I won't do it.

[BeanieB2020]

I will NOT comply with any lockdown rule that requires me, a single person living alone, to not see the one friend I socialize with, in my house or hers. I don't think I'm alone in this, am I?

I'm concerned the rules are going to go that way, and I'm just not doing it. I don't go anywhere, I get everything delivered, my friend is the only person I see, she is the same way and we both work from home with no kids.

And no, virtual meetings are not good enough. I need in person connection and there is no way I am going to put up with being alone for months again. Been there, done it, got the depression, never again.

There has to be exceptions made for any rule to allow single people living alone to continue seeing their friends--even if it's just one friend/household. This needs to be a part of every lockdown rule. It's not enough to say exceptions for "compassionate" reasons, it needs to be made clear that single people won't be left alone again no matter what. Indefinite Isolation is cruel, even in a pandemic. Mental health matters. I WANT to follow the rules, but if you isolate me, I CAN'T follow them. It's too much.

Anyone else agree?

@MB90

We’re nowhere near that point. Sounds as though you’re worrying unnecessarily OP. Please stop scaremongering

Whilst I agree the OP may be worrying unnecessarily, I think we need to bear in mind that it's a result of being forced into a traumatic situation earlier this year. It's not come out of the blue.

The government considered an awful lot of things before support bubbles; it's disgusting it took them so long. Right from the start they considered other situations like non-resident parents and so on, yet people living alone somehow slipped their minds for almost three months. I actually wrote to my MP about it and they said they'd had a lot of contact about the issue so it obviously was being raised (unless this is a standard MP line?!)

cbt944
That, to me, sounded like a toddler tantrum. Can't meaning won't, etc.

What makes you so convinced it's won't not can't? I can't follow a rule not to see anyone. I almost lost my life as a result of trying to do so last time. I CAN'T live under those restrictions. It's completely inhumane to expect anyone to, how on earth can you try to justify such cruelty by the government and then blame the victims for finding it impossible?

PS: I would suggest you are an extrovert.

Actually no I’m not. But I suggest it’s an odd sort of introvert that can do without human contact.

Plenty of them on here though, it seems.

@3littlewords
its geography and being unable to cross borders that's stopped you being able to see your daughter not the removal of the support bubbles. Is there anyone else in your county's that you can both re bubble up with temporarily? how much is border crossing being enforced? Is there any alternative routes that could bypass any checks? If you said you needed to cross the border work, would they be able to check?
No, it’s the way lockdown has been set up. County boundaries aren’t ‘geography’ in any meaningful sense. As far as I’m aware there are no checks, no, but if there were I couldn’t just ‘say’ it was work. I’d need proof of where I worked (my employer has provided this for people coming in from out of county). The point is that I don’t want to break the rules - they should be written in a workable way. There is no way in this earth that one single adult travelling a little way into a neighbouring county for a bubble is raising risks at a population level. In fact, given where my home is I don’t believe rates here are any different from the neighbouring county anyway. This should have been considered. This is the OPs point - governments are not even thinking about single people, so she has some justification fearing for her bubble.

When I say 1 single adult I don’t just mean me, by the way. I mean all of them. Single adult support bubbles, at whatever distance, won’t increase risks.

The poster didn't say she was in Wales . Wales and Scotland are being more stringent than our clown of a PM who controls English lockdowns

What makes you so convinced it's won't not can't?

Er, because she said so? It's in the title of the thread.

I didn't mean to have a go at you

Thank you, inkpaperstars. I appreciated your post. Plenty are lining up to do so, however; got to vent that frustration somewhere, I guess.

If you’re not going to comply it doesn’t matter what the rules are surely

Just seen this in BBC. Think people won't do it either.

We've had some clarification on what the rules are on visiting friends and family for people in Tier 2 areas of England.

BBC health correspondent Catherine Burns says: "It's going to be illegal for people from these high-risk areas like London to visit the homes of people in lower risk areas.

"That will also apply to meeting them inside pubs and restaurants."

This does not mean you cannot see others - but such visits will have to be restricted to outdoor spaces, or gardens.

Those in Tier 2 are allowed to meet as many as five other people in someone else's private garden - but not if they have to go through their house to get to it.

"This is something that is stricter than it used to be," said our health correspondent. "You might remember in England, earlier this summer when the lockdown was starting to be eased, people were allowed to walk through homes quickly to go to gardens.

"They were even allowed to nip in and use the loo. I called the Department of Health and Social care today to check and they have said that is no longer the case."

Anyone who thinks that the vast majority of humans can exist happily and healthily devoid of meaningful human contact for an extended and indefinite period is lacking in some human qualities such as empathy. Should OP get an inflatable doll to hug to pretend it's a human as she zooms?

Plus unlike spring, the weather is too uncomfortable for lots of walks and small talk with aquaintences, and everyone is done to death on Zoom so there'll be far less family Zoom quiz malarky.

I don't think it's on the cards for England, but with this shit storm never say never.

Shit rules/ laws with little purpose deserve to be defied. As long as people meekly accept shit after shit, the governments will keep shitting on us (while doing their own thing)

Solitary confinement is about the final resort saved for the most dangerous of the prison population. It should never be enforced upon civilians.

By June, despite living with DH and two DCs, I ended up getting to the stage of random sobbing. Contantly peopled out by someone blathering about Minecraft/ Pokemon/ WW2 weaponary/ economics, and totally socially understimulated by prolonged lack of exposure to people beyond my household. While I was touched out from children with a high need for physical contact, it's the opposite side of being off balance because you have none. Ultimately not having your social needs met at either end of the scale is mentally damaging. My 7yo was showing signs of stress/ depression because his only contact with another child for 3 months was his autistic sibling; it passed when playgrounds opened and he could interract with children again.

Covid will not be the only killer this autumn/ winter.
Loneliness will be too.
Unlike many Covid* cases, loneliness is entirely preventable.

*If Covid was entirely preventable, so would other killers like norovirus and flu.

I suggest those saying the rules are shit - actually read them in full with exceptions - plus its not the PM fault that Scotland and Wales want to complicate things even further.

Look at what is happening in Czek republic - their health system is on the brink of collapse as are their factories . Not through the rules ( they do have them) but the sudden rise in cases .

its really scary .

Can the OP not see others as the support bubble thing?

I don’t blame you at all, it’s very important, but I think they will keep support bubbles.

@Orangeblossom7777

Can the OP not see others as the support bubble thing?

Yes, single person households can have a support bubble if one is available to them and the OP is in one. Her concerns are more what happens if that policy chnages, which hopefully it won't.

@Orangeblossom7777

Just seen this in BBC. Think people won't do it either.

We've had some clarification on what the rules are on visiting friends and family for people in Tier 2 areas of England.

BBC health correspondent Catherine Burns says: "It's going to be illegal for people from these high-risk areas like London to visit the homes of people in lower risk areas.

"That will also apply to meeting them inside pubs and restaurants."

This does not mean you cannot see others - but such visits will have to be restricted to outdoor spaces, or gardens.

Those in Tier 2 are allowed to meet as many as five other people in someone else's private garden - but not if they have to go through their house to get to it.

"This is something that is stricter than it used to be," said our health correspondent. "You might remember in England, earlier this summer when the lockdown was starting to be eased, people were allowed to walk through homes quickly to go to gardens.

"They were even allowed to nip in and use the loo. I called the Department of Health and Social care today to check and they have said that is no longer the case."

My daughter lives in a mid terrace home. So that would mean I can't see her in her garden at all.

It's ridiculous. It's a teeny tiny cottage with just one room (open plan living room/kitchen) downstairs and I can walk through it (wearing a mask) in five seconds.