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Original poster

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:
compulsiveliar2019 · 21/06/2020 00:36

I don’t get this line of thought. UK locked down considerably albeit not as strict as some countries and govt figures show even with such considerable measures approx 42,000 positive cases have died (ONS puts it at least 10,000 higher). 42,000 deaths in my mind is a lot of deaths!). If there had been extremely light lockdown deaths would have been even higher.

I disagree a huge percentage of the deaths have been either people from care homes. A significant percentage of those infections went into care/nursing homes by patients being discharged from hospital without being tested. They moved people too quickly in order to rapidly increase capacity in the nhs without looking at the consequences.

JingsMahBucket · 21/06/2020 00:36

@HoldMyLobster are people in your state actually wearing masks or no? Again, even though people were outside, they weren’t wearing masks. The masks are the key component here. Hence why a lot of the protest data is showing low rates of transmission. The protesters were extremely careful about mask wearing. Plus, we haven’t seen the full effect of that yet, it’s only been about three weeks since they started.

JingsMahBucket · 21/06/2020 00:37

@HoldMyLobster also, love your username. It gives me a chuckle every time I see it around the site. Smile

HoldMyLobster · 21/06/2020 00:41

HoldMyLobster also, love your username. It gives me a chuckle every time I see it around the site.

I like yours too - makes me think of my family in Glasgow for some reason.

I agree wearing masks can really help. It's a bit mixed here - some are, some aren't. Definitely much more mask wearing here than further down south.

pontypridd · 21/06/2020 00:42

Where we live - several people have had the virus. And it's knocked them over badly. Many have long term effects that are lingering and not looking likely to go away.

These people are work colleagues, other parents at school and friends of friends. All of them are below 50 and some are extremely fit and healthy.

I think lockdown has protected many of us from this virus. The government won't lock down in the same way again. It can't afford to. We all have to look after ourselves now - and I think anyone who trusts this government's reassurances is being foolish.

It's likely to get worse from now on - particularly into the winter, not better.

Jeremyironsnothing · 21/06/2020 00:44

Many of the posters on this thread are as bad as the idiots you saw today op.
Yes, it's great that life is beginning to get back to normal, but we still need to socially distance and avoid taking risks. And the gates are a risk.

EnlightenedOwl · 21/06/2020 03:00

@LynetteScavo

My auntie in law died of athlete's foot she caught off a stile in the Lake District.GrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrin
I laughed at that too
Topseyt · 21/06/2020 03:05

I thought we were supposed to sanitise packages and leave for a while before opning, open doors where possible using elbows, if not, wear gloves and afterwards wash hands thoroughly/sanitise

I will never go through the utter faff of quarantining post/deliveries and washing my shopping. Nor do I personally know anyone who does. I think my Dad got instructed to do it when he got his letter advising him to shield at the start of lockdown, but quickly abandoned it as the ludicrous farting about that it is. He just brings stuff in and puts it away now, followed by a good handwash. Other than that, he has shielded up until now but is thoroughly pissed off with doing so.

Oblomov20 · 21/06/2020 07:01

You seem obsessed, overly anxious.

I too don't think this is how it spreads. Hardly any cases or deaths in our borough.

Alex50 · 21/06/2020 08:12

I’m glad things are starting to go back to normal. My daughter’s been shopping, my husbands back at work, meeting lots of different people every day (social distancing), my son is booking a holiday to Tenerife, the last thing I would worry about is touching a gate. There have been no new cases in our area for over 2 weeks now, no deaths for 10 days.

Alex50 · 21/06/2020 08:15

And as for sanitising every package that comes into the house, I think is absolute madness.

Ilovemypantry · 21/06/2020 08:17

I can’t believe the amount of people on here stating AS FACT that you can’t catch the virus from surfaces. We were told at the beginning of all this about the danger of touching park benches, gates, even children’s play equipment in parks (which still haven’t been opened). I don’t think the science has suddenly changed on this.

Also, the two metre rule being reduced is purely for economic reasons to help pubs and restaurants re-open. It’s a well known fact that the scientists are not in favour but the government is bowing down to pressure from the hospitality sector. We will just have to wait and see what (if any) effect this will have on the re-infection rate.

So I don’t think you were over reacting OP....you have taken on board what has been drilled into us about this virus and are acting accordingly to try and do everything to keep you and your family safe. Unfortunately so many people are now of the opinion that the virus no longer exists and we can just go back to normal like it never happened.

PickACoolUserName · 21/06/2020 08:22

I can’t believe the amount of people on here stating AS FACT that you can’t catch the virus from surfaces. We were told at the beginning of all this about the danger of touching park benches, gates, even children’s play equipment in parks (which still haven’t been opened). I don’t think the science has suddenly changed on this.

Actually, the science has changed on this, because we've been able to study the virus for the last six months.

Fomite transmission is now considered possible, but not the main way the virus spreads, especially outside where it rapidly deteriorates in sunlight.

www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/s0522-cdc-updates-covid-transmission.html

Alex50 · 21/06/2020 08:27

@llovemypantry I don’t think people think that. People need to get back to normal, life has to go on, lockdown is coming to an end, restaurants and pubs will open next. You can’t stop people getting on with their lives. Everyone will have to make their own risk assessments to what is safe and live their lives accordingly. Moaning about people touching a gate is ridiculous.

wintertravel1980 · 21/06/2020 08:31

I can’t believe the amount of people on here stating AS FACT that you can’t catch the virus from surfaces.

