...to think that Matt Hancock has a very strange idea of grandparents' day-to-day lives?

[Jourdain11]

His "don't kill granny" type comments. Does he really imagine that all grandparents are these poor, housebound people who do nothing but sit at home waiting for their children and grandchildren to waft past and pay the occasional visit?

My mother and stepfather, both in their early 60s, still work (part-time in my mum's case, full-time for my stepfather). They are both going to work, seeing friends, seeing family. They haven't seen me or my children since last New Year, incidentally, so if they catch Covid it won't be from their grandchildren! (They are in Paris.)

Does Matt Hancock honestly think that the contact circle of the average grandparent is limited to their children and grandchildren?

I get that it's to make people feel accountability and all that, but it's a little insulting!

YANBU, my mum is 54 and a grandmother and, she teaches in a secondary school.
Maybe she shouldn’t go to work, in case the pupils all kill that particular granny.

YANBU. My mum is 51 and works full time NHS frontline so catching it from my DS is the least of her worries! She's also already had Covid and recovered fine.

My stepdad is 47! Some people that age have school age children themselves.

In my experience, it is just grandchildren that tend to visit.

Not everyone has able bodied 75 year old parents.

I understand the sentiment (of Matt Hancock, not you)

What age range are the worst spreaders atm? People in their late 20s will generally have grandparents in their 80s so maybe he is thinking of that generation?

I totally get what you’re saying though.

Does Matt Hancock honestly think that the contact circle of the average grandparent is limited to their children and grandchildren?

No, he thinks that the contact circle of the average child will include grandparents.

To be clear, I don’t disagree with his general sentiment of “we should be careful to avoid spreading coronavirus, in particular to the vulnerable.”
But to use “don’t kill granny” was a bit when plenty of grandmothers will be people who a few weeks ago he was saying had “no excuse not to be back at work”

@titchy

Does Matt Hancock honestly think that the contact circle of the average grandparent is limited to their children and grandchildren?

No, he thinks that the contact circle of the average child will include grandparents.

Well, I'm not even convinced by that, to be honest. Plenty of kids live far from their grandparents and only see them occasional weekends and/or holidays.

You are totally not BU. It annoys me too given that where I live most people of all ages are socialising relatively normally. Its not as if the over-60s are all sat at home. Also even quite cautious young people are inherently more likely to be exposed to Covid for unavoidable lifestyle reasons - they're much more likely to live in relatively cramped house or flat shares and more likely to do very public-facing jobs (restaurant or bar work say) and also probably more likely to need public transport.

Yanbu. My parents (67& 72) have a better social life than me! It's a constant calendar of group cycling/walking trips, volunteering, coffees/drinks/dinners with friends.

Does Matt Hancock honestly think that the contact circle of the average grandparent is limited to their children and grandchildren?

No but if they have grandchildren of that age then they will be at risk of contracting the virus from them, if they meet.

@Frazzled13

To be clear, I don’t disagree with his general sentiment of “we should be careful to avoid spreading coronavirus, in particular to the vulnerable.” But to use “don’t kill granny” was a bit when plenty of grandmothers will be people who a few weeks ago he was saying had “no excuse not to be back at work”

Nor do I, actually. I just wish the government could actually speak like intelligent and rational people rather than over-excited conspiracy theorists when they make statements.

Maybe think of it as being everybody's grandparents, rather than just your own.
I agree lots of grandparents have full, busy lives but the fact is that people in their 60s and above are more susceptible.

@Waxonwaxoff0

YANBU. My mum is 51 and works full time NHS frontline so catching it from my DS is the least of her worries! She's also already had Covid and recovered fine.

My stepdad is 47! Some people that age have school age children themselves.

This is somewhat outside the average age for grandparents, by some considerable margin, you must know that?

It's a horrible thing to say. One of the scientific advisors said something similar in the early days, and when a friend's dad passed away, her son genuinely thought he'd caused it.

But that's the intent isn't it, shifting the blame.

So how old do you think the grandparents of teens are? This is who they’re trying to influence...and yes, they’re of that age group

Agree OP, I was just saying the same earlier. Just speak to us like we are intelligent people!!

Nicola Sturgeon said similar today.

Don't kill granny is a ludicrous statement

I'm no fan of Matt Hancock but this was said in the context of people in their early twenties spreading CV. Their grandparents are likely to be 75+.

I thought the line tended to be that younger children and teens don't spread it? I've stopped reading about it so much so could be out of date.

Wasn’t he talking to people in their 20s, which is apparently where Covid is spreading currently. Their Grandparents would probably be older, so in their 80s for instance.

I also didn’t think he was being literal about your Granny, just trying to get people to think about the affect of Covid spreading by 20 year olds on people the age of their grandparents.

However, I would think it is very unfair to blame 20 year olds for killing Grandparents. That’s going to be somewhat of a psychological burden if their grandparents die...

In the first week of lockdown we had gone to the park and the police were patrolling. These two officers went up to three teenage boys who were sat on the grass with their bikes (and kind of obviously not from the same household) and rather than "breaking them up", told them to sit a little further apart. The male officer said something along the lines of, "Just be careful guys, you may not be vulnerable yourself but be aware that you could take it home to your families and they could be worse affected".

Why not more of that attitude from the government? Encourage people to be mindful of the risk to others, but speak to them like they're intelligent? (And who knows, they may behave accordingly!)

I'm 43 with a 2 year old granddaughter 🤣

God knows what he thinks I'd be doing.

I work, have a 10 and 13 year old plus an older daughter on her way to uni and my son has left home

But my own mum is 71 and doesn't sit about . Shes always out

Your average 20-30year old has parents 30 years older, so 50-60 and grandparents about 25 years older than that, so 75-85

It’s aimed at a target of 20-30yo, where most of the infections are. Sounds very sensible to me. I know it’s not aimed at my young kids and their grandparents. I’m surprised how many people take offence at messages rather than realising that they are not the target audience. In this day and age nuanced messages don’t reach very far.

I'm guessing he didn't have you in mind, lol. Probably not Angela Rayner either...!

Matt Hancock is awful