Social distancing a thing of the past?

[Emmas85]

To think that we should still be social distancing. I'm so fed up of seeing my Facebook and Instagram full of people taking selfies/photos not social distancing, indoors and with loads of people, one even being heavily pregnant. I feel like most people have given up. I understand it's hard and it's been a long time but it's really not over yet! To top it off I went to Asda today and they've taken away their queuing system to get in and the one way system in store.

@FaceOfASpink yes, I was in a shop at the weekend, wearing a mask. Did a big detour to get around an elderly couple, also wearing masks, but they said "ah don't worry, we're wearing our masks"! I mean, maybe they were just being polite or aren't too worried about catching it, but I did wonder if they genuinely thought it was offering them bullet proof protection. Hopefully the former.

Forgot to mention the worst I encountered the other day. Walking back from local Co-op and a woman was walking along the pavement towards us as I was pushing the pram. There wasn’t enough space to distance on that pavement. It was a busy road and didn’t look like she was going to wait for us to come past so we had to push the pram into the road. She didn’t even look at us and just carried on her phone conversation. Honestly so fucking rude and thoughtless to make a woman with a pram walk on a main road

I feel like I am the only person on my social media still social distancing.
It's so frustrating.

If everyone stopped bothering then our numbers would be back up again.

I am missing out on things I would really love to do such as hugging my mum. The ONLY reason people are able to ignore the social distancing without getting sick is because of the people still doing it and keeping the numbers low!!

Yes you can go to shops/work/public transport now because we need these things open for the economy. Not because it's safe and there's no infection risk from doing it.

@Timeforredwine

Same here, since march only essential shopping and seen my parents a couple if times in last two weeks. Really infuriates me how people have no regard for anyone but themselves and do not care about anything over living their normal life. All I want to do is hug my family and get back to normal but have been adhering to all guidelines. I'm not perfect by a long way but how selfish people in England appear to be and what they cant live without doing etc amazes me. Rant over!

A lot of us still are doing the right thing.

To be honest, while I am absolutely respecting the space of strangers (wearing a mask in the shops, keeping my distance in the street) when it comes to my adult friends in private spaces then at this stage yes, anything goes really. Not touchy-feely to the extent we used to be but a quick hug if someone needs one, sitting next to each other on a picnic blanket, eating/drinking from the same containers etc. We've all made our own risk assessments, and to be honest it probably helps that as largely expats there isn't a single one of us with an elderly or vulnerable parent/relative to worry about infecting, our families are all in other countries.

Appreciate it doesn't make a lot of sense given the above but I do draw the line at people I don't know. I've turned down two party/bbq invitations recently where I'd only really have known the host, not the other guests. I'm not ready to snuggle up around a patio table with randoms yet (to be honest I never really was so this makes a convenient excuse).

There's definitely less social distancing but some still are. I find it really frustrating - now we can actually see friends and family in decent sized groups (6 people at once is surely enough even if not ideal!) People are suddenly completely ignoring all of the guidance. I think there's a real lack of awareness of it, but also why it is what it is. It's so worrying given the potential deaths and loss of jobs (and everything that goes with that) if there's another wave. At a selfish level I'm getting married in August and I really don't want another lockdown to prevent that going ahead!

People who say they've made their own risk assessments are massively missing the point of the guidance as well. It's not just about the risk to you and you friends/family. It's about the risk to the wider public that you come into contact with, and the risk of 10000s of deaths if there's another wave, or the alternative, slightly fewer deaths and 100000s of people unemployed.

@Alez Give people an inch and they take a mile, the government have not weighed that up enough throughout and keep bleating about the 'common sense' of the British people which collectively doesn't exist.

I think it depends where you live. You get a breed of couples who are joined at the hip, but most still go single file as I pass them. Groups of teens don't really move either, though they don't expect me to walk in the gutter and will move a little bit. People are certainly trying to give a bit of distance, you can't really give the 2m now anyway because the roads are too busy. I tend to hug the left hand side of the pavement and hope people will take the hint and hug their left hand side and it works in most cases.

I go shopping when it's quiet anyway as I don't want to queue.

But when I was in the West Country the weekend before last it did feel like it was all over.

Still Social Distancing here. Myself and DH have worked throughout, DS has been at home. DH does food shopping in mask, hand sanitizer etc. We have one couple who we have made a ‘bubble’ with - not strictly in the rules but a risk that we felt was acceptable. Only seen others outside. DS now seeing a couple of friends but also outside and distancing.
The rules have changed so many times that it’s not surprising people don’t understand or are choosing to make their own.

