People's behaviour in London

[catandcandle]

NC for this, because I probably sound like a bit of a loon. We left London as the lockdown 2020 started and have been living in deep rural bliss in an EU country ever since. Here we still have social distancing, madatory masks indoors everywhere, sanitisers at every entrance. I have spent a lot of the pandemic not going anywhere much, I WFH and it has been possible to pretty much isolate throughout. I did get on a holiday to another European country in the summer (after being double vaccinated) but it was country with low rates, I wore an FFP3 on the plane, and because it was a hot country I spent nearly the whole time outdoors and only went to eat at outdoor places etc.

We decided (after DS aged 12 has now been double vaccinated), to come on a trip back to London (DH for various reasons including fetching things he had to leave behind, me and DS just to see London again and see some friends). DH has gone today, DS and I plan to join him on Friday, for the weekend.

DH has just arrived in London and he called me telling me I am going to freak out, there are people in the shops without masks, no sanitiser at the doors, and when he asked someone to please social distance in a shop they mocked him. He is right, this will be very difficult, I have not encountered these things through the whole pandemic!

I am not asking AIBU, I very possibly am, but this is how I feel, and I hve been managing the pandemic this way because I could. I still want to go to London, and I realise I can take my own sanitiser and keep myself away from people. There is no way I am going to go indoors or on public transport without a medical-grade (FFP3) mask. The rates are just too high for me.

So, I just wanted to ask, are there still people who are going to be as cautious as me there? Will I be stared at and mocked because I (and DS) are wearing masks, shy away from contact and sanitise our hands? I don't suppose I should really care what people think of me, but I would just like to be prepared. I feel incredibly nervous about this trip now.

By which I mean, you’re virtually guaranteed an unpleasant illness of some kind, not necessarily Covid, if you’ve been living as you say you have and then you go to London. The world and his wife is being or has been absolutely knocked for six by a horrendous cold since things reopened, because of all these ridiculous measures - including those of us who’ve been trying their hardest to live entirely normally for the last twenty odd months, let alone the people who’ve been washing groceries and stripping their kids or whatever.

I live in London and I still wear a mask on the tube and in shops but I am often either the only one or in the minority. I often feel uncomfortable with how nonchalant everyone is, but then I can see why everyone Is tired of it all, and to some extent it’s a case of ‘if not now, when?’ . It will certainly be a big adjustment for you OP, but if you try to ease yourself in gradually by starting off with trips to the quieter places and outdoor spaces (and certainly stay away from soho and Covent Garden until you have adjusted!) then you should be ok. Think if it as graded exposure therapy! Good luck.

I think the main thing is are you going to enjoy London if you're that Covid focused? I think life in the city at the moment really demands leaving health anxiety behind when you get here.

@MiddleParking I am 58 and a bit overweight and quite unfit. Some of my worries are related to the fact that I have a number of dependents, a "nasty cold" would not be a problem but an extended period unable to work would be a major problem for everyone.

I am vaccinated (second Moderna in June), as are DH and DS. I only managed to get the courage to go on holiday (or get a haircut or see the dentist) after the vaccination!

[quote WheelieBinPrincess]@grapewine I went to the Noel Coward theatre recently and you were invited to wear a mask. Most didn’t, I did not. You had to show a vaccine status or negative LF to go in. There was no option of social distance there anyway. It’s packed at the loos and bar etc.

Was a great night, felt really normal.[/quote]
Thanks for your reply! I appreciate it and can't wait to get back to the West End. It has been too long.

Being able to social distance and a busy bustling capital city is not something I thought would go hand in hand tbh

@shivermetimbers77 I have no intention of going to Covent Garden or anywhere like that! I am only going to be in London for less than 2 days and I have promised DS I will take him to Regents Park and the Zoo (he really misses that). The rest of the time will be seeing a couple of (fully vaccinated) friends in their houses, not planning to go out anywhere else, shop, or anything else (I would go to a Waitrose if I was allowed to bring back food, but I am not! I miss Waitrose!).

@catandcandle

It may be "drama", and not even that logical, but it is one of the ways I have kept sane during the last eighteen months! I am one of those people who quarantined their post, sanitised their shopping and stripped their DC to their underwear when they came home from school until fairly recently, whether it was logical or not, it was easy to do and it made me feel more in control of at least something.

Seeing people indoors without a mask is not something I have seen personally for eighteen months (very small and compliant population where I Iive) so it is going to feel strange, even if my feelings on that are not logical either.

It does not seem like you have kept sane though it's sounds very over the top and bonkers to be honest. If your child child got COVID from school the chances are they would not even have any symptoms. Maybe it's you and to everyone else that's strange

Missing the point of this thread but OP, I'd go to Waitrose and buy enough so you can eat all the delicious things you miss, multiple times and in big quantities, before going back home
It's what I do with M&S every time I'm back!

