Are people forgetting we are still in lockdown?

[Scousebird26]

Hi all!
Hope everyone is safe and well!

I don’t know if this is the same for anyone else, but I took my dog for a quick walk over the field today and it was just full of people enjoying the sun - I totally understand going for your daily excercise, but there was families having picnics, groups of people playing football, people on the streets talking to each other who deffo weren’t social distancing! It was like just an ordinary day!

I totally appreciate people are getting fed up, me included and there are many of times I’ve just thought fuck it, il go and visit family/friends but I haven’t. I don’t want to make this whole thing worse.

Is this the same in other home towns or has mine just forgot the situation we are all in?!

I think that the longer it takes the government to articulate a more definitive exit strategy, the more this is going to happen. People are beginning to risk assess for themselves, balancing the risk of catching or transmitting the virus against the economic and emotional cost of lockdown. I think that the longer we are expected to stay at home with no real solution proposed, the more we will see these little acts of rebellion

Agree, @TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross

There's not a soul out where I live, apart from me. I will be delighted when everyone is out again.

These threads always leave me scratching my head, poster after poster critical / bewildered about others doing the same as what they are doing

Exactly, very few posters are actually witnessing it from their windows.

Went out for my daily exercise and saw people sunbathing in the local park, having picnics etc
Roads are definitely busier
The problem is that the government refuse to discuss an exit strategy. Therefore, people have taken things into their own hands and are doing what they want.
One must remember that people are actually allowed to go to work , if their work can not be done at home.

@pjmask - tbf people are usually doing their daily exercise or weekly shop .
One cannot compare this to people sunbathing, having picnics, having family over, going shopping with the whole family in tow

I think people judging need to recognise how hard this is for some people. My mother is older and lives alone and I think she feels her life isn’t work living for without seeing her family. She is begging to meet me for a distanced brief walk and I think I will as her mental health is becoming so low. So judge me.

People don’t seem afraid at all anymore. Strangers talking to one another. Friends and families out together. No feeling of people trying to stay far apart.

I think it’s the absence of a PM. I don’t bother listening to catch up at 5pm now. It feels a waste of time. There’s no clear leadership. The interpretation of no exit plan seems to be that lockdown has now ended.

@Womenwotlunch but the thread, like all the others before it, focuses on the "sheer numbers" of people, more cars, busier parks and streets. Whilst people clarify "oh but I was only out for my daily exercise/ essential shopping/ picking up medicine" completely missing the point that so were the vast number of other people! The sunbathers/ bbq with friends etc are very much in the minority!

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow I agree. I'm shopping for a couple of neighbours aged 85+ and they have both said that once "lockdown" for everyone is over they will be going out even if the government recommends them shielding. They are both aware they don't have many years left and the years they do have left they don't want to be shut up inside. Very much quality over quantity people. I can imagine plenty of other older people like this. Particularly after yesterday's headlines that social distancing will be in place all year.

I've seen that too and I cal also see my own attitude changing. I have to talk myself to stay inside and not go wandering around town for no reason. I'm not sure what's changing my attitude, I guess partly I'm expecting that we've reached the peak and will start returning to normal soon.

I don’t mind lots of folk, or folk visiting / talking. As long as they observe 2m rule. That is key. Virus needs close proximity to pass.

They havent forgotten, they are simply tiring of it and getting fed up.
You cannot keep anyone on "high alert" for long, anxiety peaks and then it subsides because you cant sustain a high level of "fear" for longer than a few weeks. People's perception of risk will inevitably decline the longer lockdown goes on and people will get more and more careless about flouting the rules. Its simply human nature and its why lockdown was never meant to fix the problem, but only delay/flatten the peak for a while.

If Nicola and Arlene keep making up their own rules and making the virus a political point scoring thing, then people will just get confused and assume lockdown is over.

We need boris back to tell the pair of them to STFU

I think it's becoming established that good social distancing is just as effective as total lockdown in reducing transmission in the community, therefore there's no need for the police to be moving people on for sunbathing, feeding the ducks, or eating crisps on a bench.
It's still quite quiet where I live though, people are out walking but allowing each other space, queuing nicely for shops, etc.

