Are people actually going out?

[allthesharks]

I live on a very quiet close and I've only been out once since lockdown started, to the supermarket, where everyone who was there was allowed to be. I haven't seen anyone flouting the rules, because I haven't been anywhere to witness it IYSWIM. But I've seen so many social media posts urging people to not break the rules, to stay home, to take it seriously etc. Are a lot of people still going out when they shouldn't? Have you witnessed this? Is it just a few people or a fair amount?

@Goatymcgoaty i honestly don't know. But mere logic dictates that if I don't get out of my own car, don't have the windows open, don't stop to talk to others from my car (that would be weird) at any point than there is exactly 0% chance of me spreading anything.
So, yeah, I'm driving around once a week. Apart from that we don't go anywhere, order from grocer and butcher.

I actually would be enjoying this if the reasons would be different.

And I don't have issues with not socializing either. I've moved here 9yrs ago and all my friends are already 1700 km away and we have been keeping in touch through weekly phone calls. When I moved I had to leave my 6yr old son with my husband for 6 months. I'm not saying it was easy or fun, but it was not unbearable. We had a goal (build a new life here from scratch) and we were working towards it. So I genuinly don't understand ppl moaning about not seeing their friends and family for a few weeks. But let's be fair: you can call them....

re-reading: I obviously have been watching way too much star trek :)

“This advice is not a request – it is an instruction. Stay at home"

unfortunately, people translate this as being directed to everyone else but themselves. Until there are serious fines applied (and not a ridiculous £30), not many people will care. People must do their "daily exercise" don't you know, and use it as an excuse for doing whatever they fancy because it's good for mental health. Not a care in the world for the consequences.

@NC29 but you are incredibly theism of a RTA, which increases workload on an overstretched staff and increased pressure on resources.

You are increasing the risk of...

I am going for daily walks in the woods near our home (less than 5 mins walk away, so not travelling to get there!). It's very quiet, I keep my distance if we pass anyone and I feel that it's important for my mental and physical health. And at the moment, we're still allowed out once a day for exercise; if that changes, we will stop.

I am occasionally dropping off essential groceries for my elderly parents, a five-minute drive from home. I don't go in, just drop the stuff at the door and keep my distance. I'm getting my shopping delivered, so sometimes order items for them.

Apart from that, I'm not going anywhere. Working at home, shopping online, socialising via video calls. I don't want to put myself or anyone else at risk.

I walk my dog for an hour or so each day. We live 400m from the beach so I wait for low tide and take him out then. I see a lot of other dog walkers and families letting their children use up some energy but when the tide is out there is plenty of space for the number of people that are there. I think 10 metres or so is the closest I got to anyone today.

People seem to be following the rules where I am, though obviously I don’t know what’s going on in other parts of town. I live in a cul-de-sac and when we were outside last night applauding, we waved at each other and called greetings across the Close to each other but no one got close.

One thing I have seen (and heard) a bit of is boy racers speeding about in their pimped up cars, making the most of the quieter roads. Generally 18-20 year old lads who often have a passenger/passengers of around the same age who may or may not be a family member 🤔

We have a very long beach front..about 5 miles give or take.
There’s loads down there every day but well spaced out on the prom and the beach
That’s all within the guidelines.

@SleepingStandingUp I get your point and agree. Given I'm not going anywhere particular i can easily go in small streets and quite slow. Chances are that a runaway bin will hurt me sooner than any other car on these small roads.

And we agreed with my husband that i will only use my car which is 2 years old and has no faults and most probably won't break down, and not the older family car. Just to make sure that i don't have to call AA.

Believe me, we have thought through all scenarios and we have plans A-Z anyways in normal days as well. Yes, there is a slim chance of me being involved in a random accident, but given how i can choose where to roam i can minimize that happening. I think it is reasonable to do something after thinking through all worst case scenarios and prepping for them and weighing them. We were just talking with hubby that it's good that we changed cars as our previous pair was 14 and 16 yrs old. We would not have used them under these circumstances unless in an emergency.

Yes, I have witnessed how people go out and without a mask or gloves, I see that they ignore the terms of hygiene. People think that if they do not have the virus you can be freely, it may not affect you but you can carry this virus to other people and that is not fair.
They are difficult to stay at home and watch movies or series, paint or read a book, take courses to grow professionally or personally.