Many people in my train were not wearing a mask. In my local Aldi I was one of the few people wearing a mask. People going around like its 2019. Very annoying

@Skyla2005 I wasn't as much worried about my child getting Covid from school, as that I might get it from him...which has the potential to be much more of a problem.

He didn't get it, even though he had a close contact at school (he was at that stage still wearing a mask at school).

Pretty much most people stopped wearing masks when restrictions ended.

As for sanitizer I see more people (all through the pandemic) walk past and not use the sanitizer than I did see use the stuff

Many people in my train were not wearing a mask. In my local Aldi I was one of the few people wearing a mask. People going around like its 2019. Very annoying

Maybe we need an updated version of song - but with ‘like it’s 2019’

[quote catandcandle]@MiddleParking I am 58 and a bit overweight and quite unfit. Some of my worries are related to the fact that I have a number of dependents, a "nasty cold" would not be a problem but an extended period unable to work would be a major problem for everyone.[/quote]
You wrote that you'd retired to Ireland so why are you worried about working?

Anyway, it is strange when you go out and people aren't wearing masks. I've given a few people a glare. But now I wear one to protect others but I'm not too worried if I forget. Its very nice actually. We're just a bit ahead of you in getting bavk to normal because your numbers really went haywire a few months ago, but eventually you'll have caught up to us, and you'll be wondering what you were worried about. Hope you can relax enough to enjoy London.

@EileenGC I am not going to be there long enough to spend the time stuffing my face with Waitrose delicacies, especially as I am going to be with people pretty much all the time!

On a population and individual (if double vaccinated) level the risks are reduced. Your main worries of catching should be close indoor unmasked contact that lasts more than 15 minutes. Surfaces, passing by, outdoor mixing is low risk. Catching it is unlikely to be serious, though I can understand that you would rather avoid and have some increased risk of being more unwell - you would still most likely be ok. Enjoy your trip, I think it's good you are preparing yourself. Prepare your son too so he knows what to expect and how to gear shift into more normality without picking up too much of your anxiety.

I feel genuinely sorry for people who are still scared like this and agree it is about attitude to risk. I feel nothing but relief to see life returning to normal.

@Thirtyrock39

I also went to london at the weekend and was quite surprised how few people wore masks - it was definitely the minority even on the tube . I live in the midlands and mask wearing is fairly high especially in supermarkets and public transport

You must be in a different part of the Midlands to me, I barely see anyone wear a mask, indoors or outdoors. Counted 6 people wearing masks in Asda on Sunday

@madisonbridges I retired from my NHS role, I still very much work in another (self-employed) role and am the only breadwinner in a somewhat extended family.

I hope you are right that I will soon be more relaxed. As I said upthread, I am going to have to start, should things carry on as they are now, to once again do some face to face meetings with people in the UK. I am hoping this trip will start to tip me in that direction.

If you're anything like me, you'll be indignant at others being maskless at first, but after a couple of tentative times with the mask off, you'll soon adjust. I can now move between wearing a mask or not according to the circumstances without it bothering me. Humans are so adaptive that I'm sure you and your son will have stopped thinking about it pretty quickly. Good luck and enjoy. I'm very jealous.

[quote catandcandle]@RoseRedRoseBlue it is relevent because it is in London. And there they are still maintaining these measures, they presumbaly have a reason for doing that. What I mean is that, if it was "unreasonable" for Londoners to still be taking these measures than why is a London NHS Trust still doing this?[/quote]
Because they are disproportionately likely to be working with patients who are at a higher risk if they get Covid and/or who have less robust immune systems so poorer immune response to vaccine or prior infection. And HCPs are at disproportionately high risk of contracting Covid

It’s not representative of risk in the wider population.

I’ll be honest, I wish we’d continued basic measures a little longer and got cases lower before the autumn. But London has the lowest rates in England and in my experience slightly higher mask use.

Sanitiser is basically Covid theatre and the evidence on that is pretty clear now. Won’t hurt you but it probably isn’t doing much to protect you.

I'm sure in a city as large as London you will find some people who are equally paranoid, sanitising everything, shying away from contact and freaking out about COVID at every opportunity.

In fact, there are some of them on MN.

I think it’s unlikely you’ll be mocked but you will be in the minority. Most people I know in my part of London are back to something approximating normal life, children’s birthday parties, cinema trips, theatre etc.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

I had my first trip back to London last week. I live in Scotland, where mask wearing and distancing is still the norm, and I have been cautious by habit because I was (mistakenly) told I was CEV.

I expected to feel very anxious, but it was absolutely fine

I avoided the tube (but I hate it anyway). I was quite central … City/Covent Garden. It was generally MUCH quieter than pre pandemic. About 50-70% of people were wearing masks, including some outside. People generally were keeping about 1m+ from each other …certainly not crowding each other the way they used to. Hotels etc still requiring masks.

I suspect people who live in London think it is “back to normal” but it has actually changed peoples behaviour over the course of the pandemic and they haven’t noticed.