Toilets and reopening the high street and countryside

[chomalungma]

It's all very well saying they are going to reopen shops etc - to make them Covid secure. We can all go to the countryside.

But....what about toilets. I know this seems like a really boring question - I wonder if it's even been discussed in Cabinet.

But if cafes / pubs etc remain closed - then shops are going to be the main toilets available - and public toilets.

It's going to be very difficult. Shops will probably not want to have their toilets open because of Covid.

I wouldn't want to do a High Street visit without knowing I could access a toilet.

And as for going to the countryside - well normally it's the pub / cafe / public toilets.

Luckily DS is way past needing to be changed when out. Because changing tables are going to be an issue as well

AIBU to think this may not have been thought about in Cabinet?

I don't see toilets as any more of a hazard than the supermarket to be honest. The same dirty people use both. Touch as little as possible, wash your hands well and sanitize once you've done the final door touch.

Supermarket is a hazard though but it's an essential trip for certain things. Using a public toilet for non essential journeys can be avoided by not making them.

Difference with the toilets is the aerosol factor.

I suppose the government sees this as a way to incentivise people to not go too far from home
but actually they're just incentivising people to shit and piss in the bushes

I have crohns.... no public loos is a terrible scenario for me.

Public toilets are no more of a hazard than normally IMO - some people might carry E. coli O157:H7 which can kill some just like Covid can kill some so the usual hygiene applies - hand wash the moment you are done and then don't touch door handles etc on the way out from the handwash..

Unfortunately, lots of people don't wash their hands. A pet yuck of mine was seeing women leave the toilet and then do their make-up or touch faces/hair without bothering to wash their hands...

An outdoor alcohol ban would help. At least while the pubs are shut. Government are incapable of thinking anything through.

Sunshine, alcohol, parks and beaches is not a good mix during a pandemic.

I watched Alice Beer at Cribbs Causeway shopping centre this morning. Iirc she said the loos would be open and regularly cleaned. I don't think you can expect people to travel to shopping centres and not be able to pee, so they will be open because they need people to shop. Especially since it will take ages to go shopping with all the queues and limited numbers allowed in each shop.

I've been at work throughout this in the middle of town and the public toilets have been open everyday

Council workers, ie bin collectors in the high street and toilet cleaners have counted as essential workers

I think council public toilets have to be open when they expect their workers to pick litter , deliver parking tickets and cut park lawns etc

brilliant ..... take a trowel with you from now on so we can all take a dump and bury it

This is the main reason I haven't been driving more adventurously to exercise with the children. I certainly won't be going shopping either until I know the loos are open. There aren't enough loos in ordinary times. I cannot wait that long, so just need them to be open.

I would wear gloves myself or just make sure I touch nothing after washing hands, which I normally do (cover my hands with clothing/get out without touching door handles).

We cannot have civil society without proper sanitation 😳