Why are all the toilets closed 'because of covid'?

[NoEffingWay]

In homebase today, and the sign on the toilets said 'closed because of covid-19'. It's the same in lidl, b&q, and lots of other shops.
I was in london the other week and resorted to asking a church to let me in (must have looked desperate as despite the signs saying not for public use, the verger let me in!).
It's no good opening cafes and selling me drinks, it has to come out somewhere.
When will these places start using sense and opening up again? Today, I didn't need a pee, fwiw, but if it had been another day, or my period had been more insistent what would I have done? I had to drive home from the shops a few months ago or I would have wet myself.

I’m a Cub leader, we only have one cubicle open, and I have to clean it every time someone used it. It’s amazing how many times 8 year olds need a wee in 1.5 hrs. I imagine a lot of places have closed their toiled because they don’t have the resource to clean them between each user.

@bumpdownthestairs

My dentists toilets aren't open due to covid, I was chuckling behind my mask. Surely in a dentist surgery the most least likely place to catch/spread covid is the toilet?

Same in my dentist. Really fucking helpful with a 3 year old...

There’s far more diseases I’d be concerned about getting from a public toilet than covid! Covid is becoming an excuse for the most ridiculous of things 😴

It's just an excuse to save money! The next town along from us has public toilets but you can now only use the women's ( for both men and women) so you have twice the footfall in a tiny space makes no sense. The same town has a kids wet play area which is closed due to covid, kids can play in parks and go swimming now but can't use a wet play area it's crazy.

Yes same at our dentist. Madness. Suddenly people are supposed to just now longer need to go to the toilet when out and about.

The large supermarkets seem to have their loos open and have been a huge boon. If I go anywhere I always plan my trip around at least one visit to a supermarket. I always then also do a shop to "pay" them for use of their loo - spending a penny has gone up considerably!

@TattyDevine my GP surgery has always had an online booking system, even before covid. It’s actually brilliant! You can log in half an hour before the surgery even opens so no waiting for ages on the phone. You put in your concerns, you can even attach pictures etc & then you can request how they respond (email, telephone, face to face or letter). I’ve had to use it several times pre & post covid & it works wonders cause you just wait for them to phone you rather than hanging around on the phone. If the doctor or nurse that review your request think you need to be seen after a chat on the phone or email (more like an IM system) they then book you to come into the surgery. I can imagine it cuts out a lot of rubbish & from my experience with our surgery, it works like a dream!

@Newmama29

There’s far more diseases I’d be concerned about getting from a public toilet than covid! Covid is becoming an excuse for the most ridiculous of things 😴

I'm so sick of it.

My dentist warned that the toilet would not be available. I replied that was going to be a major problem, and that I hoped their dental chair was fully washable.

The receptionist asked me to hold, and came back a few moments later to say she'd had a word with the dentist and they'd decided to make an exception in my case, and allow me to use the bog.

It's an accessibility issue, closed toilets disproportionately affects women and disabled people. I agree that it's an excuse to cut back on a service.

Can report that Salisbury have public toilets open in their town centre, thank goodness as I had to go after driving an hour to get to vaccine appointment there! Basingstoke town centre has there's open too.

Hope that after Monday it starts getting better. I'm finding as I increase in age my need to wee increases too.

We went to Bristol last august and all the public loos seemed to be closed.

Local public loos have all remained open so it’s down to individual councils and an abs disgrace IMO, we bloody need loos. I hate having to skulk into a cafe (when they were open) to use the loo and obviously feel obliged to buy something which tends to compound the problem🤣🤣

I also don't understand the logic of closing off certain cubicles - yes you are closer than 2m but there's a fucking wall/partition between you! Went to Paignton Zoo a few weeks back & off the 4 loos only 2 cubicles were open. Then the men's were closed half way round the zoo so closest was back at the entrance.

