You are allowed to get fresh air, alone and well away from others

[Borkins]

This is actual government guidelines
Yet some folk seem to think if you leave your house at all, you are a Covid spreading demon.
I fear lots of tension around this. See lots of very preachy, judgey posts on social media.
You cannot expect people to get not a single breath of air for months on end.

Deputy chief medical officer said in press conference yesterday that it was fine to go out as long as social distancing was adhered to. Infact she said they encourage it. She mentioned children going on bike rides together but making sure they kept two metres apart and only touched their own equipment.

All RSPB reserves open for same reason (although cafe and gift shops shut). I’ll be making the most of it while we can

I went for a lovely walk with doggo this morning. At various points throughout the woods human beings were widely spaced in huge circles laughing at the chasing antics of a pack of dogs tearing about.
My dog dropped a stick at a small girls feet and patiently retrieved it every time she threw it about a meter away... She was giggerling, it made me smile, dog was happy.

Why arent these dogs on leads?

What people don't understand is the difference between self isolating and social distancing.

Of course we should be outside in the fresh air... the concentration of virus particles will be far lower outdoors compared to indoors where everyone is breathing it out
Probably best off are people who live by the sea!

We went for a walk this morning, most people are not staying clear. We had to ask and avoid people coming towards us.

We went for a dog walk in the woods this afternoon. There were groups of people and dogs around all keeping a good distance away from each other. When we got back there was a large group of teenagers strolling through the village, they don't even live here.

"How are we supposed to keep kids from their friends for months"

Why arent these dogs on leads?

Oh for heaven's sake, it's woodland, people let their dogs off the lead.

I don't think some people will be happy until we are confined to our houses for goodness knows how long.

Stay away from the news, look for facts and don't get hysterical.

And I think the kids can safely see their friends one on one if they stay outside and keep the 2m apart. But not in groups.

I'm glad someone has finally posted something sensible about this. It seems on here like if you put a toe out of your front door you're an Covid spreading sociopath. We're self isolating but we've been in the garden. Once we are just social distancing we will go outside. We're very lucky to live rurally and can walk miles without seeing a soul

Totally agree. There is confusion over social distancing and isolation.

We've had a lovely day enjoying the sunshine. I took the children to the allotment while I did some weeding and they looked for bugs and worms. They've ridden their bikes and scooters around the little cul-de-sac we live in, played on the trampoline and kicked a ball around the garden. At no point were we close to anyone else. Tomorrow morning I'm going for a run. You need to enjoy the sunny days while you can, I'm sure we'll have plenty of rainy ones.

DP and I will be out on bikes in the countryside tomorrow. Much safer than queuing in the supermarket.

I took mine for a bike ride this morning. We took our own water bottles and snacks (normally stop at Costa), didn't stop at the park and we didn't sit on any benches. I'm hoping this is enough

I'm all for fresh air. However an influx to local beauty spots and mass gathering at otherwise isolated parts of the countryside is not social distancing. And for those of us who usually live very rurally - isolated by choice, it's incredibly frustrating when half of Sheffield insist on clogging up a small village to take the air...

Being outside is the best thing for your mental health and your immune system as long as you are safe .
Keep your distance from others and you will be fine .

Yes, you can take a walk in the fresh air, but keep your distance from everyone else. No, kids should not be mixing with other kids as that is not social distancing.

Years ago it might have been a huge issue but now with skype and facetime and gaming etc, kids can still have contact with their friends.

I would rather cut off contact with everyone and kill this virus dead in its tracks because it cant spread, than risk it for a coffee and a chat with a friend.

If people continue to ignore, then we will go down the same road as France, Italy, Spain, where people are only allowed out 1 at a time and only for essential reasons, with the military enforcing it. That doesn't need to happen if people can self regulate and keep away from others.

So walk and no contact is OK, hanging out in the park is not.

This is by far the thing that is proving hardest for me in Italy and making my mental health suffer. I want to be allowed to go for a walk in the mountains. We live in the middle of the mountains and I could get somewhere very remote in five mins in a car but we're not allowed. I can see why parks have been closed and the need to discourage social gathering but don't think the mental impact of keeping you a complete prisoner is actually worth the benefit for anyone, especially if this is going to be for longer than a couple of weeks. The trouble is, people always take the piss. I'm talking about a walk with just the people I'm isolated with but there are people who'd push it and maintain a 1 m distance with friends on a walk, plus bring kids and suddenly the metre is gone.

The National Trust have made entry to their parks and gardens free of charge for this reason.

And yet have closed some car parks, meaning that those sites are only accessible to very local, able-bodied people.

Where I live lots of people are heading to the same small number of open spaces, walking in the same areas, parking overcrowded etc. V hard to maintain any physical distance.

Imagine will be similar at some NT sites.

OP you seem to be suggesting that it’s fine for older DCs to meet out of doors. Saw loads of teen groups out today, all physically close by each other.

Tweens/teens’ social development is less important than their / others’ physical risks from this virus.

They’ve shut most car parks, so the available parking spaces within walking distance are overcrowded.

The problem we have is that everytime we go outside someone comes and talks to us. Particularly all our elderly neighbours who are all put walking dogs and chatting to everyone.

I've just posted on my own thread but I went on a usually quiet walk that suddenly became very busy. Hard to keep 2metres apart. It was a good 10 minutes before I could get out. Have I put myself at risk?

We have just been out for a short walk, zone 2 London, quite a few people around but not that many and everyone seemed to be either getting exercise or supplies. We were alone some of the time but could just about keep two metres from others at others by veering our path, stepping aside etc. Inevitably you have to walk through areas others have just passed through. So it wasn't too bad but I think there is more risk of spread in highly populated areas.

We have lots of green space near us but in much of London getting fresh air and keeping distance will be very very hard. I could guess other cities the same.