Live alone - no time to move to friend's for lockdown - arghhh

[VirtualHugsAllRound]

How can they bring this in without warning?

For those of us who live alone we are expected to be alone!!
I was supposed to go into lockdown with a friend but logistically can't move their tonight.

I'm technically "vulnerable" but not to coronoavirus. Have autism.

How can they do this with so little notice? I thought we'd get 24 hrs notice at least! Surely I can't be the only person who needs to get somewhere?

Am I missing something? Wasn't watching on TV as iplayer overwhelmed, just radio 4.

Hugs are brilliant and very important but you can do this. It's three weeks. It's not forever and you'll have hugs again before you know it. In the meantime, does it have to be human? It might sound silly but do you have a cuddly toy to hug? I'm far too old in some people's eyes but I regularly hug my cuddly toys when DP is away. Enjoy the contact with the rabbits too. Spend time petting and caring for them. They're not human but they're living creatures and that means you're not truly on your own. It's a very hard time but remember it's temporary.

Uhh...this isn't without warning. People have been willfully ignoring requests to stay at home, and if people thought that the government would sit by and let that continue to happen, then they're being very naïve indeed.

This has been a while coming, and folks decided not to take it seriously.

penisbeakers I thought it was coming. I prepared as much as I could. It's just the actual time it takes to pack up and move that's the issue - I couldn't pack up my rabbits and dismantle their run in advance, obviously. If we'd been told in the morning even, I'd have been able to do it in a few hours, but in the evening and friend not really understanding the urgency meant it didn't happen. I saw France had been given 48 hours notice and thought it reasonable to assume we'd get, say, 12 hours. I also thought it reasonable to assume my friend wouldn't flake on me, but there you go... uncertain times!

tryingtoprep I really hope it is only three weeks. However I suspect it may be much longer. I was already unable to see any family or best friend when it was just social distancing, so even intermittent measures aren't great in that respect.

The thing I'm finding most hard is that because I don't have a partner or children, I'm left out. It's hard enough in normal life but this is extreme! People are focusing on their closest family, and it's very painful if you don't have one. It's quite a big thing to Skype someone and talk one-to-one, compared to a group of you, say, chatting in a pub - quite demanding of someone's time, especially if they are spreading themsleves thin looking after their family... I don't expect to be anyone's priority, but it still hurts that I'm not, that I don't have my own family or partner to get through this with.

France only had 16 hours notice. They'd learnt from Spain and Italy not to give too much warning.

Unfortunately a lot of people did travel so I'm assuming the UK has learnt from that and implemented it immediately.

The announcement began at 8pm Monday for a lcokdown from 12 midday Tuesday

I'm sorry OP. I know what it's like to be alone. I often prefer time to myself but at times like this it's hard. Having said that people stuck in together are likely to struggle too. Christmas is known for arguments, fights, family tensions spilling over - because everyone's cooped up together. Come on here or any other online forum whenever you feel like a chat. There's bound to be people happy to chat. Lots will be in similar positions to you and others will be in need of an escape even if just virtually from their stressful partners or children. Would any of your family or your best friend be able to visit you at all? The exemptions include going out to care for someone and as you're autistic that would likely count as care. Sorry if that's not possible.