Where is the risk in going out for country walks?

[OatMilkAddict]

I've been very careful to limit social interaction (apart from food shopping once per week for me and elderly family members isolating elsewhere), but I have been out walking for an hour or two most days since lockdown.
I head on foot to secluded woods and fields where I only rarely see people (and give them a wide berth if I do). I don't touch a thing while I'm out, nor sit down or brush against anything. As soon as I get home, I remove my shoes and wash my hands, phone and keys.
Without being goady, I am curious to hear from the most vehement "stay at home" advocates precisely how my daily walk is going to get me (or anyone else) sick, because I literally don't understand where the risk is!

1forsorrow BarbaraofSevilles advice is very wise. No-one is going to have an issue with you driving a short distance so your disabled husband can walk on a flat area. I have no valid reason to drive anywhere for exercise even though it would be nicer to do so so I walk from home. You have a good reason.

@1forsorrow I remember reading about your dilemma on another thread. I really don't see why there is any reason why you can't drive your husband to where he can walk. There are some completely loopy people on here who are determined that no one should do anything, and even make up laws and regulations to suit their arguments. As long as you keep away from other people, that's the most important thing. And if, in the unlikely event of you being stopped, you explain why you are doing what you are doing.
I would never post on here asking for 'permission' or clarification of the law, you bring out the puritanical streak in some and the nazi streak in others. This site has become a hothouse of crazies.

1forsorrow - the law says not to be out without a 'reasonable excuse' and gives examples which are included. What you describe sounds entirely reasonable to me, in your circumstances. I'd sincerely hope your local police (who know your terrain and would see the wheelchair) would agree. In your place I'd do it, if stopped then explain the situation - if they decide it's not ok then obviously you have accept it.

I suppose you could try contacting your local police by whatever means is least trouble to them to get clarification.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/350/pdfs/uksi202003500_en.pdf

because farmers might get your germs from a gatepost

I would hope that farmers that handle chemicals, animals and their waste and all manner of other dirty things are up to speed with their hand washing, covid19 or not.

BarbaraofSeville absolutely agreed!

We waved to all the farmers yesterday. None of them looked fussed that we were out and about for our local daily walk.

People are getting very territorial - it’s very strange. One man in Cornwall complained that a footpath near him was really busy. At Both ends of the footpath is a large village.
If residents from either village want a walk / exercise - this is where they’ll go. They are entitled to. It’s local to them.

But there was hell up. Facebook shaming, police, etc etc. Both the villages are fairly large so of course the footpath will be busy!!

Literally a no brainier 😂

LOCALS NEED TO WALK TOO 😅

Many of us live outside the big cities, when we walk it is on tracks near our village, we know many of the people we meet and keep well apart and we don’t see many. We don’t drive to get out of the village

I make no apologies for lifting this from Facebook, it’s the best illustration I’ve see why we shouldn’t be going for a walk in the country..

You arrive at Cannock Chase Sunday morning, nice and early. There's only 1 other car on the carpark, and no-one else in sight. 'Perfect', you think. 'I'm in no danger of seeing anyone else here today!'

You get your dog out of the boot, and off you pootle onto the footpaths. As you get halfway around the walk, you still haven't seen another soul. 'Brilliant', you think, as you swing the footpath gate open and carry on through for the homeward stretch.

What you're blissfully unaware of, is that 20mins before you passed through that gate, someone else did. Someone who is carrying Covid-19. They dont have any symptoms yet, so they too thought it would be fine to go out.

Just before going through that gate they sneezed. They stopped to blow their nose, popped the tissue back in their pocket and carried on their way.

You've just touched that same gate handle and, sadly for you, you're now carrying Covid-19 too. But because it can take up to 14 days for symptoms to show, you'll have no idea.

So you finish your walk and head home. When you get home you make your partner a cup of tea, and you sit and have a drink together. Sadly for your partner, you've just passed him a hot cup of Covid-19. But he wont have a clue either.

