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.

@SengaStrawberry

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 🤷🏼‍♀️

This! I'm a historian by background (early 20th century, have a PhD) and I think we're in the middle of trying to attempt a very radical social experiement. We're basically asking people to suspend many things intrinsic to our 'humanness', good worthwhile things we've all rightly been taught to value - our desire to come together, to display physical affectiom, to play (children) to gather in large groups to celebrate or mourn or party or share cultural experiences, to seek love & sex (if you're single, which millions obviously are) - for an indefinite period of time, in the interests of fighting a virus which poses a fairly finite degree of risk to the average under-sixty. That was always going to be a huge ask once the initial panic wore of, especially once the social & emotional & economic costs started to stack up. You can argue that its an experiment worth attempting, but I honestly don't think its sustainable past a certain point and I'm not going to get judgey about people over it.

And we wonder why the rate of infection isn't decreasing like it should? Look at what's happening in Leicester & potentially in Blackburn next - the economic devastation of another lockdown.

Also tired of seeing this framed as selfishness v non-selfishness. My personal take is that we need to follow the approach which causes the least human suffering over the longterm. Its easy to focus on the short-term headline-grabbing easily quantifiable impact (Covid deaths) at the expense of other factors

And ask yourselves why are you being so selfish. Don't trot out the lines about knowing what's best for you & your family because all actions affect all of us. Makes my blood boil.

Also tired of seeing this framed as selfishness v non-selfishness. My personal take is that we need to follow the approach which causes the least human suffering over the longterm. Its easy to focus on the short-term headline-grabbing easily quantifiable impact (Covid deaths) at the expense of other factors

💯% this!

And ask yourselves why are you being so selfish. Don't trot out the lines about knowing what's best for you & your family because all actions affect all of us. Makes my blood boil.

Who are you referring to @luckylavender ?

@Coronabegone - not one specific poster but comments I've seen over & over again on MN.

@Badbadbunny

How dare the do something you don't approve of! They're outside, minimum risk but OMG they're in a pub

See you're deliberately missing the point that they were shoulder to shoulder and NOT social distancing as they are required to do!

I think there's a lot of deliberate missing of the point here to derail the debate.

YES you can go to the pub, go on holiday, go to the beach, shop, go to restaurants and cafes etc SO LONG AS YOU SOCIAL DISTANCE AND WEAR A MASK WHERE POSSIBLE.

That's the point here.
The point is people are shoulder to shoulder. It wouldn't matter where they are. However pub gardens are where people are visibly gathering so it's easy to see. I just drove past my local and saw the same thing as it happens.

Yes, I went to a shopping destination on Sunday and nobody was social distancing and only a few wore masks. There were no stickers on the floor and if there were, people were ignoring them.

I think people just dont care.

@PopPopPopPopPop YOU DON'T NEED TO USE UPPER CASE TO MAJE A POINT!!

You must live in the same place as @Popsie17 then, what a coincidence!

@PerfidiousAlbion

Yes, I went to a shopping destination on Sunday and nobody was social distancing and only a few wore masks. There were no stickers on the floor and if there were, people were ignoring them.

I think people just dont care.

Worse than that, they believe that not caring is somehow defensible.

Do what you like but why post it on social media?

I know I’m breaking the odd rule here and there (try getting a toddler to socially distance from his grandparents!) but I’m also not posting it all over the Internet!

@edwinbear

I don’t actually know a single person who is still social distancing. School is out and it’s day trips/play dates/BBQ’s all round. I’m absolutely fine with this too. Life has to go on and I’m so confused by what is and isn’t allowed I’ve given up trying to understand.

I totally agree with this. I am also glad that the supermarkets have been dismantling their ridiculous queuing and one way systems. They caused loads of problems and made everything take three times as long, at least.

We've been SD for 2 weeks because school bubble had to close because of a positive case.

[quote Coronabegone]@PopPopPopPopPop YOU DON'T NEED TO USE UPPER CASE TO MAJE A POINT!!

You must live in the same place as @Popsie17 then, what a coincidence!
[/quote]
I'll use upper case if I like thanks. Personal taste.

I don't think it's a coincidence at all particularly when @edwinbear doesn't know a single person who is social distancing.

Do what you like but why post it on social media?

Don't like what people post?

Options are

Don't use SM
Unfollow
Unfriend

SM winds people up for many reasons, the advice is always as above.

I'll use upper case if I like thanks. Personal taste.

Glad you've stopped though

I don't think it's a coincidence at all particularly when @edwinbear doesn't know a single person who is social distancing.

3 people out of how many ...... hmm non conclusive evidence really.

@Coronabegone

I'll use upper case if I like thanks. Personal taste.

Glad you've stopped though

I don't think it's a coincidence at all particularly when @edwinbear doesn't know a single person who is social distancing.

3 people out of how many ...... hmm non conclusive evidence really.

I wonder how many people @edwinbear knows. I personally know 27 people who are no longer social distancing based on what I have heard and seen in the last 2 weeks.

How many people will it take to turn the current stalling of the number of cases (BBC term) into an increase I wonder. What happened in Leicester and Blackburn I wonder. People not observing social distancing, I'd hazard a guess.

How many people will it take to turn the current stalling of the number of cases (BBC term) into an increase I wonder. What happened in Leicester and Blackburn I wonder. People not observing social distancing, I'd hazard a guess.*

Yep that's one possibility.

Most people seem to be trying re strangers but less so with friends and family. I think that is the only realistic long term solution as expecting humans to not socialise forever was unrealistic.

I went into a local supermarket after a long time away yesterday. I was wearing a mask - mainly to try it out and see how it worked. A man was pushing past people and commenting negatively on those of us who were following the rules. I think he might have been drunk. It really put me off going back. I know the risk of me getting covid from his cheap vodka breath is low but I'm mainly worried about the atmosphere that these kind of incidents will generate. Us vs them atmosphere :(

@Qasd

Most people seem to be trying re strangers but less so with friends and family. I think that is the only realistic long term solution as expecting humans to not socialise forever was unrealistic.

That's the problem though. You're more likely to be close to friends/family for longer periods of time, so the risk is a lot more than a brief encounter with someone in a shop or pavement.

Hence the increases in infection rates in Leicester/Blackburn, and food factories, etc., where it's being passed within families and work colleagues - the people you're more likely to "trust".

I know the risk of me getting covid from his cheap vodka breath is low but I'm mainly worried about the atmosphere that these kind of incidents will generate. Us vs them atmosphere

The more people who wear masks, the less opportunity will be for idiots like that to get away with their poor behaviour.

Also, drunken idiots and those with MH problems randomly abuse people in shops/streets anyway.

At least we've come a long way since March where in our town, a young girl was kicked to the ground for fun by a couple of youths because she was wearing a mask. A least these days it's verbal and probably just by drunks etc.