Do we all just need to be more like the Cornish?

[User158340]

Cornwall in tier 1 and have coped admirably with the pandemic.

There's the perception that they're just much better rule followers in Cornwall, but is it just a better sense of community and they look out for each other more.

Is it wrong to say other parts of the country could learn a lot from Cornwall and the way the leaders and the people there have handled this pandemic?

What is far more significant is that it’s a much more rural population living far more dispersed. IMO.

I live in Cornwall. Have you ever been there? It takes absolutely ages to get to and it surrounded on three sides by sea, so harder for covid to get in. It doesn't really have much in the way of cities, its only city is more like a medium sized town, so population density isn't as much an issue. It's also very white and relatively wealthy, a 'second homes' kind of place, although there are certainly pockets of extreme deprivation as well and a large elderly population.

We also have only one main hospital for the whole county. I am fully expecting to be put into tier 2 on the 16th when they review it. If not then, then post Christmas.

In terms of masks most people do wear them ins hops but I have seen loads of groups of teens and young people gathering before lockdown totally shitting all over the rule of 6. I don't think the Cornish are magically more rule abiding than other people, it's due to the factors above combined.

@RhubarbTea

This makes sense, thanks. I read an article recently about how well they'd followed the rules there compared to other areas and the local leaders had done such a good job getting the messages across and other areas could learn much from Cornwall. Then i'd seen today they'd be placed in tier 1 which bore that out.

I think we can overlook the affect demographics, topography and density plays in this pandemic.

How does ‘looking out for each other’ (which is not a phenomenon exclusive to Cornwall) drive down the R number OP?

Don’t be silly. It’s lack of infrastructure, position of the county (surrounded by sea for a lot of it) rural remoteness and a sense of big cities/towns.

Now what about this can other counties take and learn from, exactly?

Sorry, that should say ‘absence’ not ‘sense of’

One short border with a county with relatively low infection rates
No cities
No big towns
Rural, dispersed population
No massive employers/factories
No indoor shopping malls
No (open) airports
No major rail or road infrastructure - end of the line only.
Crap nightlife
Hardly any public transport
Warmer weather means people can be outdoors more

We're not doing anything differently, it's just a function of our geography and rurality.

@RhymesWithOrange

One short border with a county with relatively low infection rates No cities No big towns Rural, dispersed population No massive employers/factories No indoor shopping malls No (open) airports No major rail or road infrastructure - end of the line only. Crap nightlife Hardly any public transport Warmer weather means people can be outdoors more

We're not doing anything differently, it's just a function of our geography and rurality.

This

the only possible reason we'd get more infections down here is because our population is older than average. Which also explains most of the above

@MarchionessofActon

How does ‘looking out for each other’ (which is not a phenomenon exclusive to Cornwall) drive down the R number OP?

Don’t be silly. It’s lack of infrastructure, position of the county (surrounded by sea for a lot of it) rural remoteness and a sense of big cities/towns.

Now what about this can other counties take and learn from, exactly?

@RhubarbTea has modestly explained well how there's other factors in play for Cornwall's success and it's not necessarily down to obedience and community spirit.

Cornwall isn't the only area bordered by sea though in the UK.

Yes Teens are doing exactly the same where I live too ,the difference is I live close to Bolton town centre which is as far from rural as you can get so understandably our rates are much higher .

@borageforager

What is far more significant is that it’s a much more rural population living far more dispersed. IMO.

This

Yes, as RhymesWithOrange points out although Devon has been placed in tier 2, the bits of it bordering with Cornwall (except Plymouth obvs) also have low rates.

Yes, and pointed out the same things in my post

I was just confused as to what being ‘more like the Cornish’ meant and how that might work if you lived in say, a London borough.

What @RhubarbTea has said to be honest.

I'd question who you mean by Leaders though. Leader/Deputy Leader of the Council I assume you mean.

Also just one pretty small university which has halls

Devon has more towns including Plymouth and Exeter (city), Cornwall is more rural, though I’m putting it down to them putting jam in their scones before the cream and the secret ingredient in their pasties 😁

Cornwall only has one university, doesn’t it? Falmouth?

Surely the numbers will start going up when people head down to Cornwall to spend Christmas in their ‘second home’? And students head back to their family homes?

Cornwall is benefitting from the whole county being rural. I live in a rural area and our rates per 100,000 are lower than Cornwall’s and our hospitals aren’t overrun. We’re tier 2 because the tiers have been determined based on county boundaries so any county with an urban area will be tier 2. The lack of investment in the SW meaning there are no large urban areas is a blessing for Cornwall. Although, given their limited hospital infrastructure, which is deemed to be one of the criteria for assessing tiers, I would have imagined they’d be higher.

I don’t know. Bude Haven secondary school is closed due to covid outbreak.

More cases per 100,000 than us and we are in tier 2. I don’t understand.

I live on the border. Devon and Cornwall have fewer people living in densely populated areas. We also all live in castles that are extremely well ventilated, so there's that.

Is this OP serious? Do you honestly think that the reason that Covid is a less serious problem in Cornwall is because the people there 'look out for each other' rather than because the population density is far far lower than in most other parts of the country or are you just trolling?

@borageforager

Cornwall only has one university, doesn’t it? Falmouth?

Cornwall has two universities, Falmouth which has two campuses - in Falmouth and Penryn - and University of Exeter which share the Penryn campus and has a medical school at Truro hospital.

All are pretty small by national standards and have had very low COVID infection rates.

Wouldn’t bloody matter if we were, the government would still put us into tier 3. I don’t know what more they bloody us to do...

We were in Cornwall in the summer. There was no difference really in the behaviour and precautions being taken there than in my home town in Surrey.

Some places were excellent in the care being taken and some not. (The landlady hugging and kissing all her regular customers was a bit unexpected and caused us to leave her pub garden very quickly).

What they do have that we don't is lots of space and open areas. The fresh air from the sea is probably pretty healthy too. Other areas are much more densely populated and the Covid rates reflect that.