Will you use shared facilities atm?

[NCTDN]

Trying to decide about going away as our holiday has been cancelled. We've got a tent but can't decide if shared facilities are safe? I'm only prepared to go to sites with toilets and showers- I'm too nesh to be more self sufficient .

If they are open, I'm using them! (although we have back up!). Not worried about showers, those places are full of soap. TBH, I am more worried about catching a tummy bug whilst camping than Covid. I suppose the biggest chance could be going in a loo/shower cubicle if any airborne particles are still there.

I actually think now that water points on campsites are going to be the most possible place that one might touch a surface that has Covid on, as it's not somewhere where there is opportunity to wash hands afterwards, or something that you'd think of doing (unlike the loo).

I am going to have a bowl of water at the tent, with a little dettol in and soap. When we come back to the tent after any reason, wash hands in that.

But, I personally think that catching Covid is still quite unlikely. You have to have that contact with someone who is infected AND is shedding the virus in a form that is infectious, and then get that into your own body. Symptomatic people should not be travelling. There is currently little scientific knowledge if asymptomatic people pass the virus in a way that is would cause a bigger reaction in others. Presymptomatic people could be a problem, but the rates of community infection (not hospitals/care homes) are low, and recent cluster incidents have focused on work places, where people have had close contact for 8 hours or so.

So, for me it's not entirely risk free (nothing is), but I think I have less risk from catching it on a airy campsite, than I have at work.

We always camp but we aren't going to this summer. I agree tummy bugs are probably more of an issue though in shared campsite loos and hand hygiene needs to be spot on. Husband got a tummy bug camping a couple of years ago and running back and forth to the loo wasn't fun. I've never caught a cold at a campsite though.

Absolutely. We've two trips booked already. Risk v benefit it's a no brainer. I have the antibodies though and likely some of the family too.

A friend of mine works at a campsite. They've reduced capacity by 50% and increased cleaning of loos and showers. They're inundated by people wanting to book so plenty of people are opting for camping this summer.

Yes. I'd have no worries

We are going camping. It’s a site that normally caters for school trips etc but have opened up to public for the first time ever as obviously no trips going ahead!
Hopefully that means it won’t be too busy and I’m happy that they will be cleaning the loos etc often plus they all open into the open air so each cubicle is seperate so you don’t have to be all inside the same room with others. We have to take our own loo roll as that has been identified as a hot spot item.
Hadn’t thought about the water but we take a water carrier so will just make sure whoever fills it up washes hands/hand gel afterwards.

We always go camping a few times every year. We'll hopefully get 3 or 4 in this year still. Booked last minute to go away next week when I saw the forecast.

No worries with facilities, as PP have said, the chances of someone having the virus, shedding it, you touching it and it being enough to infect you and then you actually transferring that inside your body, is pretty slim. We always have plenty of alcohol gel with us camping anyway.

My main worry with camping this year is that everyone is doing it who'd normally be going abroad so it's harder to find last minute vacancies

We camped last weekend in our van but lots of tents on site. The facilities were immaculate and those that had facilities must have been using them more as never any queues outside.

We took the view that you wash your hands on way out, and I am using the toilet at work (NHS) everyday that only get cleaned once at the end of each day, and no one has caught anything yet.

It was just so lovely being away again, well spaced out and really felt safe.

Yes, we have already.

Fewer people allowed in the toilet/shower blocks, lots of sanitising spray/wipes to use on 'touch points', encouraged to clean teeth and wash dishes at the tent rather than the shared basins.

We took lots of anti-bac wipes and gel and used them frequently (particularly for things like the water points, recycling points). We set up an extra bowl of water outside the tent with hand wash and gel and made sure that we had plenty of hot water on the go.

If everyone is careful it should be fine. In a chaotic world there was nothing better than being somewhere else and sitting outside the tent with a glass of wine!