On Monday your partner goes to work. He's works in a medical supplies distribution centre, so he is a key worker and he can't stay home. After about an hour he goes to use the photocopier. He's just spread his Covid-19 over allllll those buttons. Sadly for the other 4 people that use the photocopier that day, he's just given them Covid-19.

That night, those 4 people go home to their families ..... and you get the picture.

Covid-19 does not travel - we do. Covid-19 can live on surfaces, and scientists aren't sure how long for. At the moment it's thought it can live up to 72hours!

If we stop travelling, the virus stops travelling. If the virus stops travelling, it stops spreading, and fewer people die. It really is that simple.

'Ahhhh', i hear you say. 'The walk I go on doesn't have any gates!' It is nigh on impossible for the government to release a list of 'approved and non-approved walks', based on the likelihood of cross contamination. So they have introduced the quickest and simplest way to stop the spread - a blanket ban.

This is the biggest restriction on our freedoms since WW2 - they are not 'guidelines' to be considered and ignored at a whim. They're not being introduced and enforced for a laugh! These rules are in place for YOUR protection, please STOP thinking you dont need to abide by them.

JudgeRindersMinder hilarious post 👏

@Nollett not the reaction I was expecting. Can you tell me why you find it hilarious please?

JudgeRindersMinder what blanket ban? What are you talking about.

I'll be going for my daily walk and I don't touch anything (suburban streets). I'm less at risk than going to the supermarket.

But you would have to be mighty stupid to touch a gate post at the moment, especially without anti-bac. All the following infection would not happen if you walk somewhere you don't need to touch anything.

So they have introduced the quickest and simplest way to stop the spread - a blanket ban.

They haven’t though, have they? They could have put “no leaving the house for walks” into legislation, or even “no driving to go for exercise”. But they didn’t. It’s not there.

I appreciate we’re all scared and people really want to minimise spread of the virus, but everyone making up our own rules and insisting on everyone else following them is not the way to go.

Sorry to add a dark note here...
Please tell someone when you’re setting off on your walk and when you’re back.
It may be because I love Scandi dramas, but I personally would be terrified to walk alone in the woods for hours.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52062209

JudgeRindersMinder there is no blanket ban and your failure to do basic fact checking is hilarious.

Please stop misinforming and scaremongering people

@Haffiana

No its not

I live beside a woods which is normally empty (I’m lucky).
I won’t be licking any trees, sneezing on fences or feeling branches.
Get a grip folks and stop telling me it’s dangerous.
In equal measure folks should stop posting and asking about their walks.

I also question how much of a risk touching a gate post is that there is a tiny tiny chance someone with COVID has touched and not seeing anyone on the whole walk vs going for a walk in a suburban area where you are likely to pass 10-20+ other people on the way, even if you try and give each other a large berth.

Shaming people for going to the shop more than once a week would be more logical to be honest... but we shouldn’t be shaming anyone who is sticking to the spirit of the rules (because they aren’t crystal clear - what does “local” mean...?)

JudgeRindersMinder

That tale of doom would be prevented by people washing their hands, which they should have done anyway.

If someone is out touching gates they need to be either using hand sanitiser or washing their hands, covid19 or not. Many gates in the country have bird or animal shit all over them. It's not just the global pandemic that means that people must wash their hands before eating, drinking or preparing cups of tea for people.

Plus along the way of your protracted tale, both participants will have gone to the toilet several times, which again should have triggered them to wash their hands. If the partner is spreading the virus via the photocopier buttons, it's the lack of handwashing that's at fault, not someone else going for a walk, which is allowed anyway.

licking any trees

This made me laugh so much I needed that

There is no blanket ban
and if people behave sensibly there hopefully won't be in the future either

Of course if there are too many fuckwits abusing the advice , then more legally binding rules will be brought in

Please tell someone when you’re setting off on your walk and when you’re back.

And which route you're planning. Which is what many people who normally walk in the countryside do anyway. Absolutely standard stuff for hillwalking.

Oh ffs I should have remembered that on MN people take everything literally🙄

I think that was taking the piss, not taking literally. 'People on MN' being a heterogeneous random set of people respond in all sorts of different ways ... hence AIBU etc.