So has your area 'locked down'?

[Testingisajoke]

I know the economy needs to function, however where I live roads are busy, industrial estates are exactly the same (minimal SD, lots of sharing vans etc) so if this is necessary to keep the economy going how long is lockdown going to be?

Last time it was months of no school, no seeing people etc and the roads were empty for weeks as was the industrial estate, I can't see when it will end with all the mixing.

I think I'd rather give up my liberties for 4 weeks then this dragging for months and months.

Don't know, haven't been out. I am going out in a bit as I need to pop into the office before they lock it up again.

School (secondary) car park is quite full, so there must be a fair few teachers in. (I can see that from the back bedroom window)

Our online schooling starts tomorrow for primary school.

My work is open and pretty busy. Car sales can open via click and collect this time

The rules and available support are different this time. My brother was furloughed during the first lockdown, this time his company aren’t eligible for the furlough scheme. He can’t work from home, so he’s travelling to work this time around. Same for my FIL, he closed his business last time, so he wasn’t going right work. This time the grant that allowed him to close isn’t available, so he’s also travelling to work. I’ve just seen my neighbour out with her grandkids (childcare bubble, parents in the police). They got dropped off this morning. This was another journey that didn’t happen last time, because family childcare wasn’t allowed.

Plenty of traffic here but Lidl was very quiet

Wouldn't know, haven't been out. I can't work when schools are closed, so I'm just at home - not complaining as it was scaring me dealing with teenagers 1:1 in small spaces. (Not a teacher).

I should make myself go out fir a walk, but I'll go east & go see the cows /sheep rather than into the village

A friend I was talking to earlier had been to Costco & said it was really quiet - no queuing to get in it tills & the petrol station they usually use was very quiet, not the usual queue.

So hopefully lots of people are taking this seriously.

On the other hand I have a few friends who have had to go into the office despite them working from home in LD1 (and their companies doing well, them personally being thanked fir their work etc) presenteeism in action. Bloody ridiculous.

@Shehasadiamondinthesky

Haven't they got a really high rate of covid there?

Iv just brought my daughter to her cahms appointment and roads seem quieter but the towns busy with people and shops seem to he open mostly.

Less cars, less people in Tesco’s, a couple with kids but I assume that’s because they erm need food and have no childcare and most online learning will start properly tomorrow.

Roads loads quiter near me. I'm in Newcastle /Gateshead.

I was out to get a covid test BTW. Just for those policing.

I have driven four hrs from Cornwall to Bristol to take dsd to hospital for procedure. The roads are busiest I have ever seen since we started doing monthly trips in April..r.oads going south to Cornwall were very busy with what looked like quite a few families packed up and heading for second homes.. Sigh.

Well I've got to go shopping as I now need more food this week as the kids are off and online shop comes next week. If it wasn't for the fact I have a 17 year old who will look after the 2 younger ones while I go they'd have to come with me. It's not difficult to understand why children might be in supermarkets

I called into the supermarket earlier and it was rammed. Lots of parents/children wondering around.

Builders still working on next doors' kitchen/dining room knock through with no sign of masks etc. The lockdown will go on longer if people can't be arsed to even take simple precautions.

Those sort of activities won’t affect it much. It’s close contact that does most of the transmitting.

Journey to work this morning took 25 mins instead of the usual 40-45 mins! I took that as a positive sign

All the teaching assistants in the school where my mam works are expected to work their normal hours this time around too. She’ll be travelling as normal, last time she was only needed a couple of days a week.

I don't know as I haven't been anywhere today. I was out in a volunteering capacity yesterday and the roads were fairly quiet already (Tier 4) but not quite as deserted as in the first lockdown.

If employers are like my DH’s then there will still be the same amount of cars on the roads as they will be going to work. His are refusing to let them work from home, despite it being perfectly possible and productive.
And yes DH was productive when work allowed them to work at home for two months at the start of first lockdown. If DH drops the ball it would show up within only a couple of days because of the nature of his work.
His boss is just a dick who likes to control and also doesn’t give a shit about covid (judging by the Halloween parties, holidays, Christmas gatherings and short trips away with multiple households he’s had lately)

Very quiet around our way. Main roads with hardly any cars, no queue outside Waitrose.

The roads are dead near us, but when I took DD to the doctors this morning, there were huge queues outside all the banks!

I don't think people can really be knocked for being in the supermarket, it was all a bit of a last minute announcement and I'm sure there will be no shopping slots. Plus if they have young kids they can't really leave them at home while they buy food!

North west here

Quiet enough traffic wise although Tesco and Asda were both busy

I do think lots of people are going into work when they didn't at the start of the first lockdown. Those I know couldn't wfh but didn't go to work because their employers were doing risk assessments etc and they started back after a month or so.

Lots of walkers at the beach but thats been the same for ages now

I say lots...lots for this type of weather

It was heaving on Saturday!

There is no difference in the wording this time around compared to March in that you should work from home if you're able to. Some jobs simply don't allow you to, but in March everyone went in to panic mode and shut down completely.

In some cases this was totally unnecessary - for example - an engineering company making parts - you can't exactly do that from home. Is it essential? No, but it's not retail either, so the "essential" doesn't apply. Non-public facing businesses can carry on working, but WFH were possible and extra precautions where it's not.

The effect that first over the top shutdown had on businesses was catastrophic and this time around people are being less strict, but still within the rules.

For example, I'm in the office today but as an employer of a small company I need to make sure the IT infrastructure stands up for everyone working at home, as well as someone needing to be able to access files, etc, that others might need (not a paperless business). So far today I've already dealt with 3 or 4 things I wouldn't have been able to do from home and am here in case of a bigger issue with someone's remote connection going down. We're a small business - we don't have a huge IT budget but as the employer I would prefer to be the one taking the slightly higher risk of travelling in, rather than my staff.

I haven’t been anywhere yet but it look quiet from the window. Usually I can see lots of children on the way to school in the morning but this morning I saw only one boy. Our area has the lowest rates in town and was pretty quiet since March.