Exercise could be banned - Matt Hancock

[LittleRen]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52172035

"Matt Hancock told the BBC's Andrew Marr that the government would "take action" if further measures are needed to bring the coronavirus under control.

It comes after reports of groups of people gathering in parks during sunny weather this weekend."

So do we think this will happen - normally this is how it goes, the threat comes, and a week later it's reality. It's a shame that people still flouted the rules this weekend :(

I can't see a thread on this already but please let me know if there is one!!

Waving a vague threat about tightening things up is utterly pointless.

Either start enforcing the rules properly - as they are clearly not - or enforce a total exercise ban, which for the vast majority of people would be totally unnecessary if they just fucking enforced the rules for those who are breaking them, and, I dunno, hadn't totally decimated the number of police across the country.

Talking of the police, they also need to get a fucking grip.

They need to start handing fines out to those who are actually flouting the rules, and not fuck around driving a van in a park telling people not to sunbathe like twats.

If some people would stop taking the piss eg out 2/3 times a day , cycling for 2 hrs each day galavanting for miles then we wouldn’t need a total lockdown. We have been out 3 times over lockdown to do essential shopping, I’d rather stay in to minimise the risk of this virus, stay home and save lives,
.

It’s about respecting others and doing what she asked, yeah do your exercise but do it once a day, near your home.

Dh has been doing exercise through YouTube, ds is a road cyclist and regularly does 40/45 miles on a Saturday but I’ve asked him not to do this for the foreseeable as it take a him quite far from home.

Wouldn’t it be better to just close parks and beaches? At least people could still exercise on pavements and footpaths Really, could we. We don't have pavements where I live, I would have to walk in the road so I will continue to drive 1 mile to the beach and walk along the prom. Police the crowded areas and leave people taking necessary exercise alone.

Dong agree, closing the park was a mistake.

I genuinely think I'm going to die. Currently my MH is in the toilet. I've done so much better over the last five years. I've fought so hard to stay well, to stay out of hospital, to do everything the mental health team said and now everything is being taken away. For a while I thought I'd end up back in hospital, but now I am worried that there just isn't the capacity on the psych wards.

I have tried to kill myself twice while psychotic. I don't know if I'll get lucky and have someone rescue me again and there is nothing in place now - nothing at all - which will stop me going back to that mental place.

I am so scared.

This will be devastating for so many people. I'll be gutted, but I can play with my children in our garden and I'd stick to that.

I teach children who live in small, high rise flats. This will be serious for them.

Well yes it is possible - anything is possible however; it’s not a given. I expect he’s hoping it’s a warning. There are other restrictions less severe than banning it outright eg you must remain within X distance of your home if you are out for exercise purposes.

I think the entire strategy is a foregone conclusion and nothing anyone does makes any difference at all. It was always going to go: ban large gatherings, then close nonessential retail and hospitality businesses, then close schools, then lockdown with exercise, then lockdown no exercise. What comes next is anyone's guess - no going to work unless a key worker? I think they will cycle in and out of this for the next 18 months until they come up with a vaccine or we have herd immunity.

The fact that you're blaming other people for this is part of their behavioural management strategy. They want you to want stricter measures, so you'll comply.

I'm so angry with everyone who is flouting the rules.

I'd like to see some data based information on actual numbers flouting the rules.

At least a couple of the places depicted as heaving by the tabloids were far from busy according to people I knew living in the area. At least one beach described as heaving a week or so ago has livecam footage showing the opposite. Some of those pictures seem to predate the lockdown and designed to whip up a response.

@echt they didn't espouse herd immunity. That was tabloid stirring. They said from the beginning that they would be led by the science. The science says that there is a sweet spot with the lowest overall mortality. Implement it too late and the health service becomes overwhelmed so more people die than necessary. Implement self-isolation too soon and you get a larger second peak that causes the same problem. No doubt the science isn't perfect. It has to make assumptions about things like compliance levels. But it is the best we have to go on and at least our government is using it. I look at the US, where there is no central response and scientists have to hold their tongues while the president spouts nonsense and I fear for people there.

batvixen I feel for you.

