Seems like a lot of people have ended the lockdown themselves this weekend....

[Smithtylater]

I went to work today (am on maternity but returning on Monday) to meet my manager (NHS, working an on call weekend shift). I drove past Hampton court for the first time since i have been on maternity leave. You would have thought it was a normal sunny weekend day? Ice cream vans, hoards of people all close, hundreds of people on bikes, people sitting with their feet in the river, kids running around.
There is loads more traffic, more people around and even my own brother has gone 3 hour drive up North for a 40th birthday party?! I was angry at him and he said that the host said that the lockdown is 'ending tommorow so what is an extra day'?

I have seen on twitter about London Fields today (literally 1000s of people sitting there) and lots of people are under the impression its all ending on Monday ?!

But can you really blame people when you look at the headlines of all the papers? Boris should have adressed the nation before the weekend imo.

[rawlikesushi]

The media have been pushing for an roadmap for how we exit lockdown' for weeks, with opposition politicians scoffing at the government for treating the public like children.

The government consistently said that they didn't want to dilute the 'stay home' message or muddy the waters, but speculation mounted to hysterical levels.

So they say - ok, we'll give you the roadmap next week. Nothing notable will change. It will be a very gradual process.

And what happens? Street parties and everyone talking about lockdown ending on Monday.

So it seems we can't have an adult conversation after all. Keep treating us like children because it's all we deserve really.

[tartanbow]

@catpoooffender I wouldnt consider myself or anyone else who does something to help their mental health whilst acknowledging social distancing "an idiot"

[rawlikesushi]

"It was very important to have strict guidelines in the beginning, now it's important to get rid of the ones that don't make sense. "

I agree with this.

[imsooverthisdrama]

To be honest it is mixed messages we are allowed to exercise so people do and why not nothing else to do . Then the media are taking pictures of people out . I'm sick of seeing it tbh they are exercising it's allowed, the media are dramatising all this and people are not sure what they should do . If you decide to go to the park you are slated because everyone else has the same idea , well yeah what do people expect.
I'm fuming at how this big announcement with Boris is hyped up with some stuff announced already , some just rumours.
Just tell us what we can and can't do and give us a clear exit plan .

[JinglingHellsBells]

@rawlikesushi

I think the concern is that whatever rules will be relaxed, some people will push them further.

Give 'em an inch and they take a mile, attitude.

It's happened already.

People are inviting friends and neighbours into their gardens.

These people might sit apart, but what if they use the loo? Touch door handles? Or have one too many drinks and the 6 ft apart gets forgotten for a moment?

People do not seem to get they can be infected and asymptomatic.

And the very people who are 'just' having a sly drink with neighbours are more than likely to be breaking the rules in other ways, could be carriers or incubating the virus, yet to show symptoms.

I think what we have seen so far is that people will push back, so any change to behaviour risks people taking it one step further all the time.

[zafferana]

It's herd immunity by the back door.

Well yeah, it is, but what other solution is there? We can't all be locked inside our homes for 12-18 months until a vaccine is rolled out. Herd immunity is the only way - it's always been the only way - but the government shied away from it because of international outrage. So they changed their policy to what everyone else has done - shut down the country for x number of weeks or months to try and stop the damn thing spreading. But the result of that is that very few people have had it and the vast are utterly fed up of being stuck in their homes, trying to home educate their DC while attempting to do a normal day's work. Even worse, they're being lectured by all and sundry for lying on the grass in a park 2m away from anyone else when 'home' is an inner city flat with no outdoor space and lack of Vitamin D is a known risk factor for this fucking virus!

The bottom line is that we really need people to go back to work, but with social distancing of 2m (a distance that even the scientists admit is a made up figure), that can't happen. In cities, people can't physically GET to work if only 5 people are allowed on each bus or in each train carriage. They don't want people to get in their cars either, but I live in a commuter town outside London where everyone needs to get the train and it's much too far for people to cycle or walk. So how do all those people get to work? And how do parents work anyway if schools are closed or if they also have to practice social distancing? No one anywhere has come up with a solution to implement social distancing in schools. They simply aren't big enough, DC won't keep their distance anyway. So do we keep schools closed for 12-18 months, keep DC isolated away from their friends, no organised sports? I think most healthy people would rather get the fucking virus than that - I know I would.

[JinglingHellsBells]

@imsooverthisdrama

Sorry but if you think there are mixed messages you simply are not listening.

It is crystal clear.

Which bit do you not understand?

You can exercise in the park. But some people are not exercising- they are sunbathing and taking a picnic.

If you go to the park and it's packed, anyone who cared about their health would turn round and walk out.

You can exercise in your lounge or walk the streets- doesn't have to be a park.

