To say please don't go to your second home

[Beesisabuzzin]

With talk of London going into lockdown tomorrow can I remind second home owners that Cornwall has one hospital. Devon has four hospitals. Where I live in Devon there is no food in any of the supermarkets. Please, please stay away, our communities cannot deal with an influx.

@Evilspiritgin. I concur. One of my neighbours saw that happen. I’d have the little bastards horsewhipped, no play.

I was in Penrith earlier and the atmosphere was very tense - people shouting at each other, half the pumps at Morrison’s empty, supermarkets empty of the usual stuff like toilet paper. I went on to Keswick and interestingly there was a very different vibe. It’s always quiet at this time of year but it seemed a lot calmer. Not that many people actually live in Keswick compared to the tourist populations and because it’s difficult to build in the national park and houses are expensive/have local occupancy clauses I’m not sure how many second homers there actually are.

I visited the toy and gun shop and the guy said that he’s struggling to keep up with demand for ammunition. Air gun ammo mind, so not that dangerous but it still indicates people are thinking about how they’ll feed themselves in the medium term. No getting around it folks, we’re going to war.

The virus is already in your rural communities

Ginger sausage, I am about five minutes walk from a major hospital. However they have been taking in very sick people from elsewhere in the country from the start of the epidemic, and by all accounts are really, really stretched. I have no confidence that should I get ill, my chances of treatment are better than anyone else's.

We all need to do our best to avoid catching coronavirus, by staying away from danger, and by taking measures such as washing our hands, keeping two paces away from others, etc. We all need to stay as healthy as possible so that if we do catch it, we can fight it. If people have arrived from London, avoid them, especially if you are elderly. If you do need to go to the supermarket try to avoid busy times.

In short control.what you can. It will be better for you than blaming others.

It’s flu. A flue is a chimney. And anyone who has the flu is NOT walking around the shops. They are unable to leave their bed and stand for long, let alone get dressed and drive or walk to the shops. If you are managing to do normal day to day things, however crap you are feeling then you don’t have flu you just have a bad cold or other type of virus. Nobody who has ever had actual flu would call a bad cold ‘flu’ again.

Pieceofmaria your advice isn't really true. Many people have very mild symptoms indeed and may not even realise. Secondly, even if you go on to develop a severe form you can transmit the virus before the symptoms appear. This means there are without a doubt many people out and about transmitting the virus without realising.

People aren't going to their second homes because they're being selfish - they're going (from the people I know) because they have immune issues and they want to protect themselves and their children.
Everything you have said is the definition of selfishness.

It isn't just about spreading the virus, it is also about food and facilities if you are incubating the virus. The shops are empty so unless you are bringing enough food to last for your stay I'd say don't travel. If you are incubating it our medical services aren't as good as London so why would you come here?

gingersausage I’m about 15 minutes drive. 30 minutes by public transport, although much more now, as the local stations are shut.

It’s a major teaching hospital taking many of the most serious cases of all conditions. Because of this, I strongly suspect its ICU is full (as complex cases from other smaller hospitals get transferred there) and has been for a long time.

Pieceofmaria your advice isn't really true. Many people have very mild symptoms indeed and may not even realise. Secondly, even if you go on to develop a severe form you can transmit the virus before the symptoms appear. This means there are without a doubt many people out and about transmitting the virus without realising.

Yes that's what they are saying on the news.

I am worried that I could have it.

But the NHS won't test me for it.
I did ask them and they said no. And there are no private GPS or Cliics that will do it.

So how do we know if we got it or not if they won't test?

I think testing everybody would be better than lockdown.
They could even send NHS workers to go round people homes and test us at home so we don't have to queue up at the hospitals.

I get people from the Council knocking at my door all the time asking me to join the electorial register etc,
So they could send healthcare people to go round everybodys home and test. That's a good idea I think.
Then anybody tested posetive could go to hospital if they cannot self isolate because like me they have no one to look after them or go out for food.

If you don't know you have it you self isolate.

Too late - everyone I know in London with one has gone.

We Londoners are delighted to see it empty out, but I feel sorry for locals in the regions being inundated with people with germs from elsewhere.

@MissyJane2
I’m afraid you are very behind the times. We do not have enough testing kits to test the population at large. We will never have enough testing kits. They are only testing people who end up in hospital.

Re access to hospitals.

I live roughly equidistant to three hospitals. The closest is 46 miles away and takes 1.4hrs to drive to. By public transport it would take 3 days.

Yes, I'm in Cornwall.

Please don't come.

People aren't going to their second homes because they're being selfish - they're going (from the people I know) because they have immune issues and they want to protect themselves and their children.

Firstly, I'm sorry, I simply don't believe every Londoner with a second home happens to be immunocompromised.