The thing is, when you are trying to get a whole population to minimise risk you have to make it strict because of the assumption that a lot of people are stupid. You have to scare people into compliance.
Fine, but lots of people are also not stupid. They can walk an hour across fields or woods, or even along quiet suburban streets, crossing the street when they see someone, and in doing so keep a little bit of their sanity.
Its SO different to pre CV where I am, even with people being outside, that it will be slowing the virus, and there is a real need to everyone to use their common sense and stop obsessing over what the neighbours are doing.
.

I worry about this because to get to my car courtyard (just a little stone area) I have to leave my house and walk down a side road, so in theory it looks like I’m leaving my house 5+ plus a day when I’m just walking round to the back of my house. (Big city, so lots of eyes on!)

Then, we don’t have a garden, I like to take my toddler for exercise, so we go out once a day for a walk down the grass strip behind our house.

So even though I’m only exercising by taking her for a walk once (because I don’t have a garden!) and she needs fresh air, it looks like I’ve been out loads!

So maybe sometimes people really are just innocently popping to the back of the house. The dodgy looks I get when I leave the house make me so anxious

Tomorrow I have to drive an hour to drop a 2 week food shop off at my parents, I can only imagine the judgey looks I get then. Some of us are sticking by the rules and still getting judged for it!

Hope everyone starts abiding by the rules as being stuck in a concrete car park or house with no garden is so mentally draining so I really need that one walk a day with a toddler that’s bouncing off of the walls.

you have to make it strict because of the assumption that a lot of people are stupid. You have to scare people into compliance.
Fine, but lots of people are also not stupid. They can walk an hour across fields or woods, or even along quiet suburban streets, crossing the street when they see someone, and in doing so keep a little bit of their sanity.

Quite.

I am going out daily, walking. I am not one of those that suddenly decides I am suddenly taking up walking! Before all of this I walked up to 8 miles a day. I am choosing carefully when I go, usually very early morning or in the evenings. I am paranoid about social distancing. I am nowhere near anyone. If someone is coming towards me then I will cross over to the other side or if safe to do so I will move over and walk on the road if no traffic.

I am trying to limit the supermarket visits although I have gone from cooking for two people to four as both daughters now at home and eating me out of house and home.

I am concerned about my eldest daughter that is deferring her final part of her degree to go on the frontline in A&E. I am worried sick that she will catch it, and my anxiety over this is compounded by hearing of the deaths of doctors and nurses.

I am taking every precaution going. I am not meeting up with anyone outside of my household. I have not seen my best friend for over a month now nor any family. My immediate family have not seen anyone either.

I will carry on walking (my daily exercise) for now, however if I feel that I am compromising my health or anyone else's health in any way then I would stop this. I don't particularly enjoy my walks as before as I cannot relax or switch off as I am constantly looking around me to avoid other people. Exercise is important to me as I have a mental health condition and staying inside the house for 24/7 would send me in to meltdown.

I have seen people huddled together and it is obvious that they are not from the same family and are mates meeting up with each other. In the supermarkets most people are adhering to the 2 metre ruling, but there are a few that are not and just blatantly ignoring it.

I am not sure I will be going out this weekend as due to good weather forecast I think it will bring more people out of there homes and will be much harder to avoid people as I have been doing so far.

@TossaCointoYerWitcher

As of yet, the guidance hasn't changed. We are still allowed to go out for exercise once a day, and for essential shopping trips.

And hopefully this weekend people will not be stupid enough to congregate in large groups, ignore social distancing rules and have barbecues on the beach or whatever it is people like to do together.

"123movies. I don't wear a mask or gloves. The masks are useless unless they are the proper ones that can be adjusted so that it is a complete tight seal. Males nurses that are dealing with corona patients are being asked to shave off all facial hair in order for the mask to have the tightest seal possible.

The one's I have seen most people wearing (Amazon purchase) are not tight fitting. They may (in a small way) protect other people from you, but as protecting the wearer of these masks can cause more harm than good. If they are not changed regularly then bacteria builds up on the surface of the mask.

I think they have a psychological affect to the wearer as they feel safer when wearing a mask. Unless I had a hospital approved one that was adjustable by straps to tighten to a correct fit then I would not bother with one.

