Are we heading back to being at home all day again?

[lesbihonest]

I’ve just started getting hospital appointments again; GP appointment for the first time since February and due a haircut on Monday ... we also popped out to a cafe for first time two weeks ago and really enjoyed ourselves . Slowly travelling slightly further afield (ie no further than 30 miles) . Still haven’t seen any friends, and only three relatives ... we do live in an area with v low cases and feels quite safe ...

I can’t bear the thought of everything around us closing back down though for another four months as before - surely not? I really can’t manage another six months in the same three mile square with only one outdoor walk allowed each day . Desperately trying to find something on TV/media to reassure me that won’t be happening !

I want to be clear I'm not hell bent on breaking the rules and laws and ignoring the consequences. But to me it makes sense to be aware of the law, then consider the guidelines with reference to your own circumstances.

Eg the law said you can only leave with a reasonable reason. The guidance suggested only shop for essentials, only exercise once a day.

If I went shopping at 7am then realised I'd forgotten something important / dropped my milk unpacking, it's fine to go again! Equally if the shops were much busier by then time I needed to go again and a neighbour was on their way, I'd ask them to get me milk rather than offer to walk together as i would in normal times.

No issue with a jog at 5am and then a cycle in the evening in unbusy areas, and if the dog needs two walks a day then I'll be sensible and avoid the busiest times of day and busiest parks.

I trust myself to use my common sense and bend the guidelines to fit my life. I also feel OK breaking the 6 person law when I deem it to add no risk, eg a family of 5 meeting both grandparents, but I agree that's slightly different because it is breaking a law.

But to answer the OP, going back to any kind of national Lockdown sounds hideous and I can't imagine they'll do it, but with this bunch of incompetent c*s in charge, its anyone's guess what they'll do

Police turned up at my door in April because I had been reported for driving (20 minutes) to take exercise (2 hours). They were emphatic that they were being nice and not levying a fine "this time". I live in England, and parked in a tiny empty village in England no one ever heard of.

The police also objected to my form of exercise (not prohibited in the written legislation, but evidently prohibited by local police). It was a bit of a crap moment, truly.

Next day Westminster govt came out to say we could drive short distances to take exercise. But still, don't tell me it wasn't "the law". My local constabulary had no doubts that driving any distance to exercise was against the law. They would not have hesitated to levy a fine if I had been a repeat "offender."

@NarcissistsEyebrows is correct. The wording was misinterpreted.

We were legally allowed out for exercise (no time limit but no driving until that was changed) and for essentials such as shopping and medical appointments that couldn’t be rescheduled.

Boris said ‘for an hour for an example’ in relation to exercise but it wasn’t law. Others misread the law and thought is said ‘essential shopping’ not ‘essentials such as shopping etc...’.

@ZeroSumTrap

Police turned up at my door in April because I had been reported for driving (20 minutes) to take exercise (2 hours). They were emphatic that they were being nice and not levying a fine "this time". I live in England, and parked in a tiny empty village in England no one ever heard of.

The police also objected to my form of exercise (not prohibited in the written legislation, but evidently prohibited by local police). It was a bit of a crap moment, truly.

Next day Westminster govt came out to say we could drive short distances to take exercise. But still, don't tell me it wasn't "the law". My local constabulary had no doubts that driving any distance to exercise was against the law. They would not have hesitated to levy a fine if I had been a repeat "offender."

Your local constabulary was wrong. Many people suffered this but had any fines etc quashed. The government / police chiefs came out and and said as much.

How I wish I could go back to the office. I’ve been at home all day for the past 6 months and it is completely fucking up my mental health. I’ve seen 3 actual people from outside my household in the last week. And one of them was a nurse in full PPE. I miss the incidental social interactions from being in the office so much . The government can fuck off if they think I’m restricting my interactions any further. I no longer care what the law says. (Actually the law tends to be more permissive than people think it is - and I’m definitely not going even going to think about curtailing any activity that isn’t illegal - the uninformed opinion of some intellectually challenged Tory minister is not going to influence me in the slightest).

That sounds horrible zero, you must have felt awful when they pulled you over.

