Central London yesterday

[LadyEloise]

I saw photos of scenes in central London yesterday- Regent's Street and outside Harrods
I was gobsmacked.
Unbelievable to think that is acceptable when so many are sick and dying of Covid19.

Front line workers are putting their lives on the line.

And the 4 people arrested: maybe they were behaving antisocially, maybe they were shoplifters...?

Two of the arrests were for breach of covid reguiations and the other two for affray

It looked quite a bad incident. Harrods had had to close its doors (overcrowding, usually only happens at the very start of the January sales) and the pavements were dangerously full. It wasn't just 'typical London' by quite a margin

Stay at home has ended.

Mixing in groups of 6 still applies outdoors. SD or mitigation's.

Groups of 600 crammed into a small space with no masks isn't part of guidance as it poses it risk.

I went Xmas shopping yesterday. Masks etc and queuing in households on the spots outside.

It still felt busy and I did think what city centres must be like.

@SquirmOfEels

Huge crowds in Knightsbridge yesterday (that pedestrianised bit at the side of Harrods was basically full, no room to get through)

Police called to disperse, and 4 people arrested

That's not just 'lots of shoppers'

Do you mean there was some kind of plan behind the gathering?

That did occur to me but with the November lockdown, it was predictable.

I haven't seen anything that suggested it was a plan.

Just an atypically large and densely-packed crowd which wouldnt disperse and within which were breaches of covid rules bad enough to be arrestable

I think medics are rather more worried about transmission in crowds when it's cool and damp, as opposed to during spring/summer months

I believe there were proven instances of outdoor transmission in Germany at the carnivals just before first lockdown. Those will have been VERY closely packed crowds and a key difference is that they will have been shouting and singing which we now know to increase risk.

I believe there were proven instances of outdoor transmission in Germany at the carnivals just before first lockdown

SAGE list of "superspreading events" classifies the super spreading event at the Gangelt carnival as "indoor":

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c9jwMyT1lw2P0d6SDTno6nHLGMtpheO9xJyGHgdBoco/edit#gid=1812932356

(line 268)

Apparently, it was traced that most of the transmissions happened indoors in bars and at concerts.

Plus cold weather too

It was apparently planned by a certain minority group. They have done it in previous years and I believe it is to ‘over run’ shop security in Harrods. Especially as there are high ticket goods to be had and multiple entrances and exits.

I was in Harrods yesterday afternoon, the shop itself was empty. Avoided the lifts, used the staircases around the edges of the building rather than the central escalators. We went to a museum in Kensington, deserted.

This was an organised event and is apparently traditional on the first weekend of December.

Everyone I saw in museums and in shops were wearing masks, London itself is a lot more quiet than usual because of the lack of tourists.

The lack of masks in the crowds in the pictures are worrying.

yes it was packed around Covent Garden, first time I've seen it that busy since the start of all this. multiple packs of teenage boys causing traffic chaos on rented bikes too.

@user1471588124

What do people think is going to happen when lockdown means no one has been able to go shopping for ages? Of course everyone goes at once, especially when new restrictions are always a risk.

IMO they should have closed bars pubs and restaurants but kept shops open. It will be far worse now with crowds and people panic buying then it would have been with a gentle trickle of people over the weeks.

@itsgettingweird

I commented on the lockdown in Jan thread that I think well already be at those levels by Christmas after seeing those scenes.

If people are willing to behave that way in public I fear for the behind closed doors scenes of Xmas and NY.

And I'm sad for the selfishness of some humans.

I know. It’s not like most things can’t be ordered online.

January is going to be very grim, not just in numbers but businesses not surviving as I can’t see how there won’t be another lockdown.

I can’t see how there won’t be another lockdown.

If parliament don't pass it, perhaps?

My friend was there and it was not this packed and the media manipulate it

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss that’s totally irrelevant that things can be ordered online. There’s more to life than sitting at a computer to do everything.

As the stats before showed retail, restaurants etc are way down the list of places where people are getting infected.

A friend posted a photo from snowdon. Lots of people, in the background there too. Acting like it's normal. No masks. It really winds me up.

This was not 'normal shoppers'.
It is not one of the usual threads about people gathering in one place.

metro.co.uk/2020/12/06/hundreds-of-maskless-young-people-try-to-storm-harrods-13708172/

Photos can always be taken from Certian angles to make crowding seem much worse than it is....

@Forgetmenot157

Photos can always be taken from Certian angles to make crowding seem much worse than it is....

A choice of angles in the above article.

Some of those people might have been frontline workers. I know one who was at the Nottingham Christmas market yesterday. I don't get why people think all frontline workers are staying in their homes, they're just as likely as anyone else to be out and about.

Yes, out of all of my friends they have been the ones out and about more than anyone, and I don't blame them. They aren't all one homogeneous mass quivering at home, or working with Covid patients.

We went out to Salisbury today .Free parking so lots of people there .Had lunch at M and S and were asked for details upon entry.No probs and everyone was distanced properly .We have all been indoors and now have Cabin Fever!

I am actually quite tired of social media complaints about "outdoor crowds without masks".

Yes, there is some risk of transmission but unless everyone is hugging, kissing, shouting or singing, it is highly unlikely to turn into a super spreading event. People are much safer in the streets than indoors.

Interestingly, the latest research on effectiveness of COVID restrictions shows that mass events are actually safer than "smaller gatherings" (birthday parties, weddings, etc). The latter are usually held indoors and are indeed fuel to fire for COVID spread.

I agree, I don’t think a lot of people on Snowdon is likely to be much of a problem from a covid point of view, though I am sure there is lots of litter and inconsiderate parking.

The local ITV evening news has just st shown footage of Oxford Street which looked like its normal pre-Christmas level of extremely busy with pavements that are basically full.

But enough space for people to keep moving (slowly!) which I think is the difference to what happened in Knightsbridge (different kind of space, full, impassable)

@itsgettingaberrylikechristmas

A friend posted a photo from snowdon. Lots of people, in the background there too. Acting like it's normal. No masks. It really winds me up.

Why would people be wearing masks in an open space? It's not required and defeats the purpose of being out in the fresh air.

And presumably your friend was among those 'lots of people' given that she was taking photographs there?