AIBU to think lockdown includes rural areas?

[Henbird]

My DCs dad lives in the middle of nowhere - fields, farms, a few houses around. The DCs are going to visit him over Easter and he is planning on going on several walks. He already goes out at least twice a day - once with his other DC (who has asthma and he has said is high risk) for exercise and once for his own exercise. My DCs are up in arms as this breaks the exercise once a day rule but he says it's fine because he lives in the country. AIBU?

Are you quite serious

I live rurally with only a few neighbours. We are all taking just one walk a day. However, tons of people are turning up. They often have OS maps (i see them pondering over them) and work out where the footpaths are. Never seen so many people here. There are public footpaths through a private country estate. I used to be able to walk for hours and not see a soul. Now it's impossible. The woods and fields are rammed, litter everywhere and dogs off leads. You can't avoid people and they are all touching stiles, fences and horses. I've been not touching a thing. It's driviing me nuts

It doesn't matter if he stays away from other folk.

ragged, how could someone either transmit or catch a virus if they don't see a single other person while they are outside, in the fresh air, away from any surfaces that might have been touched by human hands?

Please tell me.

I live very rurally by the coast and spent about five hours on the beach at the end of our lane with my eight year old today. Literally the only person we laid eyes on was a farmer neighbour moving his bullocks, and that was two fields away. It’s quieter than ever here because second home owners can’t get here and lots of the local population are over 70 and staying indoors.

The guidelines (not rules) are simple, because when people cannot work out what they are trying to achieve they need to be blindly followed.

A much better guideline could be given, such as you must not see more than 20 people in any one day (outside of 2m, as inside 2m should be zero).

People in London and other cities or urban locations often have significant benefits of investment, amenities etc. In this one case, it's probably time for the government to have much stricter rules because of urban density - such as no more than 200 m from your home for more than 2 hours per week and one shopping trip per week with permits, whilst less dense areas just carry on as normal - I doubt the highlands who usually get stung on delivery charges really have the same issues as a dense housing estate.

@Concerned12345, MNHQ does not have a duty to agree with you. MNHQ doesn't have a duty of care to anyone. Their purported aim isn't to feed paranoia and hysteria. It's to help to make the lives of all parents (and particularly mothers) easier.

They do need to remove offensive and unpleasant content (and they do this, on the whole). But someone disagreeing with you is neither of those things.

There is no “once a day exercise rule”.

And it’s good to get outdoors and if no contact, no risk.

We live rurally, on a quiet lane running through a farm. Since the lockdown we've seen lots of strangers out jogging, walking, cycling or dog walking along the lane, often in groups. Usually, we would only see the farmer, the postie and our neighbours walking their dogs & the orphan lamb they've adopted.

All these people have definitely driven to get here,. That's not in the spirit of the guidelines. If everyone gets the same idea about going somewhere quiet & rural, it'll just increase the risk of transmitting the virus, surely.

I live rurally, up and out with the dogs at 6am for an hour, see no one. Out later for either walk or bike ride with kids which up to now has also been without sight of a stranger. No contact with gates or stiles. This week getting busier and weekends are very busy so don’t go out much. Shops twice a week and errands for a few isolating people if needed.

If he doesn’t see anyone I don’t see too much of a problem, perk of rural life.

Ragged, I am now wondering if I misinterpreted your comment. I thought you mean he was at equal risk if he stayed away from other people, but I now wonder if you meant he would be fine if that were the case. If it's the latter, I apologise for having taken issue with it.

I live and work rurally and normally the roads i drive mainly horse and riders and the occasional car .Now it is bikes, walkers never seen so many .And they are getting in my way and it is driving me absolutely insane .
That's probably because all the local people who would normally be going to the gym are going biking and walking instead.

I didn't even know it was ok for kids to fo from house to house. I thought everyone was meant to stay put

Mac for people who are separated, they are allowed to move the kids, so they can keep seeing both their parents.

I live on a farm and we’ve been outside a lot - but that’s normal for us. there is one footpath that no one uses so we know that we are not going to bump into anyone. There’s a big difference between living rurally and living on a farm.

we’ve not walked anywhere off the farm, I’ve not been off on my bike and the only place my DH and DC have been since school finished is to the local ag merchants for animal feed (literally drive onto the weighbridge, got loaded, back onto the weighbridge and home). I’ve been leaving home as I’m a key worker - but as I work for a disinfectant company I can get as much disinfectant as I want and my working environment is very hygienic!

Children are allowed to visit their non resident parent as normal.

We live in a village so plenty I fb fields around, however the village Facebook page does have a pic of a sign at the entrance to a path across a field pointing out that over a hundred people had passed through that gate and in doing so had touched the gate, making it a potential for cross contamination - so it depends on how rural, if you have a village with a few hundred households that may not be sufficiently rural to mean that your rural walk is without risk, even if you don't see other people, if other people are also using the same styles and gates etc then you can still pick up the virus this way.

The same goes for people stopping at benches in parks etc.

That's probably because all the local people who would normally be going to the gym are going biking and walking instead.

I doubt it. I'm in the sort of village and countryside which is ok, not particularly attractive. We usually get loads of cyclists through, often in packs. There's fewer cyclists than usual, singly or in pairs, and not many people out walking at any time. (No village shop any more, alas)

If there are more people than usual in a rural area they've very likely driven there.

I would be more worried about your children visiting. Aren’t you worried about spreading between houses especially as one is vulnerable?
That’s far more concerning imo.

if other people are also using the same styles and gates etc then you can still pick up the virus this way.

DH and I have figured out how to do the few gates and stiles on our local paths without putting a hand on them.

The legislation states: "One form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with other members of your household."

So you could go out ten times a day as long as all of them are walks, because all the exercise is in one form. Technically that means you shouldn't walk somewhere to then go for a run, but that is obviously ridiculous.

There's rural, rural and rural. If it is genuinely so rural and obscure that he encounters no one, there is no harm to be done by going out multiple times. The whole purpose of the lockdown rules is to reduce (not eliminate) the spread of the virus. If there is no one to spread it to, there is no benefit of the lockdown rules. There is also no one to enforce it as the police will focus on known popular areas.

Once per day for exercise makes sense for areas with higher populations as you don't want too many people out at the same time and the 2m distancing becomes harder to maintain.

I live on the edge of town, 500m from countryside. By the time I go a km out into the countryside it becomes a novelty to see people. Being close to town there is a drip of locals passing by, but passing with a very wide berth is not a problem. The further I go, the quieter it gets. I've been for 10km runs and seen less people than I would on 5km locally.

The real point of all this disruption is to minimise points of contact for spreading and if it's that remote the whole thing becomes a moot point.

I was speaking to day to a retired friend who lives in the country and she said her life hasnt changed at all.

I live rurally and go running for an hour a day. Usually I might see two cars during this time and might pass another walker/runner on the road 50% of the time. I also walk the dog and again might see another person 50% of the time. I would go out more if I wanted, nobody would see me to know anyway. We haven't had and increase in walkers/cyclists around here.

The legislation states: "One form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with other members of your household

No.

The guideliines say that.

The leglisation doesn't.

Have you read the actual leglisation on this?