Secondly, if you were immunosuppressed, would you really choose to be so far from multiple teaching hospital with large ITUs?

I call bullshit.

Hi ginger I love in central London a 15 min walk from huge teaching hospital. Where o my need to relocate today or tomorrow (isolating myself on arrival) to then care for 2 social shielding/disabled relatives is either 20 min drive or 5 hours walk to small hospital. Twice that to anything better able to cope. I wish I could stay right where I am but have very vulnerable relatives who need help and support even just with getting food in.

'We're not from London you know'

Growingboys Thu 19-Mar-20 13:33:54
Too late - everyone I know in London with one has gone.

We Londoners are delighted to see it empty out, but I feel sorry for locals in the regions being inundated with people with germs from elsewhere.
......
Not everyone. People next door have somewhere and have stayed put. Come to think of it, I have somewhere! A flat in Norfolk which I intend to sell - husband's firm was up there so was convenient to have a flat. No point in me going and staying in a flat, nice as it is, when I have house and garden here but I wouldn't anyway. I like being at home.

I suppose it would be tempting if you had a nice house and garden in the country or near the sea but I would say only go if you are absolutely committed to not going shopping or visiting the town/village while you're there.

London isn't all bad though, surely? I suppose it depends whereabouts you are but there are loads of areas that are very pleasant and quite countrified.

The comments about deliberately 'ostracizing' people and so on is unpleasant to read though. That's the last thing the world needs right now.

Agreed.

There is a valid point as demonstrated by what has happened in Italy and Spain with the virus being spread from hotspots to areas with few cases.

The answer would be to call a UK wide lockdown with immediate effect ASAP. No warning at all.

I inherited a house in one of the holiday spots mentioned. I have zero intention of going - it's small village location means supplies are a nightmare at the best of times and hospitals... Let's just say I needed emergency surgery at one of the hospitals and they were so overwhelmed and they made a mistake. A life threatening mistake beacuse the doctor had worked back to back shifts.

Going there now would be a mistake for me and for that area.

A point about council tax bills - we have one with our name on sent to the "holiday" address and we pay full council tax. We collect post fortnightly. So not sure that could be used to identify locals? Surely people know each other though? I would also add the parent whose house this was - spent a lot of time in this place, went to church, was on the church and housing committee for their street, had church duties, organised raffles,provided assitance and time to the school and local businesses. They did spend about 50% of their time there. So not all second home owners are monsters.

But to conclude it is selfish for people to go to their holiday homes now and also stupid

See the monarch leading by example... She moved out of London to her second home..but yet the peasants may be locked down... Says it all really

Lol at the shop owners IDing people to make sure they're local enough.

I see that the attention-seeking addicts with less than half a brain cell are out in force.

1. London hospitals take in thousands of patients from all over the UK every day because this is a NATIONAL Health Service and London is often the centre of excellence for their ailments. Likewise we are content for London taxes to fund non-London hospitals. If you were to follow your own Trumpian advice and stay where you are, we would have far far fewer infections in London. It would make sense in your world for us to barricade London from these "foreign (non-London)" patients, and reserve all treatments for our locals, and return all taxes raised in London to Londoners for their needs.

1. Any Londoner with more than half a brain cell would at the first hint of illness leg it fast back to London. Nobody with any level of self-control would wish to go near anyone at risk. We even know how to use the 'phone to catch up with the local goss.

1. When I contract Covid19, I will decant to my most isolated home and delight in telephone socialising with my local friends. If I were to need help I would return to London. Despite having very cordial relationships with the local NHS, I know where I would be best supported. Just make sure that you small-minded people (who have have taken the trouble to tell strangers not to come your way) absolutely refuse to come to London since you are the type who would walk our streets in order to infect our old and sick.

The kind of behavioural projection running through this thread comes from personalities operating on a primitive level, untouched by others' views, so I will not argue with you. Just make sure that, on your death bed, you refuse to accept any treatment that was not researched, manufactured or delivered in your local paradise and stop flooding "foreign" especially London hospitals on a daily basis.

Yeah same here. Norfolk only really has one major hospital - the others don't have that kind of capacity. Last time we needed a ventililator for dd they said the closest child intensive care unit was in Cambridgeshire! Luckily she recovered before they needed to move her. Thank God / Goddess.

We don't have the infrastructure to cope with you, so kindly stay put.

Well providing you practice social distancing and sensible hygiene precautions Backyard it won’t affect you if they have.

Let’s hope so!

No thought that people moving into more rural areas will take the strain off city hospitals?

@maryso thas not the same thing at all. When the NHS has no choice but to move its patients around it does so with the proper risk assessments in place. Patients and their families do as they're told. There's simply no comparison with second homers putting needless additional strain on rural hospitals for no good reason. And by your logic they'll probably end up being shifted back to London if they fall ill anyway!