As for an exit plan....

surely you can understand that this depends on the numbers and people's behaviour?

No one can give a cast iron plan. They don't know the course of the virus!

If people do not abide by the guidance there will be a 2nd wave, so any exit plan will be useless.

You can't plan for the unknown- you can only work from week to week.

If there was a clear exit plan don't you think everyone would be wanting it and implementing it?

[rookiemere]

I really resent this idea that because some people will break the rules, we can't relax them slightly for everyone. Being able to go for a walk at a 2 metre distance outside with a friend, or being able to drive the hour to my parents and talk to them from the car should be permissible. I'm intelligent enough not to interpret that as giving me free rein to have a house party.

[onesmalldog]

Good. Damn good.

I am sure there are some people who just want to walk into a box. lock themselves in and destroy the key and not only that, want every one else to the same. You do that if you want to but don't try to imprison everyone else.

We are human beings and we are not meant to live this way.

It is NOT good for your health to be stuck inside. It is not good to constantly spraying, washing, wiping every fucking thing with disinfectant. I don't , of course I do, but not obsessively - I never have and I never will.

None of it is good for your immune system long term. Your immune system is what keeps you well. It need constant challenge to keep it going.

That's not even talking about mental health issues.

Yeah, good, good, good.

[lljkk]

Every pic of a 'crowded place' I've seen this weekend has been outdoors in London. Except for the pizza & beer pic all the rest showed people in transit -- they were getting to other places.

London is highly densely populated & it can be hard to not go to or thru crowded places if you're out & about and don't want to make a huge detour.

The pizza & beer pics: how many were not within household groups, how many actually had beer or pizza? More like an ice cream day imho. Meh.

Outdoor spaces still very empty where i live.

[papiermaches]

Meh. Lot's of pics of our beach in the papers this morning, as there are most bloody days. But having been to the beach yesterday I can tell you that yes, it was busier than it has been during lockdown BUT everyone we saw were 3,4,5 metres apart at all times, whether they were running, walking, swimming, paddling or sitting.

And compared to what it would have been like on a normal Bank hol weekend, or any weekend even in winter it was empty.
But if you want a 'covidiot' pic for your tabloid rag then you do what they've been doing and pay for pics taken with long lenses and at angles that make it look like people are crowded together. Or you follow the police up and down the seafront all morning until they stop to talk to someone and snap that as a 'bollocking'.

I doubt that anyone on the beach yesterday passed on or caught Covid but that's not going to stop people who decided not to go out for whatever reason, screaming that we're all going to die, or stay in lockdown forever because we decided to exercise, and it happened to be sunny.

[tartanbow]

finally a person talking sense @zafferana

jingle a lot of assumptions there - when I went to my mums garden, I did not use the toilet and believe it or not, not all of us are going to be drinking either - I brought a cup of tea in a flask. so to summarise, open gate that I didnt touch, sat well over 2m apart, drank out of my own flask. no chance of transmission there - if this bothers you that much quite frankly I couldnt give a shit.

[rawlikesushi]

"I think the concern is that whatever rules will be relaxed, some people will push them further."

Of course. But people don't understand why they can walk through a park but not sit down in it. I think it's got to be eased gradually and the best place to start is the rules that made sense in the beginning but don't now.

[catpoooffender]

I wouldnt consider myself or anyone else who does something to help their mental health whilst acknowledging social distancing "an idiot"

@tartanbow

The majority of people aren't doing it to help their mental health. Also i get that close proximity and human touch is important for emotional wellbeing. Trust me, I can't wait to hug my family. What grinds my gears is that we all want to do this. But some people feel that they are entitled to do it sooner than the rules allow, and I don't agree.

[rawlikesushi]

"I'm intelligent enough not to interpret that as giving me free rein to have a house party."

Yes, you might be.

[Peggysgettingcrazy]

The next wave isn't guaranteed to be bigger.

They are preparing just in case.

Which people are moaning they did prepare properly the first time.

So it's prepare properly, and people spread panic by saying 'the next wave will definitely be worse...cause my mate said' and cause more fear and panic

Or don't prepare properly and have people moan about about that.

It really is a case of mot being able to win.

[Ponoka7]

@rawlikesushi, study virology? Which side do we take, Chris Whitty or Neil Ferguson?

SusieOwl4, there isn't going to be a vaccine for the over 70's and some groups of people. So they would have to stay inside until they die from natural causes. To avoid a virus that has a 1% death rate when they've faced worse odds over their lifetime, childbirth had a bigger percentage, so did just being working class, at the time of their birth, is utterly ridiculous.

[Hotcuppatea]

This is going to have to come down to personal choice. If you are scared or vulnerable or have some other reason (vulnerable person at home, etc) then stay home, keep your social distance, etc.

