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Country walk, couldn't believe my eyes, this is how it spreads...

265 replies

RapidRainbow · 20/06/2020 19:40

We've been, like everyone else, walking more than usual. Today we walked a new route. The path was really tricky to SD on having to stop and go up against barbed fences to let people pass. We were wedged between a group carrying a pushchair down to a beauty spot (we didn't realise until we got there the insistence to go down the very steep rocky stepped path was because they were clearly gathering for a day out with other families as we saw approx. 20 people in groups in a clearing!). At one point we stopped so we didn't get too close to people in front and a family group behind us went past and I felt their presence on my back, you know that little brush against you! Then there was a group of 3 in their early twenties ish with one man coughing and sensed them very close behind so moved over to let them past. On both occasions a polite 'excuse me' would have been better so we could suitable SD as best we could.

We sat on a hill near a gate, we could see everyone going through it opened it with their hands. My DH and son used their feet to knock the catches open so we didn't have to touch the gate. If we have to touch a stiff gate, we instantly use our hand spray gel, I'm so glad we didn't need to do that today!

I watched as kids climbed over the gate, people opened the gate then rubbed their face or opened a drinks bottle or ran their hands through their hair! I estimated that in the 10 minutes we sat there, approx 20 people touched that gate and not one used a handgel or wipe etc afterwards.

It's not exact, but that would be 120 people in an hour and over a 10 hour day of a busy area, approx 1200 touching that one gate. Statisticly, some of them would be carrying Covid! Shock

These will be the people who get Covid and say 'well I've only been to the Supermarket and out walking'!

I don't think I'm being overly cautious? I feel safe outside if we SD but I try to imagine every person and every surface could be carrying Covid to keep risks to a minimum.

OP posts:
RapidRainbow · 20/06/2020 21:32

I'm happy to be wrong. Since lockdown and the advice not to touch gates etc. as above, I haven't seen anything to contradict that. Please provide your reliable sources and I shall consider myself educated.

Also, if you know the type of country gates we mean, you'll know that we don't actually put feet where hands would go and lots are actually kissing gates which can be used with a foot underneath them

OP posts:
wintertravel1980 · 20/06/2020 21:39

Some farm workers caught Covid and died when they hadn't been off the farm.

The problem is this is second or third hand information.

A lot of people in Cornwall were 100% convinced that Weston hospital was closed after day trippers had invaded local beaches. Unsurprisingly, they were wrong. It turned out there had been ongoing transmission among hospital staff with many asymptomatic cases. It is not impossible that the same thing was happening at the farm in Cumbria.

ErrolTheDragon · 20/06/2020 21:43

... a group carrying a pushchair down to a beauty spot ..

If you want maintain good social distancing and hygiene, surely it's best not to go for a trip that combines all of:
A) a 'beauty spot'
B) accessible to large numbers esp family groups
C) on a weekend

Yellowbutterfly1 · 20/06/2020 21:43

I’m feeling more grossed out that you used your feet on the gate catches. That’s pretty disgusting considering all the things you had probably have walked in.

thedancingbear · 20/06/2020 21:47

^If you want maintain good social distancing and hygiene, surely it's best not to go for a trip that combines all of:
A) a 'beauty spot'
B) accessible to large numbers esp family groups
C) on a weekend^

I agree. The best thing would be to never leave the fucking house. Even after the pandemic is over, you could hit by lightning, or bitten by an ocelot, or be the one person a decade who gets smallpox, or hit by a shard of frozen piss fallen from a bastard aeroplane.

HoldMyLobster · 20/06/2020 21:48

Anyone who thinks the virus doesn’t spread outdoors or in sunshine should look at the giant spike of cases in Florida, Texas, and Arizona after they stupidly opened for things like spring break and don’t have mandatory mask wearing or quarantines, just like the UK.

Their spikes happened after they reopened indoor spaces before rates had dropped far enough.

States that are reopening indoor spaces more slowly are not seeing spikes.

Also notably we are not seeing spikes in people who attended protests.

www.wired.com/story/what-minnesotas-protests-are-revealing-about-covid-19-spread/

thedancingbear · 20/06/2020 21:48

I’m feeling more grossed out that you used your feet on the gate catches. That’s pretty disgusting considering all the things you had probably have walked in.

Agreed. My auntie in law died of athlete's foot she caught off a stile in the Lake District.

SockYarn · 20/06/2020 21:48

after they stupidly opened for things like spring break and don’t have mandatory mask wearing

You do know that spring break is pretty much loads of teens and pissed up college students partying, drinking and snogging the face off each other?

Comparing it to a walk in the country and touching a gate is ludicrous.

campion · 20/06/2020 21:50

Sad though that is @VaTeLaverLesMains it's hardly firm evidence. The family thought that he caught covid from touching a gate. No one else seems to have backed that up and the newspaper didn't seem keen to look for any facts.

