to remind you that we are actually allowed outside?

[Pishposhpashy]

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.

The truth is, they are still learning more and more about transmission. I'd rather err on the side of caution and take as many measures as possible.

That's exactly my point jingleyhellsbells we dont know for sure, which is why I say we need to pick through what is right for each of us, none of us know as was being pointed out by a pp.

Man up everyone and get on with it

This statement is insulting on many levels.

I really hate this perception that staying in is completely safe and going out is dangerous. It just isn't true. Obviously there is a risk of catching the virus if you go out, but staying indoors 24/7 is definitely bad for you. It will up your risk of getting seriously ill if you do catch it, as well as increasing your risk of heart attacks, strokes etc.

A walk round the block would have me dodging out of people's way every ten seconds, a run around the park wouldn't.

I've said this before, but a substantial part of the problem in these discussions is some posters utter refusal to consider that not all areas look like theirs. It's just not possible to make a blanket statement like common sense says it's safer to go round the block than to a park because that assumes knowledge of how many people are likely to be in both.

Completely agree with you OP. I’ve been ganged up on on the local Facebook group for saying it’s fine to go out for a walk and also for pointing out that not letting people drive to places to walk is just forcing everyone into smaller local spaces...some of the places you need a car to access round here can’t be walked to from anywhere so those places will be empty mean while the local park is bloody heaving the not driving this makes no sense to me and yes you’re right, we ARE allowed out. I do have a garden that is kind of safe for my son but we still go out once a day.

@iHateJanuary2020 Sorry but you didn't say anything like that. You quoted one expert whose advice is at odds with all measures being taken now- currently that it is transmitted through touching hence the focus on handwashing.

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.

If everyone followed your idea, they would all be on the beach sunbathing and having picnics on the park.

It's quite irresponsible to suggest we all follow our own 'ideas of what is right' because for some people that would mean ignoring the government instructions.

Matt Hancock has just said this morning on TV that if people continue to flout the guidelines, parks and so forth will be closed and people will have to stay inside. No walks, no exercise outside the home, nothing.

This is why we have laws. If everyone did as their own 'minds' told them we'd have a breakdown of law and order and complete anarchy.

Sadly, we have to have rules and laws to stop a minority causing chaos.

And the stupidity around the science cracks me up
All this "the stricter we are now the sooner this will be over"
Bollocks
Actually if we let this run rampant and we all carried on as normal this would all be over very quickly.
Sadly tens of thousands of people would be dead
By doing this we're actually prolonging the situation but making it manageable (or as manageable as it can be for health services)
At least if you're going to spout made up rules try not to come across as quite such a thick twat
Staying home flattens the inevitable curve it does not make this all go away
And post lockdown there will be another inevitable peak as well as more people get it who have locked themselves away
Transmission at some point is very likely to most people what we need is for this to be a slow process
Locking yourself in the house- unless you do it forever will not make Coronavirus vanish or you immune to it

I'm only here to post in your support, OP.

I'm lucky. My kids are grown up, I have a garden, and I live on the edge of countryside. Throughout this lockdown I have kept thinking how much more difficult this all must be for people like you, in inner cities, in flats, with children.

I hope you can enjoy your entirely allowed walks in the park, and can ignore those people who are being unreasonable.

My common sense tells me that a walk round the block and back in is acceptable, a trip to the park isn't.

I can only assume you are pretty sedentary, and don’t have an active three year old. A walk around the block (a couple of hundred metres at most) is not enough for us.

A 6k run for me and DH (we take it in turns), and an hour chasing after a tennis ball for him (2m from anybody else), can only really be done in the park.

We don’t have a garden, we don’t have a balcony, and neither do the vast majority of London residents. Our homes are small, and there is a limit to how long DS can be entertained by Playdoh, Paw Patrol and colouring. He needs to run about.

Or did you miss that bit? no of course I didn't miss that bit.

Unfortunately you can't hear a tone when reading what someone is typing.

We don't know enough yet about this virus. I couldn't save my son from cancer but I'll do what I can to try and keep my other son safe by reducing risks. Walking (other than to shop or get medicines) is one of those where I can easily reduce the risk.

Everyone should know by now that we are allowed out with certain restrictions.

We can exercise outside daily subject to limitations (keeping 2 metres apart from others). However, the education system must have failed because some people construe this as sitting sunbathing in a park as a household or friends playing football or taking exercise as a group.

I think English comprehension needs to be given a more prominent place on the national curriculum of schools.

hobnobs quite. A certain level of ‘failure’ is needed in order to keep the virus spreading at a manageable level or there would be no way out of lockdown. (It is unrealistic to think lockdown would get rid of it - we could never lockdown enough)

It’s not the walking around that’s the issue , it’s the ones that then sit down and have a massive picnic and spend all day there

A trip to a park might seem like more of an outing than daily exercise if you live rurally. In the city the park can be an obvious place to go for daily exercise. Although now the traffic is quieter it is not so bad walking along the roads.