If you are low risk, you aren't worried and you want to see people, go to the shops, go to work, etc then you should be able to get on with your life without being sneered at by scared people who'd rather stay home.

Until there are affective treatments, a workable vaccine or the virus mutates itseld into oblivion, this isn't going to go away. I have no intention of staying inside until that happens. I've assessed my risk and I'm comfortable with my decision.

And all of you that are worried about the risk need to consider the risks that you take every day in your life- every time you get in your car and drive, every time you walk down the stairs in your house, every time you eat an apple or grape. Life is risky, we are all vulnerable all the time, and, if you fall in to a low risk group, you are currently paying a high price for the illusion of security.

If you want to do that, it's up to you. But I don't want to join you thanks.

[tartanbow]

@catpoooffender please dont be condescending - I quite clearly didnt hug anyone. also, how do you know what someone elses mental health looks like?

if you are honestly that adverse to people seeing each other with appropriate social distancing in place then you are going to be stuck in your house until a working vaccine is found

[Primetoes]

Typical example from my work manager when I told her I thought I had symptoms (I WFH anyway)...

‘If you’ve caught it now when it has almost gone away then you’ve been very unlucky’

This is how people are thinking! They see the numbers and the graphs with the curves dropping and think that’s it, it’s almost eradicated.

[Delatron]

Maybe all those outside in the parks had read the latest research that most transmission occurs inside, in confined spaces. Just read an article and indoor events such as wedding, funerals, parties are most risky. Then business conferences, call centres, restaurants

Even shops were quite low risk.

Outside nominal risk.

Now I’m still observing the rules but would understand why someone without a garden might want to go and lie in a park and get some much needed vitamin D.

And yes sit a few meters apart from friends somewhere in the open spaces.

[rawlikesushi]

" study virology? Which side do we take, Chris Whitty or Neil Ferguson?"

You'll have to elaborate because I'm not sure what you mean.

[Weallhavevalidopinions]

I am wondering also that they want more people to get the viruswhilst telling the vulnerable to continue shielding; afterall, if the fit and healthy get it and then recover gradually we will achieve herd immunity which is what some said was needed.

It's going to be around for years - it will not just disappear if we all stay home... so stay home forever and what?

I haven't broken the very loose 'lockdown' and follow all the rules but can understand why people who are young, fit and healthy do (providing they have no contact at all with vulnerable). If the vulnerable are truely shielding then these people won't come into contact with them anyway since they are shielded at home so how will they 'murder them' as some say.....

[zafferana]

Fear and panic is a big part of the problem now. So many people, healthy people with no underlying conditions, are terrified of catching the virus, but 80% of people who get it only have a mild case. DC under the age of 10 are barely affected. People under 50 who are in good health are overwhelmingly likely to only suffer from a mild illness. Now, no one likes to be ill and yes, there is a small chance that you will have a more serious case, whoever you are and whatever age you are, but statistically you are likely to be better within a matter of days. So is it worth putting your life and the lives of everyone else in the country on hold for 12-18 months for that? I think increasing numbers of people don't think so. For those who are vulnerable, I agree it's a shitty situation to be stuck at home, but the more of us get this thing and recover from it, the safer you will be.

[imsooverthisdrama]

@JinglingHellsBells you assume I'm talking about myself, I'm not .
I haven't been to the park once but I am going to do this week.

You can exercise in the park. But some people are not exercising- they are sunbathing and taking a picnic.
So what !! Let people do that as long as they are in the same household, some people don't have a garden or any outside space , why not let them sit down for 10 minutes. Yes all afternoon is wrong but a few minutes is fine.

If you go to the park and it's packed, anyone who cared about their health would turn round and walk out.
This is what has kind of put me off my dc has Sen if I took him to a park and saw it was busy , he would kick off if I tried to leave . Also parks are huge well most near me are you can walk freely about with no one around depending on when you go .

You can't plan for the unknown- you can only work from week to week.
That's fine but we are not getting that just a load of drip feeding from media some people believe what's in the paper , didn't the op say that her own brother thought lockdown was ending .
If there was a clear exit plan don't you think everyone would be wanting it and implementing it?
Yes but don't you think we need this , in the media schools opening on the 1st June is this correct ? I don't know , that's what I'm talking about mixed messages all these things are suggested in the media and some not all believe them . The government needs to correct this .
I'll also say it really annoys me that people say the message is clear stay at home, I know what the message is . People are allowed to be fed up , they are finding it hard . Some have children who are struggling, some live alone .
I really wish people would stop assuming that because you are struggling that you are breaking lockdown and that you are some sort of idiot . I don't know a single person in rl that hasn't said they are loving lockdown, they are fed up too but no one is attempting to break lockdown.