Any sign of a lockdown round your way? Cos there isn’t one here.

[Generalconfusion]

I’m in England. This morning the school run was the usual massive slog through traffic. Not just other school run parents, lots of people who looked like they were driving to work. Taxis. Full buses. Not one tiny bit quieter. At lunchtime I went for a prescription and town was bustling. People chatting in groups. Town has lots of shops like Poundland, the Range, B&M - all packed. No cafes but groups of teens from the secondary schools and uni sat on walls and steps in the square having lunch. Tonight - fireworks at the neighbours where a group are having a bonfire gathering - maybe 8? My kids were in school today in large so-called bubbles of several hundred each.

This isn’t going to work.

Actually looking at the list of permitted reasons to leave the house, there's nothing in there that would apply at all, other than potentially visiting people in my support bubble and I don't have one. It doesn't even mention leaving the house to exercise which is a bit worrying.

Ignoringequally if you don't want to respond to me don't. Please don't engage and then vent your frustration

And why should I make my own bloody mind up? Surely the guidelines are there to tell me what to do!

Traffic very busy yesterday with lots of parents dropping off completely able-bodied secondary school children in cars grrr! Not a necessary journey in my opinion. The catchment is so small they could all walk. Those that were walking were walking in groups of more than two even though they are over the age of criminal responsibility.

DH and myself are still going into work. Gym cancelled for DH and my exercise class in local hall. We can work around exercise by hill walking, cycling, online exercise class. Surprised to see The Factory Shop open - good for me though as it'll save trudging across town to buy a vacuum cleaner on click and collect, as it packed up yesterday. People locally very good with SD, living within restrictions which helps keep our numbers down.

@StealthPolarBear The legislation most definitely does mention exercise.

@StealthPolarBear

And why should I make my own bloody mind up? Surely the guidelines are there to tell me what to do!

The law is there to tell you what to do.

@StealthPolarBear use your common sense. What risk is there driving 20 mins to something that is outdoors?? None.

Enjoy!

Specific purposes to leave hone
Work and volunteering
Essential activities (talks about shoppinhg)
Fulfilling legal obligations
Education and childcare
Meeting others and care (visiting support bubbles, provide care for vulnerable people). This mentions exercise but in the context of meeting others for exercise.

Pretty normal here. I ccommute to work by train. Numbers the same. But it would be. Everyone who could wfh already is I think. And the numbers are a massihe reduction on normal times.
Dd3 went to school
Non essetrial shops shut on our little high street but since lockdown 1 our high street has reinvented itself away from tourist town to old fashionew high street with butcher, baker, greegrocer, brewery shop etc so they are all open.

Very different from last time. The roads were really quiet last time but are normal now. People aren't out exercising like last time. Jogging, cycling, walking. More like business as usual

Apologies I missed two

Medical reasons, harm, compassionate visits
Events (prayer, funerals)

Leaving home to exercise is covered in regulation 6 which allows you to exercise alone, with your household and with one person from another household. I suspect the regulations cover more than the guidance does.

I left the house at 7am to make the 30 mile journey to work up the motorway to start at 8am. ( Work in supported housing with those with mental health issues)
It was as rammed as ever, so not school run as too early around here in SE, this is just people going about their daily business. Maybe they were all essential workers?
I don't know anyone who has been told to work from home who could do so but had already returned to an office
The town where I work was packed with teenagers from school / college standing around eating takeaway burgers and then at 3pm everything became rammed on the roads again with the school runs
So the only difference I could see was that I couldn't go to Primark

Thabks, so guidance is misleading and legislation is most helpful.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1200/pdfs/uksi202012000_en.pdf

Finally managed to do a link to the regulations. The guidance isn't misleading but it is summarising the regulations and focusing on those areas where more guidance is likely to be necessary so how things are intended to be interpreted.

Legislation is what the police will be (hopefully anyway) acting on.

Schools are open.
Most businesses are open.
Construction and trades are fully operating.
A lot of shops, takeaways are open
Restaurants, cafes and pubs are doing takeaways.
Estate agents, garden centres, garages, banks, dentists open etc etc.
Lots of things being delivered.
Otherwise the economy will tank.

Plus people supporting other people, shopping, exercising, walking their dogs etc.
Busy as it should be.

@StealthPolarBear it says exercise. Going to a national trust for a walk would be classed as exercise. They cannot list every place because people have common sense!

Go for the walk 😂

I wish I could drive my dog to a lake for a walk.
In France we can't go further than 1 km from home for exercise. The gendarmes were sat at the roundabout yesterday checking our forms. I was just popping to my nearest supermarket. It's a €135. fine if you are out with no valid reason.

@StealthPolarBear

Thabks, so guidance is misleading and legislation is most helpful.

I've had exactly the same thoughts as you. A local massive country park is open but a ten minute drive away. We were unsure if we were allowed to travel to it.

@StealthPolarBear Normally guidance should explain the legislation, not the other way round!

I was working in central London yesterday and it was absolutely dead,apart from a demo in Trafalgar Sq!

I didn't even see any protesters whereas usually Charing X/Strand would be busy with a demo on.

It was also really dark as no lights from shops etc.

Not sure about my local area yet...

Early on, the guidance was a lot stricter than law. Unfortunately, some police forces were enforcing guidance so fines will have been handed out for none offences.

It was a shock to see police behaving without understanding of the law.

8 months on, I hope everyone now understands the difference and these mistakes won't be happening.

You can go to anything that’s open (shop / public space) if it’s reasonably necessary. I think that’s the wording used from memory. You can get a takeaway if it’s reasonably necessary. For some people it’s never necessary but others don’t have time or cooking facilities. I think the average man on the Clapham Omnibus might take a more middle ground on that and consider a fortnightly or monthly takeaway or on your birthday is okay. Police if there are any around to enforce it will likely just give words of advice on the first occasion if you’ve overstepped a line and I think it would be hard to clamp down hard on people getting takeaways, for example, when these things are open. If you take the opposite approach and thought about if the law said you had to go to the gym as often as reasonably practicable going every day for five minutes wouldn’t cut it. I would have thought police would only be concerned with what was obviously not reasonably necessary.

But that is just my personal opinion.