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?

There's certainly no universities up this end of Cornwall!

I've seen both Grockle and Emmet used as very derogatory terms on local social media. It's a shame.

@FuzzyPuffling

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

That doesn’t include the Uni of Exeter student population which has a campus at Penryn, that is just the Falmouth University population. There are a lot more students attending Exeter at Penryn

That doesn’t include the Uni of Exeter student population which has a campus at Penryn, that is just the Falmouth University population. There are a lot more students attending Exeter at Penryn

Agreed. But probably not 10 times as many.

@FuzzyPuffling no that’s true. My only uni experience is Penryn campus and Pymouth so they always seemed huge to me!

We have a huge university in Falmouth with loads of students!
I was responding to this.

If I lived in one of the main tourist towns in Devon/Cornwall I think I'd want either some form of national lockdown or tighter controls on people travelling for holidays.

I live in another tourist area close to several tier 3 areas. There has been a huge increase in the number of weekend visitors since tier 3 restrictions nearby started. Unsurprisingly the number of Covid cases in my area is increasing (we've just gone up to tier 2). One of the big problems with this is the only hospital locally is for in-patient clinics etc only and our nearest proper hospitals are all in high risk areas so already getting full. Another issue is that our schools are fairly small so it only takes a couple of teachers to be off (either ill or isolating) and the whole school has to close. I would not wish the same on the rural areas of the South West.

At the Devon end of Cornwall, everyone has to use the hospitals in Plymouth. Most of our cases have been in two recent outbreaks at HMS Raleigh. Lots of young people from all over the country arriving for training on a regular basis, what could possibly go wrong ? They can lock the gates and quarantine the Naval personnel, but quite a few locals work in supporting roles there and are definitely travelling to and from the base.

Interesting. When we lived in Cornwall (late 70s), 'tourists' were always grockles! My parents (who now live in Somerset, via Devon) still use it.....

Cases are rising in Cornwall. We won’t continue to be so lucky. Especially with both the half-term tourists and the local idiots. An friend of mine had to send a child home from a childcare facility as the parents had sent their child in with Covid like symptoms. It’s selfish twats like these that mean lockdowns are inevitable. I’m also pissed off that people are allowed to come on holiday from tier 3 areas, where is the sense in that?

4cats2kids it’s bonkers isn’t it? Not only is it absolutely ridiculous that there are no restrictions on people travelling from high risk level areas (in England anyway) it just reinforces the view that the rules are completely optional and encourages more people to break them.

It's a bad luck situation for Cornwall isn't it. Nowhere in the country gets to be exceptionalist about this, it's going to be everywhere. I don't want people from Tier 3 to visit my village either, but I can't stop them, and nor can anyone else.

Did Cornwall & Devon have lots of tourists all summer from higher case areas -- and yet C&D stubbornly remained low prevalence.

Yeh cos it's only Outsiders who travel to Cornwall... Nobody who lives there ever leaves - to visit friends and family elsewhere in the UK or holidays abroad...

Cornwall is indeed at much lower risk than big cities like London and Liverpool - because viruses spread quickly and easily in areas of dense population.

However some albeit lower risk remains, and without national restrictions there's nothing stopping locals from travelling in and out - bringing back an unwelcome souvenir in the form of Covid.

Professor Devi Sridhar, scientific expert advising the Scottish government explains:

Europe paying for summer holidays with winter lockdowns.

theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/30/coronavirus-strain-from-spain-accounts-for-most-uk-cases-study

@lljkk

Did Cornwall & Devon have lots of tourists all summer from higher case areas -- and yet C&D stubbornly remained low prevalence.

More spaced out housing, more rural than many other parts of the UK. Makes the spread of a virus harder. So lower risk (but that doesn't mean no risk).

sheepandcow I think it varies from place to place. I’m in a fishing town with houses piled on top of each other and a harbour that was shoulder to shoulder in the summer. We’ve still only had 3 cases in the town. Not sure if that’s due to people catching it here but not getting sick until they got home and locals sticking to the quieter places though. It’s odd.

I read somewhere (can't remember where) that Covid was worse in more polluted areas. I guess a fishing town has less pollution than a big city? We used to put the TB hospitals by the sea for the benefits of sea air.

Perhaps also people in Cornwall are sticking more strictly to guidelines?