Are people oblivious to what’s happening in the North?

[Racoonworld]

I keep seeing posts where people are wondering why some people can’t see others, telling them that we’ve been able to meet family and friends for ages now. Do some people not realise that in large areas of the U.K. this isn’t allowed? And that next week it’s going to get worse? I don’t live in these areas but am horrified about what’s happening there and very aware that people are struggling with the isolation.

People speak from their own experiences. I've been in local lockdown for ages, so I automatically go to that as the rules, my sister in the south east has had very few restrictions so still gets confused as to why I can't do things.

It's not badness or ignorance. Just one of those things. Why would she care about my restrictions? She doesn't live here (and now can't visit).

We’ve been under local restrictions since August 8. Next week they will get tighter. It’s become normal, and now it’s getting colder out I don’t really notice, but I really feel for my teenagers - especially the 18 year old. They are really missing out - and not only that, getting blamed for it. It’s rotten.

I'm in Lancashire. 2 weeks ago, our local police force posted a reminder on Facebook about local rules and a woman commented "I'm in (insert name of Lancashire village), does this apply to me?" Her excuse for asking was that she'd been working shifts and hadn't seen the news .
At the time, there was only Blackpool not included.and she didn't live in Blackpool.

I think Leicester has the biggest complaint on this one..everywhere else came out of restrictions at least for a time the poor residents of Leicester never have!

I am in a local lockdown area and nothing has changed. Nobody is complying with the rules. That’s why numbers are still going up and they’re proposing stronger sanctions. Even people who live in a lockdown area don’t understand what the rules are, so it’s not surprising that others don’t either.

Large extended families constantly popping in an out of each others’ houses where I live (Bradford). Mask compliance very poor in many areas. Theories of it all being fake / a conspiracy circulating via WhatsApp messages. We’re fucked.

I think a lot of people in the north are just as oblivious. Plenty of people still going in and out of each others houses.

The problem is, the government have been far too lax in trying to contain it. Even while Manchester were under puny local restrictions they still had 'eat out to help out' and go back to the office.

If it was London with some of these figures it'd be different, as it was in March.

Yep in Liverpool

Went to work today and stopped at shop on way - no one wore a mask and that inx staff

Many of the train stations in Liverpool are in manned so people don’t wear masks

Don’t know anyone who’s working from home

Nooone wears them to work that I know

Schools only enforcing them in corridors and most kids don’t wear them

All kids activities still on

Cinemas open

Shops still open so gangs of teens/adults/families out all day at weekend

Very little seems to have changed and we have over 200 in hospital with it here

I don’t think people are scared anymore

Most of the current cases are asymptomatic or mild so people aren’t hiding like they did at start

There’s 40 in my workplace and we don’t distance at all as job just can’t work with distancing

Very little seems to have changed

It's hard to get people to take it seriously when a month ago the government were shouting at people to go back to the office and bribing people to go to the bloody pub or a restaurant for food.

It's also hard to get people to take it seriously when there's practically zero enforcement.

It's also apparently hard to get people to take it seriously when all the shops are open as well tbh. People still just carry on as normal.

A lockdown in these northern cities will be the only way.

I feel like they are, in Bolton our pubs and restaurants have only been back open for a week and now facing closing down again... it’s absolutely devastating for them , the staff, the owners , many have put their life savings into keeping afloat over the lockdown , quite a few are saying if they’re closed again then they’ll not open up again, they just can’t take it anymore. Does anyone know this or care?

@Redolent

Large extended families constantly popping in an out of each others’ houses where I live (Bradford). Mask compliance very poor in many areas. Theories of it all being fake / a conspiracy circulating via WhatsApp messages. We’re fucked.

Yep, this is my experience too in Greater Manchester.

Mighty ducks. I care, I've got a cafe in Bolton and we opened back up yesterday to the news we are closing again. We only bought the business 12 months ago. I wish I'd have had a crystal ball

@annabel85

Very little seems to have changed

It's hard to get people to take it seriously when a month ago the government were shouting at people to go back to the office and bribing people to go to the bloody pub or a restaurant for food.

It's also hard to get people to take it seriously when there's practically zero enforcement.

It's also apparently hard to get people to take it seriously when all the shops are open as well tbh. People still just carry on as normal.

A lockdown in these northern cities will be the only way.

I don't think it will work unless it is a full lockdown like last time. People will not go to work in crowded workplaces and send their children to crowded schools and then not see family and friends. My teen dd got very upset earlier because I will not let her go out. All her friends are meeting up as usual despite us being in local lockdown.

@calamityjam

Mighty ducks. I care, I've got a cafe in Bolton and we opened back up yesterday to the news we are closing again. We only bought the business 12 months ago. I wish I'd have had a crystal ball

I feel for you @calamityjam it is heartbreaking. Lots of local businesses near me are struggling. There needs to be more support from government. PHE charts show that only around 5% of infections are from hospitality with schools having the most followed by care homes. The 10pm curfew was also a really bad idea. Any fool could see what would happen when everywhere closed at the same time.

It's hard to take it seriously when Northumberland, which has no cities and only a very tiny area of an enormous county, is lumped together with Newcastle and Sunderland where there's a huge student population and a worrying number of cases. We're being penalised for living next door and I can't blame people for ignoring rules to be honest

Only a very tiny area of an enormous county has an increased amount of cases that should say

I'm in the South West. I still don't know anyone who has had it. Everyone here wears masks and a few wear gloves while shopping.

I don't see how they can keep locking down areas. Surely it's all or nothing or people won't do it.

You're still complying with lockdown rules? I'm not, just using common sense.

I'm not in the North but have spoken to friends there and have a definite sense that the situation is very different up there to where I am with my friends knowing several people with Covid and lots of school bubbles in isolation. I think the South in general was hit worse in the first wave so maybe people are more cautious and taking precautions. There is good compliance in general with mask-wearing and distancing.

@Helenj1977

Same here, no local cases for weeks, one imported case in neighbouring town (caught in Greece island/plane) and despite the idiot not quarantining nobody got sick because distancing is being taken seriously.

@MarjorytheTrashHeap

I'm not in the North but have spoken to friends there and have a definite sense that the situation is very different up there to where I am with my friends knowing several people with Covid and lots of school bubbles in isolation. I think the South in general was hit worse in the first wave so maybe people are more cautious and taking precautions. There is good compliance in general with mask-wearing and distancing.

That's really interesting because I went to London in the summer and I saw very few in masks where I was (Ne) and have seen friends out for meals in restaurants with multiple households when you weren't meant to do that, whereas in my area of the North compliance with masks, social distancing etc remains high.

Honestly partly I think communication is just way too inadequate. Local restrictions in lancashire were announced but it took days for the gov website to be updated.so people went on the gov website and saw my town wasn't included as it hadn't been updated, so continued with their normal lives.
Outside my house at the bus stop there is a gov poster about the rule of 6--the rule of 6 doesn't apply here?! It's shit like that that doesn't help.

I'm in one of the early local lockdown northern areas and no one took any notice. Looking back I can see it even more now. I'm guilty of being complacent myself

A few weeks ago I was on a train in Manchester and I was the only one in the carriage wearing a mask, everyone laughing, talking loud, nit being careful with handrails, seating etc. No social distancing in shops, people in and out of each others houses, pubs rammed. No masks in hairdressers etc

We have to take some of the blame for this ourselves I think

The rules change all the time and it's hard enough to actually locate and be up to date with the rules in your own area, let alone someone else's area.

I think there is only so much that people will willingly take.