I have depression and anxiety and if outdoor exercise is banned, I’m going to sit in my studio flat and drink because they don’t give out tranquilliser easily, so I’m having to save those!

Perhaps I should leave an apologetic note for whoever finds my body, but if it’s a policeman, why bother? They haven’t exactly helped out here.

If it’s a neighbour, yes, I’m sorry.

It's all bullshit. We are not prisoners. They can't stop people going out to exercise and it would defeat the purpose of keeping everyone safe. The extreme measures being taken now are what are actually going to kill people. There will be so many suicides from prisoning people in their homes and then from the economic depression, caused by shutting everything down.

I've been to a couple of parks and I haven't seen a soul, let alone large groups of people. The streets and parks are empty where I live.

The vast majority of people will not die from the 'virus' anyway, even if they do manage to catch while out for a run.

If you believe this in your best interests then you are very stupid and very gullible.

The fact that you're blaming other people for this is part of their behavioural management strategy. They want you to want stricter measures, so you'll comply

This.

And the fact that it distracts attention from their culpability in not taking action about testing sooner.

I think that’s the next step and he’s saying it to get the public used to the idea so it’s not a surprise when it happens.

Agreed. This response has been an incrementally planned series of stages from the beginning, to get people used to very unusualy measures gradually so as to avoid complete anarchy.

I suspect it was always going to happen. And the PP above is right about the lack of exit strategy. The warnings being issued by KCL - that we've painted ourselves into a corner with no plan as to how we get ourselves out of it - are a serious concern.

If medium-term compliance is going to be achieved without a complete disintegration of society, people are going to need to see an end-game with this.

Haven't read the thread but wasn't it Matt Hancock who said on last week's Question Time that it was ok to drive a short distance to take a walk?

Disclaimer: I didn't see QT myself, only what someone has told me..

mindproject I was thinking of starting a thread for people who feel like this but I didn’t think there’d be enough of us.

It makes me so bloody angry - people tying themselves in semantic knots to justify going out.

I've been listening to the radio and all I hear is a spokesman saying "I shouldn't have to say this but unfortunately I do - STAY IN" (paraphrased, obviously).

Trouble is - the idiots are all outside not taking any fucking notice!

And as others have said - all of us will suffer because they are twats.

Agreed. This response has been an incrementally planned series of stages from the beginning, to get people used to very unusualy measures gradually so as to avoid complete anarchy.

Frog-boiling strategy.

I think it’s unfair on the many areas of the uk that have space and v low covid cases. They are being penalised for busy urban area behaviour. One size fits all seems madness. I feel v sorry for kids and teens in flats etc - I do think stricter rules will be worse than covid itself for some.

Sadly, I think it's probably inevitable. I will desperately miss my daily walk in the woods as it's really important for my physical and mental health, but I understand why they might have to impose this restriction - people simply aren't following the rules. We have a field behind our garden and we see groups of people just sitting there all the time, clearly not exercising and not social distancing either.

DD and I are scrupulous about following the rules. We go to great lengths to maintain social distancing on the odd occasions when we pass other walkers, we avoid touching anything while out and we wash our hands thoroughly when we return home. I don't feel that we are putting ourselves or anyone else at risk, but it seems that many people are having difficulty interpreting the rules or they simply think they don't apply to them. We have to protect our NHS, so the government may not have any choice but to take away the freedom that we have right now to go out for exercise.

I will be upset if it comes to this, but we will continue to exercise at home and somehow we will cope with it. However, I really feel for those who don't have a garden, as it will be very, very difficult for them.

I think his comments will have pushed some people over the edge. I hope he thought about that before he said them.
Sort the sun bathers rather than making life unbearable for some.

And lets have a delve into Matt Hancock's background shall we. Well, for starters his parents own a software business that spies on people.

I’ve seen photos of people sitting in the park, but some distance away from other people. Seriously, where is the risk in this?

"Pictured: Greenwich Park, Saturday April 4th" - my italics

I'm in.