Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Are my village overreacting?

155 replies

charliesmithers · 21/03/2020 08:49

Small village - started an emergency group - they’re looking for wardens for each street to check each house daily for symptoms (by knocking on windows apparently), people with medical training eg CPR, doctors, nurses, farmers (for food), people who know how to fish, those who have been in the military before and people with skills such as joinery, electrics and firefighting .

They seem to believe that we will be entirely alone from now on, we have to assume there are no services left in society and no contact with other villages and towns - and that as a village we will eventually have to form our own separate civilisation .

These are actual words - that have been sent via social media to lots of us . A leaflet through the door last night saying much the same .

Same group have told us to avoid handling any mail, cardboard or paper from anywhere as it’s very dangerous, all animals, food that’s not been cooked to a certain temperature (so no bread, raw fruit or veg), water that isn’t sterilised or boiled and have told us that our pets and other animals are a danger to us all and should be actively avoided, confined to indoors and washed daily in water .

They’re asking for fire fighting stuff , overshoes, medical equipment, PPE, rubber gloves and rubber trousers, Wellington boots and tools for survival .

Apparently this is all just very good sense . It’s being actively shared amongst the 1000 or so of us who live here - many of whom are either very elderly or families with young children and very, very frightened as it is .

Would I be wrong to contact the group who are doing this and tell them to can it for a bit, or are they quite right? As far as I can tell there is no evidence for any of what they are saying . It sounds like something out of a post apocalyptic film !!

OP posts:
PicsInRed · 21/03/2020 10:33

Just smile and nod and keep your head down, a survival technique which has worked in turbulent times for millennia.

Don't answer the door if they pop by to take temps etc. Just ignore.

It's going to be a long outbreak, people will need scapegoats and you dont want to bring Sauron's loopy eye on yourself.

KenDodd · 21/03/2020 10:34

I think checking on everyone in the village every day is a great idea.

Everything else... less so.

KonTikki · 21/03/2020 10:34

Sounds like someone is getting more than a bit hysterical.
What you don't need at this time is mass hysteria.
Report to your local Councellor. That's what they are there for.

I8toys · 21/03/2020 10:36

It's not Royston Vasey is it?

BovaryX · 21/03/2020 10:38

and have told us that our pets and other animals are a danger to us all and should be actively avoided, confined to indoors and washed daily in water

Ludicrous. I hope people don't start neglecting their own pets after believing this alarmist stuff?

AlexisCarringtonColbyDexter · 21/03/2020 10:40

Im being serious here- they sound insane and frankly, dangerous.
I'd be reporting this to someone. This is really worrying

middleager · 21/03/2020 10:44

And what next will the male ringleader do?

Insist that all females don Handmaid's Tale attire and serve him?

Report this cult. Not a typo Grin

AriadnesFilament · 21/03/2020 10:44

I’d seriously be considering the GP surgery because it sounds like they need mental health input tbh

AutumnalLeaves38 · 21/03/2020 10:44

@Luc1nda,
I would be tempted to combat it with an initiative of my own - the "from my window" stuff or ViralKindness.

^ This.

Having a contingency plan sorted/keeping vulnerable people reassured and supported/knowing who to call upon for specific tasks etc is sensible.

As is re-iterating official health advice from trusted sources.

But it's actually pretty scary the way that hard realities being faced by frontliners (and they are bloody harsh), who are TRAINED and QUALIFIED to help the rest of us, are being twisted by a conspiracy theorist minority into the inevitable breakdown of society...

Are there any locally known extremist doomsday preppers (I don't mean just well-organised 'moderate' concerned people, who are stocked-up within reason)?
Because I'd imagine power-crazy individuals are currently having their moment of 'told you so'-ness, and stoking unnecessary anxiety in others along the way.

Pretty cruel Sad

Any mention of bunkers, yet?!

BovaryX · 21/03/2020 10:45

It does sound a bit Doomsday Preppers....

TroysMammy · 21/03/2020 10:50

Do you have a local shop?

Spied · 21/03/2020 10:50

I live with anxiety and at the moment it's totally off the scale...
This sounds a comfort to me, which I guess by others' standards on here is pretty nuts Shock
Any houses for sale in this village?Wink

Mrsjayy · 21/03/2020 10:52

It's not Royston Vasey is it?

Grin as long as the op doesn't go to "local shop" she will be finnee !

AutumnalLeaves38 · 21/03/2020 10:53

Far prefer the sound of my cousin's village, tbh: the locals are discussing where best to make moonshine, if push comes to shove, now that their much-loved pub's under lockdown...

Wine Gin

MadameMeursault · 21/03/2020 10:55

Do you live in Eyam? Or Royston Vasey?

MadameMeursault · 21/03/2020 10:55

Oops sorry, didn’t RTFT

Zaphodsotherhead · 21/03/2020 10:58

Can't be that small a village - mine only has one street. You can look from one end to the other from my bedroom window. Now THAT is a small village.

AutumnalLeaves38 · 21/03/2020 11:01

@Spied,

That must be so hard to be trying to manage right now.
I'm sure many can well relate.
DM me if you ever want to 'chat' with someone who understands.

EYProvider · 21/03/2020 11:04

I would be more scared of that lot than the virus.

What if they start killing your pets?

I’d find someone to stay with elsewhere if I could. And I’d take my dog with me.

Ilovemypantry · 21/03/2020 11:07

OMG this example of serious overreacting really scares me. This is what I have been dreading, a few I’ll informed individuals spreading their fear to anyone who will listen. It’s this kind of madness that will see animal rescues overflowing with pets being abandoned even though they are in no way affected by the virus. Some people who live alone may only have their pet for company and they will be a lifeline to them during this period of self isolation.
Please don’t listen to these small minded scaremongerers and don’t give them a platform to spout their madness.

Spied · 21/03/2020 11:07

Thank you AutumnalSmile

LadyTiredWinterBottom2 · 21/03/2020 11:09

Oh.

Err. Maybe one of them has been planning for the zombie apocalypse and has decided this will do instead?

Her0utdoors · 21/03/2020 11:14

How lovely they are going this on social media, it's obviously incomprehensible to them that if things get that bad it won't be an option.

SunshineCake · 21/03/2020 11:14

Handling post is fine!

AnnaMagnani · 21/03/2020 11:15

I think checking on everyone in the village everyday is

A good way to ensure everyone in the village gets infected.

The whole thing is madness. Washing your cat daily is a good way for you all to be admitted to hospital with sepsis from being scratched to death by angry cats Hmm

Swipe left for the next trending thread