Are people you know IRL actually taking this seriously?

[HouseElfy]

Because the people I know generally really aren't. There seems to be a massive disconnect between mumsnet, social media in general, the actual news and what people IRL are doing. Yes, a lot of them are working from home now but other than that they are going shopping, to cafes, seeing friends etc. Just had a phone convo with a work colleague and she said even though the schools are closed now, "of course" they will still have playdates and so on because "kids would go mad" otherwise. My 76 year old granddad and his wife are still queuing for their pensions at the post office and going to their bloody bridge club. My FIL is still playing golf. My father says he is self isolating but then is still inviting visitors round for dinner. My own mother seems incapable of staying indoors longer than a couple of hours at a time and is currently out mooching about the shops.

Is it just me and people I know?!?!

I am, but I don't get the impression everyone local to me is. My local pub posted on Facebook that they're booked up for mother's day ffs Also, keep getting messages from the local gym/pool etc. telling me they're still open and doing extra cleaning and that the chlorine in the water kills the virus anyway. It's tempting to believe that it might be ok when you're stuck in with a bored, games-addict 11 year old, but I would rather be safe than sorry. Not going anywhere where there are other people unless it's actually essential.

*I honestly think - hope - it is semantics.

They can see that scary words like “lockdown” are causing panic, but they also know how many days and weeks we are behind Italy, France etc.

So they’re dreaming up a “nearly lockdown” and soft soaping it. It’s the balance between keeping the populace safe and calm, I think.*

This.

@Petiolaris. That was harsh and judgy. Most SE people have a contingency plan for the normal ebb and flow of business. I doubt anyone had a plan for a global health crisis on a scale that hasn’t been seen in over 100 years.

Most of my social network have stopped socialising.
Not living in complete isolation, but staying at home, only occasional trips to the supermarket, but spending the vast majority of time at home or in the garden with no visitors.

I have been at home (taking a daily short walk for exercise) for a week. With my DD who I took out of school. No socialising at all and we will stay this way.

surely the fact that we're not in lockdown would suggest that government advisors expect- and factor in- a certain number of rolling new diagnoses? ie controlling the level at which the population acquires it? if you take your kid out of school, you're actually not complying with expert protocols- and at the very least don't have the right to be sanctimonious with parents who are.

I’m not overly worried about it to be honest, I do think some people have already gone mad with this judging by my social media- it’s going to be a long few months for them as they are worrying themselves stupid already. Take precautions of course but making yourself ill with worry isn’t going to help, it’s just going to hammer ones mental health.

However me & dc only go out to the supermarket, no soft play/cafes/play dates like we normally would. My dc are all young so happy at home in the garden and playing with toys.

DH works from home when he can but in his job that isn’t possible all the time. So he still commutes in to London (does drive now instead of train) and he does wash hands & shower as soon as he walks in before he goes near me or dc.

MIL does come over to see the dc but she lives in the house next to ours & she goes nowhere else as Me and DH shop for her at the moment.

We always washed our hands but even more so now.

My friends group have stopped soft play, play dates as well. We speak via video call

ALL the coffee shops round here have stopped the sit in option but offer take away, although they won’t put it in a re useable cup. Not that they seemed busy when I drove past.

Restaurant in the village here as closed until whenever

So I think in general most people have changed habits a lot

Everyone I know is taking it seriously, certainly as far as following government advice on social contact, hygiene etc. What I am not seeing is the levels of anxiety evident on MN.

Our student niece had an argument with a friend who has a new bad cough. Friend thought that she was still fine to go out, visit friends, go to the supermarket, etc just not to places like restaurants This is a (normally) sensible twenty-something doing a science degree.

Plenty of DD's friends have still been going to soft plays and cafes with their parents after school. I'm hoping that once schools close, people will start to take it more seriously.

I've been crying on and off all day...yet my bff is still going ahead with her party tomorrow at a club!!! She checked with them and they are happy for it to go ahead!!

Mostly - much quieter round here. Noticeably less traffic. The supermarkets are busy though people are keeping their distance from each other.

My firm has everyone working from home indefinitely (>1000 staff) and absolutely all business travel has been cancelled until further notice.

Most freelance workers either save or get insurance for a possible period of no work due to illness or disaster. There’s no point getting angry at people for cancelling - it’s entirely right that they should cancel. It’s your own fault if you didn’t prepare for the possibility you might have no work - a broken leg would have been as disastrous as coronavirus in that sense.

You do realise that falling back on savings because your income falls away overnight is quite stressful?

You clearly don’t know how much freelance income protection insurance costs, or you wouldn’t think it was an easy answer.

As for broken legs. I have spondylitis and freelance just fine thank you.

What is up with you that you’ve launched a vendetta against freelancers?