Today I felt like there were just more people out and about than there has been in the last week or so. I’m in south London and went to the supermarket today. However, I went at the same time last Friday, only today was about 4x busier. Queue took about 45 minutes to get in, compared to last weeks’ 15 minute wait. Once inside there were loads of people and very hard to keep 2m distance, some just not bothered and leaning directly over other people to pick up items. Lots of couples and whole families shopping together, too many to be just those who didn’t have a choice. People ignoring the one way system the staff had set up demonstrated by giant arrows stuck to the floor. People littering their latex gloves on the ground by trolley parks rather than putting them in the open topped bin about 5m away... the whole outing was pretty exasperating. Lots of cars and people out and about on my short drive there. It definitely felt a lot busier out than it was last week.

I'm in central London and it feels a bit busier to me as well. I've been going for a daily walk with my toddler and there were very few cars or people last week, but there are more on the roads and streets. I'd say that most people are still within the guidelines though - walking/jogging, construction and refuse workers, delivery people, people buying groceries. I go to local parks or squares within walking distance so DD can run around safely - it's always easy to stay far enough from anyone else.

We're going grocery shopping a couple of times a week, as stock levels are still unreliable so we can't get everything in one shop, and I couldn't carry it all back on my own anyway. I've been trying to get shopping delivered but it's been impossible to get a slot.

I'm not meeting up with anyone outside of my household. I'm not a sociable person at the best of times so I'm not struggling with that aspect at all. My DS is autistic and is quite enjoying being able to just stay home and play video games without anyone nagging him about it!

I go out everyday once round my area to either walk the kids or for my run (was already a runner).

I live by a huge field and a small wood, it's easy to stay distant from people.

Have obviously also been to the supermarket.

There's a family in know where the adult son drives 30 odd miles to visit his fit and able parents quite often.

Since it started properly after Monday 23rd, we went to Tesco in the Tuesday and didn't leave the house again until Friday so we could complete on our house (following govt guidelines).

Boyfriend went to Tesco on the Saturday at 8:30PM and barely saw a soul. Said it was his favourite shopping experience ever.

We went for a walk on Wednesday down what is usually a really quiet trail. Pre-CV you'd barely see anyone down it, the odd dog walker and men fishing by the Tyne. This time there were families walking stopping to chat and kids playing, people cycling, dog walkers, people jogging. It made me uncomfortable with how many people were out. It was the first time I'd been out since the Friday and I don't think I'll be going again. It's just too busy but there also isn't many places to go where we live so where else would you go for a walk?🤷🏻‍♀️

There is a man in the flats opposite ours we have named "dog man". He keeps popping out of his flat with different dogs! And goes out in his car looooads during the day. He has a little boy who he puts in the back. I'm such a curtain twitcher!! But the other day he wasn't home, pulled into his parking space and stood next to his car, a man got out of another car and approached him and they started chatting. This other man started waving to the little boy in the back opened the back door so he could chat to the boy. Other man then gets back into his car and pulls his car closer to dogmans so the women in his car could talk to the boy in the back. Then they drive off and dogman gets back into his car and drives off AGAIN! Where had he been and where is he going?!?!

Why do people always assume other people aren’t following the guidelines?

I will leave the house twice today having not been over the door for days. One will be to walk which I will combine with picking some stuff up at the shop. This is permitted. Then I will drive 20 miles round trip to my parents who are over 70 and dad recovering from cancer to leave shopping on their step. This is also permitted. Fair enough if you see gatherings etc but why do people always assume no one is following the rules except them.

The guidance has been “Stay at Home” since BoJo’s address @TossaCointoYerWitcher. Matt H said nothing different. The permitted exceptions are still in place.

2nd April. Matt Hancock. Clear as day.

We live on a bus route and DHs office is at the front of the house so he can see that most if the buses are empty and the ones that do have anyone on only have one or two people. These are buses that are usually very busy.

I have been out to work (key worker). DH goes out every other day attempting to get essentials, if he manages to get the rationed amount then he he gets to stay home until that is used up (not long as there’s three of us and the rationed 2 pints of milk don’t last long).

When things were normal we actually used to go out for a walk together most evenings and long walks at weekends. Since lockdown we’ve been out together just twice.

We went out yesterday evening specifically as I want to make sure we stay in this weekend as I fear a lot of people will be stretching the rules because of a mixture of good weather, complacency and idiocy.