There is a difference between saying AS FACT "you cannot catch virus via surfaces" and pointing out that all the evidence so far points out to few cases of surface transmission indoors (in places like a church or a shopping mall).

People are at risk when they talk to other people. The longer the conversation, the louder the voices, the less ventilated the environment - the higher the risk.

EnlightenedOwl · 21/06/2020 08:35

[quote Alex50]@llovemypantry I don’t think people think that. People need to get back to normal, life has to go on, lockdown is coming to an end, restaurants and pubs will open next. You can’t stop people getting on with their lives. Everyone will have to make their own risk assessments to what is safe and live their lives accordingly. Moaning about people touching a gate is ridiculous.[/quote]
I really feel sorry for some people riddled with anxieties over these things. I still can't get past people washing shopping and quarantine their post. Bizarre behaviour

thedancingbear · 21/06/2020 08:38

can’t believe the amount of people on here stating AS FACT that you can’t catch the virus from surfaces.

And I can't state AS FACT that you can't catch it through using the internet, or reading a book about elephants; I'm not aware of any peer-reviewed studies addressing either possibility, and it's a new virus that we don't fully understand.

However my common sense and general intelligence tells me that these are low-risk actions, and that it probably isn't worth starting an 8-page internet thread lambasting people for doing the same.

Alex50 · 21/06/2020 08:43

I don’t know anyone who has wiped their shopping down, not even my 80 year old parents and guess what they haven’t caught the virus. Surely if it spread this way there would be many more infections, even in lockdown? People need to use their common sense a bit more.

madcatladyforever · 21/06/2020 08:43

You should have seen Glastonbury yesterday. I live there. Popped out for a pint of milk with my mask on. Popped back in again straight away, the damned place was heaving with hippies, revellers, people who normally go to Stonehenge at the Solstice.
Not a single person wearing a mask or any kind of protection. Every shop was packed despite placards saying one or two people in a shop only.
I was properly pissed off.

randomer · 21/06/2020 08:54

"revellers" is such an odd word. Much favoured by the DM

midgebabe · 21/06/2020 08:58

That is can be caught from surfaces seems evident from one study of a series of infections which were traced to a church. Most of the infected were at the same service. One person however seems to have picked it up from sitting at the same seat several hours later

It's also why the hand wash advice is still heavily promoted worldwide

So even if not the primary route, it is possible. Your reaction to this possibility probably depends on how risk adverse you are and what you perceive the risk is for you or your family

Actual risk to individuals of being seriously ill if they catch the virus varies by an incredible amount from around 1 in 10 for oldest people, through 1 in a Few hundred for normal aged people with various not life limiting health conditions , to something like 1 in a 100,000 or less for the young and healthy

So it's hardly surprising that the actions people might want to take vary tremendously as well

EnlightenedOwl · 21/06/2020 09:00

@Alex50

I don’t know anyone who has wiped their shopping down, not even my 80 year old parents and guess what they haven’t caught the virus. Surely if it spread this way there would be many more infections, even in lockdown? People need to use their common sense a bit more.
I do unfortunately. I can't get my head round it.
JinglingHellsBells · 21/06/2020 09:04

I know only people who wipe their shopping incl my Mum aged 92.

why do you think dentists and hospitals have removed magazines from waiting rooms?

It's because the virus can live on surfaces.

And there have been many more cases than the figures show- they estimate there are hundreds of thousands of cases where people have so mild symptoms they don't know, or no symptoms at all.

Do you not listen or read ?

If you don't believe that, fine.

Presumably you believe the world is flat.

Carlislemumof4 · 21/06/2020 09:14

@Ilovemypantry

I can’t believe the amount of people on here stating AS FACT that you can’t catch the virus from surfaces. We were told at the beginning of all this about the danger of touching park benches, gates, even children’s play equipment in parks (which still haven’t been opened). I don’t think the science has suddenly changed on this.

Also, the two metre rule being reduced is purely for economic reasons to help pubs and restaurants re-open. It’s a well known fact that the scientists are not in favour but the government is bowing down to pressure from the hospitality sector. We will just have to wait and see what (if any) effect this will have on the re-infection rate.

So I don’t think you were over reacting OP....you have taken on board what has been drilled into us about this virus and are acting accordingly to try and do everything to keep you and your family safe. Unfortunately so many people are now of the opinion that the virus no longer exists and we can just go back to normal like it never happened.

Fully agree.

The virus possibly not surviving as long in sunlight and the risk of surface transmission being lower than prolonged, close, face to face contact becomes 'there's absolutely no risk outside, how ridiculous to suggest you could catch it from a gate'.

A deceased farmer's family, who know far more about his contacts and daily routine than strangers on the internet, are apparently mistaken in their conviction he caught the virus through surface contact. Even though scientific research has shown it to be possible.

Concern is expressed for the mental health of the population if restrictions continue.... while someone who is trying to get out and about for the health of themselves and their family while taking sensible precautions is called a paranoid mess. Told to stay at home. Asked if they have a life.

Unfortunately have seen this kind of attitude from people in real life too who want to stick their fingers in their ears and pretend it's all over

Alsohuman · 21/06/2020 09:17

And there have been many more cases than the figures show- they estimate there are hundreds of thousands of cases where people have so mild symptoms they don't know, or no symptoms at all

In which case why behave as if it’s Ebola? There’s no logic to it.