The packed beach brigade..

[Bol87]

Why am I seeing a resurgence of the packed beach brigade whinging on social media? And still harping on about it being Cummings fault 🥴

The last packed beach horror has resulted in no spike in case whatsoever. Cases have been flat & fallen over the last couple days (although I’m expecting this to be a bit temporary & them go up a bit & flatten again). This is alongside schools opening back up, meeting friends & family outdoors etc. And that day those on Durdle Door had to pack together due to air ambulances landing.

It strikes me that it’s pretty obvious the virus does not easily spread outdoors. Even the beaches that looked rammed, everyone will be a metre apart at a minimum. You don’t sit immediately next to each other.

Can we not get over people going to the beach?! Stop calling them idiots when in fact, they are simply doing something they are allowed to do & actually, if they’ve made a risk assessment the evidence suggests it’s an OK thing to do.. I mean, rather them than me, a packed beach is my idea of hell in normal times but c’mon! 😩

I don't get why people are getting angry about the beach when they are sitting apart but said nothing about the thousands packed in together at the protests.

Have you been under a rock? Protests were whinged about LOADS.

Here - this is Brighton beach right now - looks fine:

www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/united-kingdom/england/brighton/brighton-pier.html

Bournemouth webcam - again, people quite well spread out, but harder to really see because of where the camera is (lower down).

magicseaweed.com/Live-Bournemouth-Webcam/16/

I'm with you too.

After Easter and VE Day I was concern for a second wave but nothing happened. I think we are four weeks on from the air ambulance landing on the beach at Durdle Door and everyone being crammed in like sardines, but again nothing has happened. Are we now three weeks on from the first protests? I'm not seeing anything happening as a result of that but it may still be too early. I think if we are going to see a second wave it will be autumn after everyone has moved indoors. I'm hoping for a lovely summer and we can be outside as much as possible.

The littering is reprehensible, but good on anybody getting outdoors in the beautiful weather. There are more health concerns than just COVID, and if people can boost their mental health with a bit of sunshine then that's a good thing.

We can't live in this fear forever. We should be taking responsible steps to protect ourselves and others of course, but we need to live our lives as normally as possible.

I live in a seaside town and the beaches get busy but everyone stays apart. Its nice to see people enjoying some fresh air and having a nice time. I take my kids most days... It is good for our mental health.
Some people just want everyone to be as miserable as them. I am sick of seeing "here comes the second wave". Bore off!

Take your ducking rubbish home and don't piss behind my beach hut..

There is so much media snobbery about beaches. Apparently they're an issue, but I bet Hyde Park is absolutely rammed with nice middle-class families bearing picnic baskets today and nobody prints a word.

We don't go to our beach until around 5pm.. which is when me and my kids clear up before the tide comes in. Absolutely no respect .. zero fucks given.

I don't get the British public's fascination with the beach on a hot day.

You can go to pretty much any beach on a normal weather day and it's reasonably quiet (except maybe August) but on a warm day whole swarms of people go, knowing everybody else will be there. I'd rather go when it's quieter.

Sorry wrong photo.. this was from yesterday visitors.

After Easter and VE Day I was concern for a second wave but nothing happened. I think we are four weeks on from the air ambulance landing on the beach at Durdle Door and everyone being crammed in like sardines, but again nothing has happened.

I don't think beaches are a big transmission risk but the UK posts the highest death toll in Europe every day. in the hundreds. when most others are in or close to single figures.

Israel’s just had a spike in cases they put down to crowded beach transmission.

I suspect it’s more about fomites — people touching pay-park machines, buying ice creams etc.

Cases were far higher when we had late May's beach hysteria, when nothing happened after, so there should be far less need for beach pearl clutching now.

@EmMac7

Israel’s just had a spike in cases they put down to crowded beach transmission.

I suspect it’s more about fomites — people touching pay-park machines, buying ice creams etc.

Toilets as well can spread it and if you've got hundreds using them. People going in the local shops and co-ops.

I don't think beaches are a big transmission risk but the UK posts the highest death toll in Europe every day. in the hundreds. when most others are in or close to single figures.

Is that down to the beaches or more to do with people starting to mix more with other households, sometimes indoors, whilst not socially distancing?

Many people are likely to have low vit D stores after lockdown, especially those without gardens. This won't help if there's a second wave of the virus in autumn/winter.
The health benefits of being outside in the sun are likely to outweigh the very small risk of catching Covid 19.

@Deelish75

I don't think beaches are a big transmission risk but the UK posts the highest death toll in Europe every day. in the hundreds. when most others are in or close to single figures.

Is that down to the beaches or more to do with people starting to mix more with other households, sometimes indoors, whilst not socially distancing?

On a daily basis pretty much we've had Europe's worst death toll for months. It's not because of beaches per se, but a general lax attitude here.

Italy and Spain got it far worse than us initially but took it seriously and their rates sharply declined. Spain are regularly posting single digit death tolls for weeks. We're still in the hundreds.

On a daily basis pretty much we've had Europe's worst death toll for months. It's not because of beaches per se, but a general lax attitude here.

Italy and Spain got it far worse than us initially but took it seriously and their rates sharply declined. Spain are regularly posting single digit death tolls for weeks. We're still in the hundreds.

The lockdowns in Italy and Spain were much stricter than ours. In Spain the government took it really seriously (much more than ours) people were being fined quite heftily for being out without a valid reason etc. But now the Spanish are out and about much more and they are using their beaches, (friend posted pics on FB and heard a caller from Spain on radio saying this) yet their death figures are very low like you say.
I still think transmission in the U.K. is happening more indoors with people bending the rules of our lockdown which is leading to deaths still being so high. Also how quickly are we getting people into hospital now because that was an issue a couple of months ago but no idea what happening now - people not getting medical treatment quickly enough - is that still a factor?

I am more concerned at the state of the beaches after the hoards have left.

I left nothing but footprints today.

It looks like we’ve adopted US spring break all teens and early 20s with nowt else to do but at least they’re outside hopefully less damaging

The beaches will be less busy when other places are open. In normal times people would go to swimming baths, pub gardens, friends houses, play parks, air conditioned leisure centres and bowling alleys etc. etc.

At the moment on a sunny day the only options are beaches, a half closed park or your own garden. Of course beaches are packed.

Where's the plane flying over with a banner reading "Park Lives Matter Devon"?

Spain's death figures are low due to the fact they only report numbers of people that died from covid if they are registered within 24 hrs of dying. Any that take longer than 24 hours to register are not put on the daily figures, so their figures are not accurate.
This was reported in the news a few weeks ago ( radio 4)
You can't compare countries figures as we have no idea how each country are counting and declaring them.