However the police were wrong. There were countless examples of things like this. It was (still is!) a horrible confusing mess. However I did read the legislation and what you did was definitely not against the law, as the clarification the next day made clear.

This is all unprecedented and I believe most people and most of the police are trying their best, but in such a rapidly changing situation people do make mistakes.

If you're in any doubt about what is or isn't illegal then check the legislation online.

If that police officer had given you a fine then I have every confidence it would have been overturned if you had argued it. All very well for me to say from my sofa 4 months after the event...

If there are future lockdowns I'll be very interested to see how the new laws are drafted, lessons really should have been learnt from the huge mess from March, including the Cummings debacle. I doubt they will have been though

@HarryLimeFoxtrot

How I wish I could go back to the office. I’ve been at home all day for the past 6 months and it is completely fucking up my mental health. I’ve seen 3 actual people from outside my household in the last week. And one of them was a nurse in full PPE. I miss the incidental social interactions from being in the office so much . The government can fuck off if they think I’m restricting my interactions any further. I no longer care what the law says. (Actually the law tends to be more permissive than people think it is - and I’m definitely not going even going to think about curtailing any activity that isn’t illegal - the uninformed opinion of some intellectually challenged Tory minister is not going to influence me in the slightest).

I think that’s how I’m feeling -

I’ve seen both my grandmothers, my uncle and his son, another cousin and her mother (as her mum is dying, so she was taken down to say goodbye) and my sister . Sister at a safe distance as she’s in supported living - her carers have just told us she’s not allowed visits more than 30 minutes in full PPE (mask, gown, gloves) and no exchanging any gifts at all - presently said she’s not even allowed a birthday present .

The only person I’ve spoken to, alone and in private, since February, were nurses at my hospital appt two weeks ago and they were in full PPE . The nurse at the appointment gave me a hug in the loo after, she said she’d had COVID19 and not to panic . I cried because I’ve missed contact with other people so incredibly much .

It is absolutely awful, all round .

So watching the news I guess I’m right, we are sort of heading back to March again.

I hope they let us keep support bubbles - I’ve formed one with my grandmother as she’s 80 and the isolation would likely kill her ... and hopefully can post things to dsis ... bloody nightmare . And at least we’ll know we can go out more than once this time . And I’m well practiced in online ordering; making sure we have toiletries and knowing when I’ll need to order more from Boots and how long to wait for bits to arrive ... and a pre existing priority slot too .

You feel so frustrated and desperate . There’s 1 person in hospital here - 1, out of half a million people . That’s after a local lockdown last month . I wish it would all just go away .

I was taking my toddler out for 4 hour walks (once per day though) throughout lockdown. There was never any time limit in law in England). I certainly won't be staying at home all day in future.

I'm hoping they'll keep schools and nurseries open, though we may be able to get a keyworker place at DD's nursery, depending on their definitions this time around.

I wished I was at home all the time during lock down but sadly had to work through it

Did anyone stick to one walk a day?

It was one of the strangest rules. I certainly ignored it.

@Vivana

I wished I was at home all the time during lock down but sadly had to work through it

Believe me I’d do anything to swap; I used to work for the NHS and GP told me with my stupid MH there’s no way they’d want me right now . Desperately trying to fix things . Sadly whatever MH help was on offer GP surgery said there’s now 12 month wait for urgent, up to two year waits for routine ...

@NarcissistsEyebrows

That sounds horrible zero, you must have felt awful when they pulled you over.

However the police were wrong. There were countless examples of things like this. It was (still is!) a horrible confusing mess. However I did read the legislation and what you did was definitely not against the law, as the clarification the next day made clear.

This is all unprecedented and I believe most people and most of the police are trying their best, but in such a rapidly changing situation people do make mistakes.

If you're in any doubt about what is or isn't illegal then check the legislation online.

If that police officer had given you a fine then I have every confidence it would have been overturned if you had argued it. All very well for me to say from my sofa 4 months after the event...