It is still very, very quiet here. Lots less traffic, no planes, no trains. Yes people are going out and about but that is FINE as long as they keep their distance, which they are doing.

Local businesses have started opening but only because they have worked out how to do so safely. Local Indian deli re-opened with rules about one person in at a time, and they now accept card rather than just cash. B&Q reopening because they have installed screens for staff and put up barriers to force you into following the one way system.

It's not that people are forgetting, getting bored with it or just not bothering any more. It's that we as a nation are working out ways to do things differently. And that's a GOOD thing! if people can go to B&Q and get their bedding plants or pick up some pakoras for dinner that makes complying with the important stuff easier.

It's still pretty quiet here but I'm in Wales and they've been stricter throughout (only once a day for exercise, no driving etc.) but I do think people are getting fed up. Like other posters I have a 2 and 3 year old and a husband working 12 hour shifts as a key worker. I'm losing the will to live and if this extends much longer I will probably go to see my parents because the alternative would probably be me smashing my head against the wall.

Good. We have basic human rights.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=J4vrFm1Nyrc

People on my social media, like decorators, handymen etc have all started to work again this week aswell

But that's fine too!! We had someone in to fix the boiler yesterday, before they arrived they sent an email about social distancing and to keep everyone away from him. if you're having a room painted and you can keep all people out of that room and away from the decorator - who is just triyng to earn a living - where is the issue with that??

People are going back to work and doing things DIFFERENTLY, for most people it's not back to the same old.

Although I do realise that there is a hardcore on MN who aren't happy unless everyone's locked in their houses at all times.

Although I do realise that there is a hardcore on MN who aren't happy unless everyone's locked in their houses at all times

I wonder how many of this demographic have offered to financially support or assist those who have no incomes and cannot stay locked inside. My guess would be none in which case they can STFU. Its easy to say stay locked in when you are on full wages or have thousands in savings week after week after week.

We are in lancs and it looks back to normal to me, decided to walk along the canal the other day, never again, was absolutely packed and nobody was keeping distance. People have got complacent I think.

I wonder how many of this demographic have offered to financially support or assist those who have no incomes and cannot stay locked inside. My guess would be none in which case they can STFU. Its easy to say stay locked in when you are on full wages or have thousands in savings week after week after week.

Here bloody here

People don't seem to be afraid anymore, strangers are talking to each other

Well God forbid anyone speaks to each other outside!
People are not supposed to be living in fear. Those that put their own over the top spin on the official guidelines (never going out, bleaching post, avoiding speaking to anyone outside, disinfecting their cat, living on lentils and spam, never taking a stroll in a park) are realising this is not sustainable long term.

Social distancing guidelines require people to apply their own common sense. They need to risk assess a situation and decide whether they are avoiding spreading the virus. This was always the aim; the guidelines were designed for sensible interpretation. A family having a picnic in a park or someone lying in the sun is not a substantial risk nor does it defy social distancing.

I saw a comment on a thread yesterday if people don't stick to the rules, we won't eradicate this virus in lockdown
Lots of people have completely misunderstood the purpose of social distancing. Perhaps it's starting to dawn on others that it's not what they first thought. We are not on house arrest and never were.

When we go for a walk along the river, we have to cross what is usually a fairly busy road. The first couple of weeks it was strangely empty. It’s been much busier this last week. Also, we can see the motorway from one point of our walk and again that seems much busier too

@SmileyClare

Agree with everything you said.
I dont know where people got the idea that lockdown would get rid of the virus- its bizarre. The government made it explicitly clear the lockdown is to flatten the peak so we dont all get ill at the same time.
Lockdown wont make the virus disappear and it wont keep everyone safe and it wont stop people getting ill. If lockdown eradicated the virus, there would be no need for a vaccine

I'm wondering where you all live, the roads are dead round here and everyone is social distancing.