How can they not have thought of meeting other households

[PleaseChooseAnother]

I'm so annoyed with the complete lack of thought about when households are able to see each other again.

The government have had weeks to consider their exit plan and the thought that people might want to see their extended family has just been added as an afterthought. It's like someone did a final proof read and realised that they had forgotten to consider it.

I could manage if I wasn't able to see anyone for ages so long as I knew what the plan was at each stage. But the best they can say is that at the final stage with might (if SAGE agree) be able to see one other household. So, my parents can choose between my grandparents, my siblings and me, my in laws will have to choose between their children...

I know the economy is important, but surely social interaction is as well?

'Also don't get garden v. Park. Surely safer to sit several meters apart in someone's garden then travel to a park and potentially interact with lots of other people'

Because many people do not have gardens. If they said meet in your garden only there'd be an uproar over those who don't have them. Most people have access to a a communal area, be it a park or a beach.

It is keeping the rules the same, because as we can see people are easily confused.

It’s to get the economy going and so people don’t lose their jobs and houses which is a necessity. Seeing your mum and dad is a strong want but it’s not as important as being able to eat and have a roof. They want the economy to start moving, not for socialisation.

Exactly this.

Seeing friends and family is important but for now you can hopefully do it virtually - whereas people do need to be able to earn money to live.

Before I heard it was just one on one, i thought, how on earth would they police this?

@onemorepringle

A lot of people are already using friends and family for childcare.

And what about people who are obliged to go back to work? They are working with numerous colleagues (assuming that ALL employers make sure the workplace is safe ) yet they can't see their family?

@bluesheep8

People who have to work are the ones using friends and family for childcare.

I took 'outside' as being in the garden as well. I met my daughter outside and we came back to use the loo. She stayed out in the garden while I went in/vice versa. We didn't plan to do this, just the way it panned out with needing to use the toilet. It never occurred to me that it would be a problem.

When is this bubble thing supposed to start?

wheels it’s just being considered at the moment but seriously enough to have been mentioned in the guidelines as something SAGE is looking at now.

@onemorepringle thanks for replying, do you know what month they’ve said it might happen in? According to the steps they’ve outlined.

In Italy and other European countries, they have allowed families to meet already and for grandparents too see their grandchildren. I really despair that there are no plans in sight for families to see each other here. It's frankly disgusting and I would honestly say it's a human rights issue.

What is the bubble thing I've heard a lot about it

As it stands I can meet my best friend in the park but not my sister in her garden.....my best friend and my sister are one and the same.

I think if they say people can go into gardens people will take the piss. Stay longer, need the loo, have a drink, etc. In public it's easier to police.

It's really frustrating we can't see family but it's coming. We have to get people working again or the economy will be screwed. It's really difficult and we all have to make sacrifices.

@trapped you can meet your sister in the park though? They didn't see only friends

I think gardens are safer than parks as no risk of others coming too close. But it might be because if they said gardens were allowed, then some might take that as a green light for a large family bbq with no distancing, and the police wouldn’t be able to control that.

But I don’t get the one person thing. How is it more dangerous to be talking to a household of eight strangers 2m from you, that say your parents? My daughter just wants to hug her boyfriend. Hopefully she won’t have to wait until July :/ at least she can see him tomorrow, but if bad weather is forecast then people won’t see their family. Ideally hope we can have this household bubble. I see more countries are implementing it, so I guess they’ve done their research and think it might work, so fingers crossed.

I agree that its ridiculous. I am a teacher, who will be teaching classes of 15 an hour which amounts to over 200 students a week, we have been told we dont need PPE of any kind, and there are teachers who are 50 + working in my school. I myself am pregnant. But my kid cant see her healthy 55 year old grandmother .... how?

Ive had a friend cime two metres from my back door the whole time, sometimes she's brought me shopping, others just comes for a chat.
She doesnt need to touch anything or come in my house.
Im in Scotland too, I doubt the police would care, but given I live opposite the station they'll not have to come far to issue a fine.

Bittersweet - the bubble thing is (I believe) where one household is allowed to exclusively mix with another household. So for example you could have your parents over, or you could go to theirs. But no mixing with anyone else.

But I’ve heard another bubble idea where you could see ten different people from different households, but you’d have to have the same ten friends/family in your bubble. No mixing with anyone else.

The only problem I foresee is people getting upset that they haven’t been chosen for a bubble they wanted to be in. It’s easy for us as we have no family nearby, and have already agreed my daughter can have her boyfriend in our bubble.

And what about people who are obliged to go back to work? They are working with numerous colleagues (assuming that ALL employers make sure the workplace is safe confused) yet they can't see their family?

It’s a crude blanket rule to try to get the economy moving. They can’t make nuanced, personally relevant policy for all of us, but they can prioritise getting the continued up and running via slow return to work, while trying to keep the breaks on interactions as far as possible. If they had said “what the hell, you are back at work so you might as well see family too” it would lead to mass social gatherings and family parties.

So much misinformation here. It should be mandatory that everyone reads the bloody guidelines in full and stop relying on sound bites.

The bubble is mentioned in the guidelines as something they are considering but there’s no date for it yet.

but how is being in my garden more dangerous than being in the park? It’s just a mess isn’t it

Because a garden is part of a household/dwelling and because many people do not have large gardens. A lot of people where I live only have a very small yard (terraced housing) or have a very small communal garden (blocks of flats)

I don't understand why people dont realise the way the rules are worded is to try and include as many people's circumstances as possible. Read the info on Gov UK site. Or the more detailed Gov pdf pages

I agree OP. I was really hoping for clear detailed stages (like they have in Spain) and expected to be able to meet in a small group from June when the schools go back. Just having something to look forward to would be good. (In Spain (certain areas) groups of 10 can meet from 11th May and bar terraces are open). It’s like they weren’t ready to publish a plan for easing lockdown as they haven’t given much detail for stages 2 and 3. And stage 1 is pretty much what we’ve been on for the last few weeks anyway.

I agree it's all utterly nonsensical. You can see your DM at 2m distance, but not at the same time as you see your DF at 2m distance, even if they live together and you're not getting close than 2m from either of them. You can meet in a park, but not in a garden (WTF is the difference, as long as you're outside?). People can go to work, travel on public transport and sit in a seat right next to a complete stranger and yet it's only 'recommended' that everyone wears face masks, yet you can't see someone you know at less than 2m distance. None of it makes the slightest bit of sense. It's all utterly stupid and contradictory.