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?

You could have said the same about Norfolk in the first wave, other than a couple of smaller breakouts in meat factories.

You know what changed? Students came back. Going from Tier 1 pre lockdown 2 to tier 2 next month.

I went to Cornwall for half term and they were saying the high UV levels were keeping the R number down

I live in Cornwall and have a few thoughts about this.
I recognise how rural some parts of this county are, but much the same can be said of parts of Wales and Yorkshire. Cornwall isn’t all rural, so I don’t really see the difference.

In my opinion, most people on the whole, are sticking to guidelines here.
I’ve spoken to loads of people all over the U.K. via social media and have heard tales of school buses not enforcing masks, people pushing and shoving in supermarkets etc.
That hasn’t been my experience at all here. On the whole, people ARE sticking to social distancing etc.

Ha ha. Where i live had the 3rd lowest numbers in the country last week (and reduced our numbers by half over 2 weeks), we still got put in tier 2. But hey, somehow we're naughty little boys and girls that don't follow the rules

Cornwall had a really large outbreak over a month or so ago in a factory and many in the area had it. Since then gone down. Only one major place - Truro and that is small.

Devon is mainly the same but dragged into Tier 2 due to Exeter and Plymouth university cases of covid meaning the numbers are high in those areas. Lots of rural areas though.

You cannot compare Cornwall to the rest of the country. Much more isolated and sparsely populated.

I'm trying to think of the similarities between the West Midlands and Cornwall.

So far I've identified that I can buy clotted cream easily enough.

We're all trying our best, OP, government incompetence notwithstanding. Looking out for our neighbours, as we have been doing here too, isn't the magic ingredient.

@Henlie

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?

Nothing much happened in the summer when people came down on holiday. Loads of people saying it would "rip through" the county.

As far as people down here saying it's down to the high UV levels (that's all a bit Trump isn't it), all I'll say to that is, I wonder if that was a select few of our more "local" inhabitants 🤔

Only one major place - Truro and that is small.

Interestingly St Austell has a larger population than Truro.

I think the peninsular nature of Cornwall helps, there are other areas which are equally rural but don't have the peninsularity.

East Suffolk is super low but we have been dumped in a 2 because we are a travel corridor apparently

@Bookaholic73

I live in Cornwall and have a few thoughts about this. I recognise how rural some parts of this county are, but much the same can be said of parts of Wales and Yorkshire. Cornwall isn’t all rural, so I don’t really see the difference.

In my opinion, most people on the whole, are sticking to guidelines here.
I’ve spoken to loads of people all over the U.K. via social media and have heard tales of school buses not enforcing masks, people pushing and shoving in supermarkets etc.
That hasn’t been my experience at all here. On the whole, people ARE sticking to social distancing etc.

Yes, this is the perception, that they've followed the rules well and the community spirit is strong there. The Cornwall folk who've posted on here are a modest bunch and won't want to say it.

There's other factors as well like population density. I don't buy the argument of 'well it's by the sea'. So is Hull.

Goady thread. The fucking internet is full of these faux ignorant wind up merchants.

Cornish posters are too humbled admit the reason for the lower rates?

@borageforager

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

This, totally.

Are you Cornish op? Or a Cornophile?

It's a rural population. That's the single most important factor.

It's not that it's 'by the sea' , it's that it's 'surrounded by the sea on three sides'. I imagine the fact that we're relatively cut off from the rest of the country is working in our favour (see also the Isle of Wight, though obviously they are more cut off!).

I live in Cornwall. I haven't been out of Cornwall since February so I can't comment on how we're dealing with things down here compared with upcountry. I imagine that like anywhere else we've got people who are being very compliant and others who aren't. I think the things that perhaps make things different down here are 1. our relative geographic isolation, 2. fairly rural, no very large cities, 3. (perhaps) people being mindful of our relatively limited hospital capacity at Treliske, 4. (perhaps) relatively outdoors-y lifestyles of many people in Cornwall. I disagree with the previous poster who suggested it's because Cornwall is affluent - parts of Cornwall are among the most deprived areas in the whole of the EU (though obviously there are some affluent bits too).

I think our council and our NHS have done a pretty good job throughout, but no idea how that compares to the rest of the country really.

@borageforager

Cornish posters are too humbled admit the reason for the lower rates?

There is no secret to it, you just eat a Ginsters pasty, if you have covid and it finds out you've eaten one of those, it vacates your body rapidly!!

I suspect OP knows all this very well (or is at least capable of some critical thought)

It’s just goady bullshit, not sure of the reason

@MarchionessofActon

Are you Cornish op? Or a Cornophile?

I'm not Cornish. It is my favourite place from childhood

It's not that it's 'by the sea' , it's that it's 'surrounded by the sea on three sides'. I imagine the fact that we're relatively cut off from the rest of the country is working in our favour (see also the Isle of Wight, though obviously they are more cut off!).

Yeah, i'm sure it helps. The Islands (Mann and Wight etc) have found it easier.

We are lucky to be rural with low population density. But there has also been a fear that the local hospital won’t cope and I haven’t spotted many people without masks when I’ve been out and about.

You mean retired, living rurally in low population density housing and maybe spending more time outside than you would in the North cos its not so bloody cold?

How exactly does someone age 29, who works as a teacher, living in a flat in Manchester manage to 'live more like someone in Cornwall'?

Just curious.

What are you on about? Cornwall is one of the most deprived areas in Northern Europe. Truro has had regular anti-lockdown, anti-mask protests. Camborne and Redruth have had significant outbreaks.

The common theme here is posters saying it's down to population density (160 per km2) well the following are lower:
Wiltshire 153
Dorset 142
East Riding Yorkshire 141
Rutland 104
Shropshire 100
Cumbria 74

Personally I think it's more to do with the large number of tourists in the summer (tripling the population) that then led to high infection rates over the summer that then led to greater "herd immunity" in the winter. That and the fact the second home owners are finally getting the message they're not bleddy welcome. Kernow bys vyken.