I don't understand why locking down Cornwall would help

[avenueq]

So tier 3 measures aren't working, I get that. But why would things get better if you shut down areas with very small numbers?

Because that is where everyone flocked to last time we locked down?

Did they? In March?

It’s not so much to keep people in, but to keep people out.

It stops everyone travelling to their 2nd homes like what happened in the first lockdown - everyone running away from their London flats to ensure themselves some fresh air, conveniently ignoring the fact that Cornwall has much worse infrastructure to cope with a big spike.

Also with people being forced to stay in the UK for holidays it means they’ve all chosen places like the West Country and the Peak/Lake Districts for their hols.

Cornwall is very very busy at the moment. Lots of visitors from all over the country, and definitely from T2 and 3 areas. Many are refusing to abide by the rules, not mask wearing etc, and there is certainly an attitude of "there's no covid down here" amongst some tourists.

Rates are rising rapidly and the R rate may be over 3.

If people moved down to Cornwall during the last lockdown, why will the next lockdown prevent people moving down to Cornwall?

You always here that Cornwall / Devon are rammed and tourists everywhere etc not distancing, but cases there are still low. Wonder why? (Genuinely do, not being goady)

No huge towns, no universities, rural and spread out population, local communities staying put...

@MaudesMum

If people moved down to Cornwall during the last lockdown, why will the next lockdown prevent people moving down to Cornwall?

Because if all the attractions close it will be a less attractive holiday destination. People will still come but it may control the numbers.

@BusterTheBulldog

You always here that Cornwall / Devon are rammed and tourists everywhere etc not distancing, but cases there are still low. Wonder why? (Genuinely do, not being goady)

Because a lot of people will go for a week, be exposed, but then not show any symptoms until they come home - they would be counted in their home region numbers.

Because we only have something like 15 ICU beds in the whole county for starters.

I am pretty convinced the cases being captured by testing in Cornwall don't represent the whole picture in the county, as well. 2257 cases have been detected in Cornwall, but there have been 209 deaths. That's a pretty extraordinarily high death rate!

That said, if Cornwall was an isolated country, who could easily keep the rest of the UK out, we might not need to lock down right now. But we aren't, and we can't. Cases are rising here- the number of new cases last week had nearly doubled compared to the week before that. Thinking of ourselves as "safe" is not helpful.

I do think not having any major cities and having a population that is quite spread out and doesn't rely on public transport (because it is crap) is probably helping to keep our infection rate lower than some other areas, though.

Thanks @Dyrne, I get that, but surely they would infect local shop, cafe, bar workers too though?

Because unless the fully lockdown the whole country & have everyone following the same rules for a short, sharp period they’ll not get decent compliance. There will be ‘well, they don’t have to do it so I’m not’ mentality. Plus people will travel into none locked down areas from locked down ones to get away from it. Isn’t Cornwall full of second homes? Much like the north of the country had to lockdown with everyone in March when cases weren’t so bad. Similarly, the south of the country now need to support the north for a short bit of time.

I would have thought a better idea would be to restrict travel, like Sweden did at the start and then go for local lockdowns. Or a national one with some places coming out of it earlier than others but still maintaining travel restrictions.

You can then get the places that aren’t yet a big problem under control quickly and divert resources to places that need more.

Wales are in a national lockdown even though cases where I am in the middle are very low. I can only assume that they thought that if they didn't do it nationally, then everyone from England would flock here over half term and put our rates up. We don't even have a district general hospital in the County where I live so no intensive care beds at all.

@FuzzyPuffling

Cornwall is very very busy at the moment. Lots of visitors from all over the country, and definitely from T2 and 3 areas. Many are refusing to abide by the rules, not mask wearing etc, and there is certainly an attitude of "there's no covid down here" amongst some tourists.

Rates are rising rapidly and the R rate may be over 3.

Really? I was there last week and the cases were falling. That’s a very sharp rise.

I have family working on Devon/ Cornwall area. Reports are they are swamped again with holiday makers from higher infection areas.

The problem is, people arrive and think it's safe because they are away, and on holiday, the mask usage falls as they think rates aren't so bad in the countryside. Forgetting that THEY are the risk to the people in Cornwall.

I think stopping people entering for a bit will slow the spread.

I’m in a very touristy town in Devon where cases are still very low. This is despite the second homes being full of people, many from high risk areas (I run a company that manages second homes while the owners are away, I’m not just guessing). A lot of these second home owners are retired but generally quite active - lots of dog walking, plenty of countryside/ beach walks where they are unlikely to come into contact with other people. Obviously all the cafes and bars are still open and many people are still going there so I’m not sure why cases aren’t rising to the extent that they are in other places.

@FuzzyPuffling

No huge towns, no universities, rural and spread out population, local communities staying put...

I obviously dreamed the universities in Exeter, Plymouth and Falmouth...

..and clearly everyone west of the Devon/Somerset border never travels anywhere.

It's not even that rural anymore, have you seen how many houses are being built on green field sites? There won't be any countryside for people to flock to visit soon.

There will be people there on holiday because it's half term. Once schools go back the numbers will drop off again.

Exeter and Plymouth are in Devon, not Cornwall. And Falmouth isn't as big a University as may up country.

It is definitely rural where I live! You'll have to trust me on that one! Sure, if you're in the middle of Truro it might not feel rural, but it is not the same as the huge conurbations of London, the West Midlands or Greater Manchester.

And it is busier this week than a normal October Half term. Ask the local cafe owners, RNLI etc.

We are in Cornwall now, having come from Kent. Our case numbers were lower at home than where we are currently - before we arrived anyway. We have walked on the beach and the cliff paths and avoided people. I offered to cancel our pub booking for Sunday lunch last week, not wanting to be a grockle, but they asked me not to and said they were more than happy to have our custom. There don't seem to have been hordes of people, everyone is wearing masks and being respectful of each other. I think that once half term is over, the numbers are bound to fall again because of the rural nature of most of the county. I cant see that locking Cornwall down now will do much tbh.

paniode1 you’d be an emmet in Cornwall

@FuzzyPuffling

No huge towns, no universities, rural and spread out population, local communities staying put...

No universities? We have a huge university in Falmouth with loads of students! Plus Cornwall College which does university courses and has both national and international students who come and live locally. And all of the towns/the city have been packed for ages. St Ives, Newquay, Falmouth, Truro...we have struggled to go places for months on end because you just can’t get to certain places on certain days. Not complaining, just pointing out that it isn’t this quiet sleepy place that some people seem to think.

A lot of us who live here don’t get it either. We have had our busiest summer and we never had a break. Tourist places I know of (some, not all) are having their busiest October half term on record. What the result will be, who knows, but it will be interesting to see.

not wanting to be a grockle,
You'd be an emmet in Cornwall, if people were so disposed to use derogatory slang terms!

Student numbers for comparison...
University of Falmouth, 6,425
Nottingham and Trent combined, over 66,000

The University of Plymouth and Exeter do both have colleges in Cornwall.

fuzzypuffling grockles and emmets aren’t usually used to be derogatory, people just take it that way for some reason.