Generally yes, most people I know are, dc dgp's are high risk so are staying home, and relatives and friends are concerned and doing all the recommended things. Social media friends are more quiet about it except one, who is flouting it and is currently at a pub in blackpool. Last friday they went to turkey or somewhere only to arrive to find that the country was closing borders, they left 24hrs later and buggered off to blackpool instead. One other friend has said she is keen to do playdates on group chat but no one has taken up that offer.

that wasn't specifically aimed at you, bank100- you're not being sanctimonious about taking your kid out of school- but i will do what the experts advise- i don't care what some random epidemiologist says on twitter- i care what the epidemiologists advising govt say

Going by the school playground at the moment and the number of elderly grandparents in the yard, not very😡. It’s a case of “Keep calm and Kill Granny” don’t sent grandparents to fetch your kids ffs.

if you take your kid out of school, you're actually not complying with expert protocols- and at the very least don't have the right to be sanctimonious with parents who are.

I took my DC out last week, as did my siblings and most of DS's friends' parents. I was complying with expert protocols, not Boris Johnson protocols.

I have not and will not be sanctimonious with parents who made a different choice. School is necessary for some children, so me taking mine out keeps them and the teaching staff safer.

Nope. Second last day of school and playgroup. Roads very empty of cars and workers. School and playgroup very empty due to people randomly deciding to self isolate with children without underlying health conditions etc - not sure what the point of that is? Will they self isolate for 5 years until a vaccine is developed for all strains?

Still plenty or 70 plus year old's wandering around

DH went off to his dental surgery where they attempted to triage patients and advise over 70s and those with underlying health conditions not to come in for non essential care. This resulted in a 75 year old screaming down the phone and threatening to sue the practice for age discrimination. DH carries on with urgent procedures thus generating lots of aerosol in patients who may well be currently asymptomatic carriers so no doubt we will have it soon. Would rather get on with to be honest as thankfully we have no underlying health conditions

Meanwhile more elderly patients come into the practice having refused to self isolate

Plenty of over 70s etc at the shops at lunchtime

Not exactly sure why we are bankrupting the country and denying children education for 6 months whilst seriously impairing the mental health of many women who will be left shouldering the burden of home educating etc whilst trying to do their paid work not very well in the evenings

There seems to have been an assumption that anyone over the age of 70 would chose quality of life over quantity. Many people who should be self isolating are chosing not to. Why can't we have a register where those over 70 can make an informed decision not to self isolate on the underatanding that they won't receive intensive care etc if they catch the virus. I suspect there are lots that would have signed it. We could then have taken an informed decision about how to proceed

This is nuts as one or the groups of people that self-isolation is meant to protect are largely being non compliant

This is what italy did. they didnt take it seriously and everyone used the schools being off as an extended holiday.

They need to do a lock down. The seriousness of the message isn't getting through to everyone.

My next door neighbour said she’s staying positive and getting on with life by still going to the gym and not watching the news

Not sure how your grandfather is still going to a bridge club, OP? The EBU and SBU have closed all clubs nationwide. It’s why BBO is mobbed online to crash point - they’re having to upgrade their servers to cope, as the whole country try to shift their tournaments and club nights to the internet.
Unless he’s at an unaffiliated club? Most bridge players are over 60, and it’s asking for trouble to keep meeting up and handling each other’s cards and bidding boxes. We had a “full hand soap and water scrub before entering the card room” policy for a fortnight, but have now been closed down with all the rest.

I know people either end of the spectrum. I have a very ill relative and they are self isolating along with their family, took the kids out school etc. My parents are 70 and a bit OCD anyway, so they are saying no to us visiting etc. I also have family in the health service and they're not going out except for work.

I'm still having to work right now so life is still kind of carrying on as normal for me. I'm used to not visiting family etc because of serious illness in the family anyway. A lot of things socially are closing anyway now so there isn't a lot of things to do even if I wanted to TBH.

My child's nursery just sent us an email saying they are remaining open until told otherwise.

Popped into a restaurant earlier this week to get food to take away. It was empty apart from a table full of older people who didn't appear to have received the memo about COVID-19. They were telling the manager that it was ridiculous that people were self isolating, how would this generation have coped during the war etc. It's quite galling that huge steps are being taken to protect this cohort of the population and some do not appear to be taking it seriously at all.

I know someone who runs a small business and employs three people full time. He shouldn't be working as he is in a high risk group but he is, because he doesn't want his business to go down the pan and have to make his employees redundant, as well as not being able to pay his creditors for stock and equipment.

He's doing what he can to make sensible adjustments, social distancing, wiping down equipment with antibac etc, but he's still in a place where members of the public can walk in off the street. It's not a great choice for people like him to have to make. He feels between a rock and a hard place.

Everyone I know is taking it seriously.

[boomers] treat this as a big joke even though the whole country is shutting down, losing their jobs, getting into debt and ruining their children's education to save their lives.

That’s not my experience. Those in my life were taking it seriously before everyone else as they knew they were at risk of dying.

Most of my friends aren't one is even moaning her poor pfb will be bored indoors as the local groups are being 'pathetic and dramatic'
She's away in th UK just a doff county atm and I honestly think she's gonna be shocked when she comes bk aparantly there everything is normal