think that's the technical name) and started harassing an old lady sitting on a bench, hundreds of feet from anyone else. Made me really, really sad. They left me and my rowdy kids alone for some reason.

The authoritarian element in the police and on MN are having an absolute field day with this.

cakecakecheese · 06/04/2020 20:50

I think if you're like me and fortunate to have a big garden and room to do online workouts then do not go out except for absolutely essential items but yeah if you've not got those things of course you need to stretch your legs and get some air. It's just about common sense and being mindful of others.

singingintheshower · 07/04/2020 06:04

Absolutely nothing wrong with that Mmmmdanone as you have a medical condition and it was just a few minutes drive anyway. We definitely need to all stop judging others who are out and about. I'll keep going for my daily walk for an hour round my village until I'm told we are no longer allowed. I used to walk for an hour most days anyway & I smile and say hello to everyone I meet even if I am crossing the road to avoid them on narrow pavements. People are turning into real idiots over this exercising malarkey. I don't get the snobbery at all. Either some folk would normally have been in the gym or in the pool and now they can't so instead they are jogging, walking, cycling whatever, or, they can't go to work, so are choosing to get a bit fitter whilst they can and stave off the boredom of being stuck indoors all day. I applaud all of them - as long as they maintain the safe distance etc. A smile, wave or hello is really cheering me up at the moment and if I don't get out and away from my dd, ds & dh for an hour each day I might go bonkers. I'm already more sensitive, more tearful and more grumpy than before due to the stress of this whole nightmarish situation. Everyone needs to be kinder and stop assuming every branch they inadvertently touch will immediately give them this virus. Mental health is important too!

IHateJanuary2020 · 12/04/2020 09:46

It is patently NOT up to each individual to do what they think is right for them. Yes, use common sense with the government instructions, and for some, that might mean going further than the instructions if they live in a crowded city. It might mean having walk through some quiet streets rather than a crowded park.

Very late response JinglyHellsBells I know, been one of those weeks, but for me, common sense/ doing the right thing are the same thing.

My point was (cleary you think, badly made) is that there is still so very much we do not know about cv, we should mot be saying we 'know' when we don't. How you got from that, that by my logic we could all go off to parks etc, I just dont know.

Xenia · 12/04/2020 11:28

If this goes on much longer we will need to add to the test cases. Bindmans had to write to the state about disabled children who need to go out more and the state backed down (it was an interesting potential case because the Regulations themselves I believe do not say once a day for exercise - they say go out to exercise).

I don't see why an old lady who cannot quite manage a full walk without an isolate sit down on a bench should not be allowed to do so. However if you do want a rest on a bench then lie across the full bench and do yoga stretches on it (unless the bench has been taped up like some have) and that will be exercise and if we get some macho men saying the only good exercise is running then that is sex discrimination - women do more yoga than men.

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 12/04/2020 14:23

I fall under the keyworker definition - not NHS. I've been ridiculously busy during lockdown (this is my first day off in about 3 weeks, often working over 12 hours a day).

Really, the last thing I need right now is to spend half an hour queuing to get into the supermarket (as happened a couple of days ago) or to be told I can't drive my dog to a local park when I'm very short on both time and energy.

Some of these guidelines are fine for people who have been furloughed and have oodles of time, but for some of us they're just making life far harder than it needs to be.

Anamechangewpukddoyougood · 13/04/2020 09:22

@RuffleCrow that sounds awful - however was the reality that they may have been pointing out to her why, as an old lady, sitting on a bench may not be a good idea?

Totally appreciate that may not be the case, but think it’s more likely than a telling off.

LWJ70 · 23/04/2020 08:12

I've been waiting for a published study of blood serum levels of vit D3 versus patient outcome and the first one that I have seen is on the net and the results show a significant correlation. Bear in mind it is not peer reviewed and does not prove causality. But I will continue with this until science proves me wrong.

The study was done by a researcher called Alipio from the Philippines. He took the data from 212 covid patients and ranked their symptoms: mild, ordinary, severe, critical.

He statistically analysed the categories and blood serum levels: normal was defined as vitamin D3 less than 30ng/ml, insufficient was in the range 21–29ng/ml and deficient as less than 20ng/ml.

Here are his results:
mild symptoms = 86% had normal levels of D3, 1.3 % had insufficient levels of D3
ordinary symptom = 26% deficient, 44% insufficient
severe = 40% deficient, 29% insufficient
critical = 32% deficient, 26% insufficient, 3% normal

OK I hear you say, it could be because those patients already had underlying conditions which rendered them deficient in the first place. But this is significant data.

Study is here:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3571484

Two things really stand out for me. This is a study of 212 Philippines nationals living in SE Asia. This is one of the BAME communities who have sadly disproportionatly died of covid in the UK:
www.theguardian.com/world/2...exerts-heavy-toll-on-filipino-community-in-uk

Meanwhile, there have been only 446 deaths in the Philippines, with a population of 110 million (they had their first case of covid on 30th January!).

Secondly, the UK government has said that they will keep all the scientific data secret until after the pandemic -

'Key scientific data and advice the UK government is using to guide its covid-19 response won’t be published until the pandemic ends. Documents used to make decisions and the minutes of meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) will only be made public when the current outbreak is brought under control, according to Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser.''

www.newscientist.com/articl...advice-wont-be-published-until-pandemic-ends/

to remind you that we are actually allowed outside?
to remind you that we are actually allowed outside?
Camomila · 23/04/2020 09:17

That's interesting LWJ70 thanks for sharing, DH/ILs are Filipino and the DC are half Filipino.

As it happens I think we had CV in March, and both boys (baby has vitamin D drops and DS1 has vitamin gummys) had mild cases.

LWJ70 · 23/04/2020 11:50

@Camomila

That's good to hear. People living in the UK need to take supplements during the autumn/winter months and especially now.

puffinandkoala · 23/04/2020 12:08

I'm a bit sceptical about the pictures of busy parks being posted - some at least seem to be pre-coronavirus pictures

I agree. Same goes for some of the videos. There was one taken in Richmond (London, not Yorkshire) which was quite clearly from last year (not this year, anyway). Also using telephoto lenses to make it look like there are far more people, and closer together, than there actually were. Cycling UK has made formal complaints to the press regulator.

Not sure why people were trying to pretend people were breaking the rules unless they were/are desperate to get a stricter lockdown. And if so, why?

As for the sitting on the benches, if I wanted to sit down I would. Councils are massively overreaching themselves. Mind you, not sure I expect any better of local government.

TheSoapyFrog · 23/04/2020 13:00

I went out on Saturday for the first time in 5 weeks for a short walk. I couldn't stop remembering all the posts on our local facebook page about people daring to walk around the village green with kids. We were the only one there and I still felt like a criminal.

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