[quote Newmama29]@TattyDevine my GP surgery has always had an online booking system, even before covid. It’s actually brilliant! You can log in half an hour before the surgery even opens so no waiting for ages on the phone. You put in your concerns, you can even attach pictures etc & then you can request how they respond (email, telephone, face to face or letter). I’ve had to use it several times pre & post covid & it works wonders cause you just wait for them to phone you rather than hanging around on the phone. If the doctor or nurse that review your request think you need to be seen after a chat on the phone or email (more like an IM system) they then book you to come into the surgery. I can imagine it cuts out a lot of rubbish & from my experience with our surgery, it works like a dream![/quote]
That sounds brilliant Newmama29. Our surgery (pre covid) did allow you to book some appointments online if you were registered for it, but there were only about 25% released and they'd get snapped up pretty quickly. So more often than not you'd end up in the 8am queue.

Online would suit my doctor needs for most things to be honest, but you just worry sometimes that a 92 year old who isn't feeling great might not bother to pick up the phone because it's all too much.

Hopefully we can settle into a decent middle ground that suits everyone - without a doubt for many things it is handy to be able to go online, but not if it adds an extra layer of horseshit to something that is quite obviously an in-person matter!

@TattyDevine haha yes completely agree. There were a lot of people lurking in the woods at Derwent Reservoir last summer before the toilets reopened. Considering most people go for a walk around the reservoir itself, the woods were the busiest I have ever seen them [rofl]

Just to add with the closed toilet thing, I would love to know what special kind of tool decides to close the one place you can go to practice good hand hygiene during a global pandemic.

Yes, I know there is hand sanitiser, but it's not inconceivable that someone might be caught without it and need to wash their hands. And there was a good period of time when we first locked down last year where you just couldn't get it for love nor money, it was a complete sell out, and the tiny bottle you had managed to get hold of was preciously dispensed, and if there was some water and soap nearby that was by far preferable.

I could rant on about this for hours so I better not because I am starting to bore even myself.

I don't get why they close every other sink. 5 people leave the toilet at the same time. 3 sinks to use so there is a queue and not enough room to social distance, they would have been further away using the taped off sink. And that is even if they use the sink and not just leave the toilets. We are supposed to encourage people to wash their hands the rule that makes no sense to me is taping off sinks

8 months pregnant and B&Q wouldn’t let me use their loo yesterday, but the Costa next door no problem.

It’s got much better recently. Today I went in McDonald’s. You can also go in supermarkets, garages, hotels (ask nicely), most public loos in parks and shopping centres. I’m in the Midlands

It seems to be only the very large supermarkets with their toilets open. The toilets in the supermarkets in my high street are still closed. There are no toilets anywhere in the high street and it is a busy thriving area.

I often wonder what the stats are on covid being contracted through the skin of your buttocks briefly resting in the same place as the buttock skin of an infected person had rested before?

In seriousness I appreciate there's a lot of touch points in public loos, but wear a mask, sanitise your hands on the way in and wash/sanitise on the way out---- and no problem? The risks must be vanishingly tiny and I really do think it's now being used as an excuse to avoid cleaning them.

@BikeRunSki

I’m a Cub leader, we only have one cubicle open, and I have to clean it every time someone used it. It’s amazing how many times 8 year olds need a wee in 1.5 hrs. I imagine a lot of places have closed their toiled because they don’t have the resource to clean them between each user.

Is there some rule which says they have to be cleaned between each user? I've used toilets at my workplace, toilets in Sainsburys, and toilets in two different shopping centres and none of them get cleaned between users.

@Pbbananabagel this happened to me last September! B&Q refused & I was literally nearly crying!! Turns out I was in early labour 🙃😂

@Bathshebahardy

It seems to be only the very large supermarkets with their toilets open. The toilets in the supermarkets in my high street are still closed. There are no toilets anywhere in the high street and it is a busy thriving area.

The Sainsburys near me is quite small and had open toilets. I think they are actually designated as public toilets though, as there were public toilets which were knocked down when the Sainsburys was built, so Sainsburys had to then provide the public toilets. Maybe that makes a difference.

They don't have to provide them, though interestingly our Homebase has opened theirs up

I’m guessing it’s a combination of cleaning to a required standard and frequently enough, with insurance and the risk of being sued if someone claims to have caught covid from them. It’s probably easier for many to just keep them closed.