If there are future lockdowns I'll be very interested to see how the new laws are drafted, lessons really should have been learnt from the huge mess from March, including the Cummings debacle. I doubt they will have been though

The thing is the fines could only be overturned by not paying and letting it go to court, where you then risk a criminal record. That's all so stressful. However it seems like for 19,000 fines handed out, over 9,000 have chosen to or aren't able to pay, which is a huge proportion and is going to take ages for courts to deal with.

Well done on losing 50 lb OP, that is fantastic.

I understand about feeling hemmed in, I live a small flat with no outside space, and the shrinking horizons do make me feel quite cabin fevery. Probably partly why I am awake at this time!

@CountessFrog

Did anyone stick to one walk a day?

It was one of the strangest rules. I certainly ignored it.

I also ignored it, and would do again if they brought it in.

@CountessFrog

Did anyone stick to one walk a day?

It was one of the strangest rules. I certainly ignored it.

It was never actually a law was it? Just people's interpretation of the guidance. We had a couple of walks out a day. I'll do the same if they reimpose another bloody lockdown...

If you aren’t vulnerable, that’s a very very restricted way to have lived. Especially in an area with no cases.
I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as last time, they won’t close schools for one. I also think non essential retail will stay open with masks and distancing. The economy doesn’t make money from people socialising at each other’s houses, so that’s what the government will restrict the most.

I’ll not be sticking out to going out once a day. Not will I only shop for “essentials”. I’ll go out and shop when I like. I’ll travel more than 5 miles for exercise if I like. Followed all rules last time and it’s got us nowhere so not bothered this time.

There are a lot of people on here making stuff up.

In England - you were allowed to drive for exercise, but the police tried to tell you that you couldn't. It was frowned upon because you were 100% likely to have an accident (even if you'd been driving accident-free for 20 years or more) and put pressure on the NHS. I didn't, because I didn't need to, I can walk, run and cycle to lots of nice places from my house. My mum did, because she lives in a hilly village without pavements everywhere, so it was safer for her to drive somewhere for a flat off-road walk.

The guidance was once a day but you could get round that by eg walking the shops in the morning and walking for exercise in the afternoon (though it was also frowned upon to go and buy a newspaper every day for some reason and lets not mention Easter eggs, or indeed the pharmacist who decided pregnancy tests were not an essential item).

Michael Gove said that he thought the "daily exercise" should be about an hour, but that was his opinion, not guidance or law.

Exactly. Common sense rules only for me

No way will it be 3-4 months again Maybe a fortnight over half term - not sure who’s half term mind
The country cannot afford this. There will be no furlough money They want people to go to work and get the economy moving
We will have local lockdowns curfews and bans on seeing relatives but not lockdown like before

I hope! I like my home I’d like to keep paying the rent and stay here

I don’t know but I’m glad I got my haircut.

Hairdresser did say if they had to lockdown again they wouldn’t make it through as a business which will be the case for many. So I hope we won’t be and businesses remain open.

@ZeroSumTrap

Police turned up at my door in April because I had been reported for driving (20 minutes) to take exercise (2 hours). They were emphatic that they were being nice and not levying a fine "this time". I live in England, and parked in a tiny empty village in England no one ever heard of.

The police also objected to my form of exercise (not prohibited in the written legislation, but evidently prohibited by local police). It was a bit of a crap moment, truly.

Next day Westminster govt came out to say we could drive short distances to take exercise. But still, don't tell me it wasn't "the law". My local constabulary had no doubts that driving any distance to exercise was against the law. They would not have hesitated to levy a fine if I had been a repeat "offender."

But it wasn't the law. They were grossly in the wrong. You should make a complaint.

There was never a once a day rule, or a time limit in the rules or legislation in England

A lot of the hour and how many times was people's interpretation or what was the opinion of someone asked. You could go for multiple amounts exercise a day if you wanted as this was considered a valid reason.

Of course making people have a valid reason to be out of the house is scaryly wrong in its self.

We did initially restrict how long and where we took severely autistic ds for exercise but I won't be doing that again no matter what exercise and travel 'rules' appear. He has only calmed down again in the last couple of months and I am not bringing on all that anxiety, distress and violence again.