I am a bit surprised when I see people posting pictures on social media of them squashed around a pub table when they're clearly not part of the same household (or the same two households) though. Yes it's outside but they're really close together. Example, a group of friends having gone for a cycle ride. No pretence of social distancing.

I'm just so confused by the people who aren't distancing because it has "gone on for far too long"?? You realise you're the people that are elongating this situation, right?? If we go back into a second, stricter lockdown, it won't be because of us, the people who are actually following the guidelines.

I sit with people for 12 hours a day doing a job I can’t socially distance in, it’s a very inessential job so I does make me feel like what the point when i’m not working. I am being cautious because I’m pregnant, but I have to work and I do feel I need to get on with my life to some degree.

I am - as are most of my friends. We meet outside the house and sit apart. Dont share food or use the loo. We do have a cuppa though so I suppose we are breaking the rules. Wales do seem to be taking things more seriously.
I met a friend yestersay with our children for the first time....the kids didn't touch at all but still had a good time. Playgrounds here are still shut so an open field is our fun at the mo!

Would like to add re: my own post upthread, I'm not in the UK and we're allowed up to 20 people to get together in a group at the moment, and our gov advised that while 1.5m is still the ideal, some limited physical contact with those outside your household is proportionately safe.

@DottyDuvet there won't be a stricter lockdown and we need to learn to live with the virus, it's not going anyway and for the vast majority of us causes mild symptoms. I'd rather take my chances.

I wonder when the tide will turn and people will start to be called selfish for not going out to pubs and restaurants to support local businesses to keep jobs and the economy going. Does nobody care about their community any more?

@FrugiFan I think that already. It's time for us to get out and start pumping money back into the economy, obviously people who have been made redundant won't have that option but the rest of us need to. One of the reasons for the furlough scheme was to keep the economy going.

It’s fantastic now that some supermarkets have removed the way way systems.
I’ve found that people are now just going about doing their shopping without having a look of fear on their faces and just using their own common sense to not get too close to others.
To be honest, with the exception of Christmas time the supermarkets I’ve been to have never had people going too close to others except maybe by the bananas for all of 2 seconds.

@userxx maybe not across the whole country, but in pockets of areas of the country, of course there will be!! Councils now have the authority to implement local lockdowns.

It is human nature though isn't it? It has happened in manycountries . People stop taking SD as seriously when cases dropped in Melbourne, America Israel etc.

In most countries the spread has been amongst a younger demographic who do not feel threatened by covid.

There may well be an upsurge at some point but how much and how quickly is unknown. Certainly it seems as if our more relaxed lockdown in the UK compared to most of Europe resulted in a slower fall of cases and this has slowed further as it has been eased.

A lot of people feel that life must go on and so on but maybe they don't appreciate that rising/ static cases this summer may mean widespread local lockdowns in the autumn when furlough etc has ended

If some idiot in a shop can breath near me and not keep their distance why should i have to social distance from family!
Erm, to protect your family from all the times you've been breathed on by "idiots in shops"?

That's why I'm still very much doing it, because on the off-chance I might have come into contact with the virus, I don't want to give it to someone I love who might not be able to fight it off. I have already lost a close colleague to this, and almost lost a dear friend.... this is NOT to be taken lightly.

Went for a walk in a large park with a couple of friends on Sunday, paths are wide enough for 4 people to walk abreast. We were being careful and moving to the side in single file but most groups just came straight at you and the only way you could distance would be to throw yourself into a hedge.

We weren’t too worried because it was outside and you passed quickly but it’s indicative of how quickly people have become unaware and reverted to ‘old normal’.

I am still social distancing- keeping distance when I walk about, seeing friends outside if possible (if friend can't go outside, not), not hugging people.

But the risk of someone brushing past you in the street is just incredibly low. Shops- well, I don't go in shops unless I have to which is about once a week. Online shopping is still what I prefer and I'm amazed people are going into shops then getting huffy if someone comes even a tiny bit close. Go late at night, get online deliveries if you genuinely think this constitutes a high risk.

Restaurants and cafes- you don't have to go there, that's a choice. I'm using takeaways/having chips from the chip shop and will be eating out on my holiday in a week or two's time.

If rates are exceptionally low in your area, I think it's fine to be more relaxed when popping to see one friend or outside. Crowds, working in small spaces, household transmission, these are all still more risky.

It shows that social distancing is not a natural or sustainable way for human beings to live for any length of time. If it increases Covid cases, it increases Covid cases, and so be it. We’ll just have to accept it.

I am still doing my best to follow the rules but I can’t control what other people do so 🤷🏼‍♀️