Side note but some of the threads where people have been called curtain twitchers were actually very valid complaints about people having parties and so on! Whether it was something they couldn't help but notice or whether they were looking out is not really the point.

We are un the third week of lockdown (italy) & only the end of last week children have been allowed to leave the house FOR HALF AN HOUR WITH ONE FAMILY MEMBER & stay in the vicinity......you should consider yourselves very lucky

Yes you can go out for exercise but if someone sat down with you and said right to save your child's life then you have to stay in for a month

But they haven't. They've said it's ok to go out for exercise I stay away from people and I don't touch anything. I fail to see how staying in would save my, my son's, or anyone else's life.

I can't really see why it's not ok to walk or run through a park. And Lambeth closing Brockwell park is lazy and typical of the "no-can-do" attitude of local government. I've seen plenty of photos showing the park yesterday afternoon and it was not "heaving". And how they know there were 3000 people there, I don't know - and presumably not all at the same time anyway.

...you should consider yourselves very lucky

This annoys me ,now we should consider ourselves lucky ffs .
Yes people are having a more shit time and tbh even before all this my mantra was always someone worse off than you but don't say anyone is lucky .

It's a tricky one because obviously people want to go out to get fresh air but on the other hand you put yourself and others at risk every time you leave your front door. It may be a minimal risk but it's still a risk. You might touch your building's front door, traffic light, park bench etc. You might be vigilant about the 2m rule but the virus might be carried by the wind and stay in the air for a few seconds. Basically don't assume that the 2m rule keeps you safe, some researchers at the MIT argue that the distance we should keep is 8m, not 2. The 2m recommendation is based on how far a cough or sneeze can typically travel, but if the virus remains airborne for a few seconds or minutes it could spread further than that.

Try to go out at the quietest time possible e.g. early morning or late evening, try not to touch anything and wash your hands as soon as you get home before you touch anything. Also disinfect your door handles etc on a regular basis.

We are allowed to exercise at the moment, it's not mandatory nor a basic human right. If we don't stick to the guidelines, meaning all of us, we will be going into a full lockdow.

And you are fine to carry on with your exercise. Don't worry about those who criticise you they aren't worth your time. Your doing your best and looking out for your child who needs open air x

It's not the walking,running or cycling in parks that's the problem,it's the sitting,sunbathing,playing,picnicking and congregating in groups that the government is trying to stop.

And the stupidity around the science cracks me up
All this "the stricter we are now the sooner this will be over"
Bollocks
Actually if we let this run rampant and we all carried on as normal this would all be over very quickly.
Sadly tens of thousands of people would be dead
By doing this we're actually prolonging the situation but making it manageable (or as manageable as it can be for health services)

I agree that people don’t “get” this. It’s not going to go away, the virus will kill people for months and months, likely till a vaccine is ready. The point of restriction of movement and social distancing is to stop everyone getting it at once and a whole lot of people competing for medical and intensive care resources at once. It’s going to be very hard for public health to decide at which point to loosen the restrictions, as 18 plus months of lockdown or semi-lockdown isn’t really feasible.

I think English comprehension needs to be given a more prominent place on the national curriculum of schools.

Interestingly the average reading age in the UK is 9.

But I don't think that's the problem here. Some people are just piss-takers.

But - fresh air, sunlight and exercise is really really important and there has to be a way to enable that safely, especially in cities, for flat dwellers and for young children.

ChristmasCarcass

My common sense tells me that a walk round the block and back in is acceptable, a trip to the park isn't.

I can only assume you are pretty sedentary, and don’t have an active three year old. A walk around the block (a couple of hundred metres at most) is not enough for us.

A 6k run for me and DH (we take it in turns), and an hour chasing after a tennis ball for him (2m from anybody else), can only really be done in the park.

We don’t have a garden, we don’t have a balcony, and neither do the vast majority of London residents. Our homes are small, and there is a limit to how long DS can be entertained by Playdoh, Paw Patrol and colouring. He needs to run about.

Sorry, but you need to suck it up. This is a pita and inconvenient for everyone, not just you. There are plenty of exercises that can be done in the home.

Yes. If people are deprived of fresh air, confined to the home and made more sedentary for long enough and widely enough, that's going to kill some of them. It really is an incredibly hard balance to strike and oversimplified slogans are no help at all.

We might not be allowed outside soon

Matt Hancock reiterating that if a minority continue to take the piss and flout the rules they will have to ban all outdoor exercise.