Isolation - going for a walk

[OrangeSunset]

Myself and a few other members of my family tested positive over the past week. It was pretty horrid but feeling on the mend now.

In terms of the rest of isolation, I’m interested in views on whether it would be ok to go for a walk. Context is, we live in a village where we can walk out the door, down the road and over the fields. We may encounter one or two other people, but it would be easy to cross the road/move to another path etc.

Obviously we are sticking to the rules - no visitors, not left the house for shops/work or anything else involving others. But, I feel it’s important for us as we recover to get some gentle exercise and fresh air, especially now the clocks have changed. I can feel the rot setting in, mentally and physically, from sitting around inside all day.

However, the rules on the NHS self isolate page say do not go out to exercise.

Given our circumstances, I’m interested in how many people would take a view that it’s logically no risk to others to take a walk.

Do you have a garden you could use instead?
The "rules" on isolation after testing positive are actually laws

You can’t go out. If you get a spot check and you’re not in you’ll get a huge fine!

I would.

We’ve had back to back isolations for nearly a month now as we’ve all tested positive one after the other. It has been massively inconvenient and extremely difficult. BUT it’s the law.

Like you we live in the countryside, and I would. Mental health is important too. One member of our family was shielding & told not to go out in the first wave but did for the sake of their mental health.

Oh god just go. There are people going about their business as normal.
No one is going to arrest you, the police aren’t interested in people who are positive going to the pub, let alone going for a walk!

Just stay away from other people.

This is one of those tough luck situations where you do have to stay in - when we've been in isolation we've used the garden a lot (I am assuming you have one as you live in a village)

This is the main reason people I know who have tested positive on a lft don't bother with a pcr. They isolate at home and go for walks (countryside here) without track and trace people knowing

We also live in a quiet rural village with quick access to paths over fields etc.

We've just finished a month of back-to-back isolations and to be honest we didn't think twice about going for isolated walks once we were over the active symptoms. We were mindful not to touch gates etc and on the rare occasions we passed someone would give them plenty of room.

Rules are there for a reason. Everyone else has to stay in, using their garden if they have one, so yes ,you do too.

Of course it isn't ok. Chances are you could go, have a walk and not encounter anyone else.

But what if you fall, hurt yourself, get hit by a car. Then you have other people helping you whilst you have Covid.

Just do what everyone else has done and suck it up.

I would personally.
I can understand why it is a rule because there is a world of difference from your case where you pose no risk to anyone and say, someone going for a walk down a busy street and bumping into 5 people they know for a chat… and I don’t know how you stop the later without a blanket ban but you clearly you pose no risk personally so I can’t see why you shouldn’t.
I can think of a number of people who went for deserted walks whilst isolating. They definitely consider that they took it all seriously.

Yes I would go for a walk in this situation.

If i felt well enough I absolutely would… get that immune system boosted. I wouldn’t go to a public indoor space (eg shop)… but that’s clearly not what you are saying. Mental health and easing stress through gentle exercise are important.

For all those saying don’t go out in case you fall… I sincerely hope if you test positive, you move yourselves into one room of your house, move your mattress on the floor and consume only cold food and drinks. I wouldn’t expect you to be risking ‘needing help’ in case you trip on the stairs, fall out of bed or scald/ burn yourselves cooking, transporting or consuming hot food.

I’d go.

I wouldn’t go if I lived in a crowded area, I wouldn’t go near people.

It’s just logic isn’t it? This virus is transmitted through the air, between people. If you don’t see any….people, then there’s no problem.

The government assumes that many people can’t think critically, or weigh up probability. They also know that the vast majority of the population don’t live rurally.

Effectively, if you live rurally and can think critically, you are going to be frustrated. Which will impact your mental health. And you’ll need to go for a walk!

Isolation is isolation.

I would absolutely go for a walk.

I 100% would

I think one of the main reasons is that as a pp said, if you were to have an accident, then you will put other people at risk or even if you come across an incident I suppose. You will then put other people in danger.
I live in a flat and have had to isolate, no outdoor access at all, it's tough but I'm not selfish so stayed put.
I'm sure covid will become something we just live with but we're not quite there yet.

@gogohm

This is the main reason people I know who have tested positive on a lft don't bother with a pcr. They isolate at home and go for walks (countryside here) without track and trace people knowing

I’ve come to the conclusion that if I get a positive lft I will do just that and there is no benefit to going through the T&T system. I will inform anyone that needs to be informed myself.

Its 10 days not 10 weeks. Just stay in as you are legally required to do and go for a walk once those 10 days are over.
What would happen if you saw a friend and they wanted to stop for a chat?

Ps other than totally rural walks I would of course stay at home and stay away from everyone else other than immediate family

But what if you fall, hurt yourself, get hit by a car. Then you have other people helping you whilst you have Covid. This just gives me so many horrible flashbacks to 2020 when people made out that if you left the house or went in the car you would almost certainly have some kind of terrible accident (murderer!!!). One MN comment I remember so horribly horribly well was that you might “fall into a rut”. It would have been comical if it weren’t just so sad. I remember myself that I didn’t leave my own home/garden for so long in the first lockdown that when I took the bins out and decided to stray a few metres out into the road as some kind of pathetic attempt for freedom, a police car and ambulance happened to roar past at the same time with sirens roaring and I actually ran back into the front garden CRYING because I felt like I’d almost been caught doing something wrong.

This is the main reason people I know who have tested positive on a lft don't bother with a pcr. They isolate at home and go for walks (countryside here) without track and trace people knowing This is what these laws lead to. I can’t get my head wrapped around the fact that testing when appropriate is considered a good thing / your civic duty but then once positive you basically become a criminal.

I wouldn't. I wouldn't support another lockdown or abide by the rules eg 5 mile limit, not visiting friends and family but if you're positive please just stay in. Its 10 days not a lifetime.

Interesting split!

I know the rules are there for a reason - and that reason is to stop us spreading it. If we saw a friend I would be honest and say we’re isolating, stay away etc. But it’s very unlikely we would see anyone.

Yes we could fall and need help. But the odds of that really are very small. And as others have said, we are in the house ‘normally’ and things could befall us there too. I can’t entertain that kind of worst case scenario thinking it’s too depressing!

I know it’s not a long time, but I also know the importance of fresh air and daylight for general well-being. I feel we’re taking a logical and balanced view and taking all sensible precautions.

Good job we didn’t get a lockdown dog!
Presumably anyone with a dog has to walk the thing even in iso? Not everyone can have support to help with that. I’m really grateful for the friends who have dropped the odd bit of shopping round, no way could I impose on someone to walk a dog twice a day!