Given the amount of actual information available if you care to look for it, I'm beginning to think some people need to start getting a grip before avoiding a gatepost.

Sherlock02 · 20/06/2020 21:59

OP I agree with you. The gate to the woods near me has been tied open throughout lockdown so no one has to use the latch.

I gel my hands when out so yes if I touch a latch that lots of other people touched I would gel as I know I may well touch my face. When I leave the supermarket after sharing the pin machine I gel my hands. I have always used a sleeve for leaving public toilets as I see lots of people walking out of toilets and not washing hands.

I am not being hysterical or feel I have anxiety - I am just still being careful.

I do not think you are being paranoid - this was the message that was being said.

JingsMahBucket · 20/06/2020 22:00

@SockYarn

after they stupidly opened for things like spring break and don’t have mandatory mask wearing

You do know that spring break is pretty much loads of teens and pissed up college students partying, drinking and snogging the face off each other?

Comparing it to a walk in the country and touching a gate is ludicrous.

If that country walk is crowded with people not wearing masks, touching their faces, shouting, coughing, sneezing, etc then stuff is likely to spread.
Diverseduvet · 20/06/2020 22:00

Stay in and stop encouraging the young people you are with to kick gate latches.

AngryPrincess · 20/06/2020 22:03

I would hate this, but I would avoid busy places.

EarlGreywithLemon · 20/06/2020 22:06

@RapidRainbow, completely agree with you.

Honeyroar · 20/06/2020 22:06

We live in the country and have a footpath right next to our house. There are various gates and stiles to manoeuvre. We’ve had hundreds of walkers a day come past every sunny day. All of them touch the gates and stiles. All of them go home thinking they’ve been miles away from everyone and haven’t seen a soul, not realising just how many people are ten minutes behind them! It’s quite amusing- and these aren’t the really stupid ones that bring bbqs and end up setting the place on fire etc.

SusieOwl4 · 20/06/2020 22:06

Of course there is A risk on surfaces if the walkers have not practiced hygiene precautions.

And from what I have seen today there is about a 50 50 split of people’s attitudes to taking precautions.

I must admit I did not know until today about the virus staying active in freezers ,for years . We are all on a learning curve.

Puds11 · 20/06/2020 22:06

Why did you walk a route where it’s hard to social distance if you’re so paranoid about the spread of covid? Passing people closely is much more likely to spread it than a gate, but you were happy to choose a narrow path 🤷‍♀️

LynetteScavo · 20/06/2020 22:09

My auntie in law died of athlete's foot she caught off a stile in the Lake District.GrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrin

PickACoolUserName · 20/06/2020 22:12

Anyone who thinks the virus doesn’t spread outdoors or in sunshine should look at the giant spike of cases in Florida, Texas, and Arizona after they stupidly opened for things like spring break and don’t have mandatory mask wearing or quarantines, just like the UK.

People in those states aren't spending loads of time outdoors right now though. They're huddled in air conditioned buildings escaping the heat.

The scientific research shows that the virus does not survive in sunlight.

pontypridd · 20/06/2020 22:12

I'm not worried about gates. But ... we went out today and there was a birthday party of 30/40 people all huddled close together under a tent they'd put up in the woods.

Last week it was a similar number of people close together (as we were before Covid) at a wake.

I've seen this often in the last few weeks. And yes - I'm out too. I'm not judging, just curious.

If there is nothing to worry about - why have we wasted the last 3 months being locked down? Why has the government wasted so much money on shutting down our economy? Why is everything suddenly now OK?

PickACoolUserName · 20/06/2020 22:15

And that farmworker story is ridiculous. Far more likely he caught it from an asymptomatic / pre-symptomatic person, given that asymptomatic cases are thought to account for up to 50% of cases.

HesterShaw1 · 20/06/2020 22:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RapidRainbow · 20/06/2020 22:18

@Puds11

Why did you walk a route where it’s hard to social distance if you’re so paranoid about the spread of covid? Passing people closely is much more likely to spread it than a gate, but you were happy to choose a narrow path 🤷‍♀️
@Puds11

Why did we walk that route?

Because we wanted to. Its a new route. I knew part of the route but not all of it. Its June and we have done lots of the same walks and wanted somewhere different. It being busy with others doing the same isn't the important point in my post.

Does anyone have evidence that it doesn't live on outdoor surfaces?

OP posts:
PineappleUpsideDownCake · 20/06/2020 22:18

oh has the advice changed then re touching things?

Gates near us had warnings on about touching (to use gloves or gel) due to corona. Also in schools everything (desks, door handles etc) is being cleaned repeatedly during the day to stop transmission by touch. As I thougth was happening in many places?

I'd be quite happy to oknow this is no longer needed. (We just use hand gel after a gate/ touching things I had assumed most did.)

HesterShaw1 · 20/06/2020 22:19

I apologise. I have asked for my post to be deleted.