Is it ok to meet with boyfriend who I don't live with and go on a socially distant walk?

[Shineonyou]

I haven't seen him in weeks. Thought about meeting and going for a walk in the very nearby countryside where we can walk at least two metres away from each other for exercise and a chat.

Is this allowed?

@LetMeOutOfHere it is not okay. Shame on you for doing that.

Unavoidable contact is different! If you’re at work because you can’t work from home then there’s not much you can do apart from try to distance as much as possible.

You should not be out with your friend. Even if you are 2m apart it’s a stupid thing to do

Of course it's OK to meet. You have to consider your mental health.
Most of my friends are still seeing their DPs it's totally unrealistic to expect otherwise.

What a surprise, yet another thread where someone asks if the rules apply to them and despite the majority pointing out that it's quite clear you're not to meet up with people outside your household, there's some posters saying "just do it because nobody will know".

Honestly, I'd love to see how many people arguing it's fine to ignore the law "if you've assessed the risk and each person has a different idea of risk" or "nobody is going to know" would be fine with this logic being applied across the board.

Eg. Stealing is ok, as long as nobody is there to check on you and you haven't got some nosey curtain twitcher nearby because snitches are awful.
Eg. It's totally fine to trespass on the railway lines as long as you've used for common sense and decided that you're happy with the risk.
Eg. It's fine to sell knock off children's toys as long as you've had a play yourself and decided they're probably safe enough. People need to chill out about safety regulations because you could technically get electrocuted from a plug socket and any appliance could catch fire.

I think there are a few butter wouldn't melt in their mouths mums on here. Let a load of people meet up at Cheltenham. Let the likes of Lorraine Kelly still do a breakfast show? How's that essential. Let alot of Romanians in to pick our veg and not test them. But you can't meet your bf?

I miss my BF like crazy, being alone in my house when my kids are with their dad is awful, but it's temporary. I don't care how remote the chance is that I'll spread the virus by meeting up with my BF. I don't care how many other people are meeting up with others. I don't care about Lorraine Kelly or Romanian fruit and veg pickers. I want to be able to look my kids in the eye and tell them I did everything I could to help stop this awful illness, and tell all my front line NHS working friends that I did everything I could to not give them more dying patients to care for. If that makes me a butter wouldn't melt in my mouth mum, then I can live with that.

Ilovetheseventies
Not butter wouldn't melt at all.

On GMB this morning Piers Morgan was really going for the culture minister saying he had to accept some responsibility for going on record encouraging Cheltenham to go ahead the day after Italy went into lockdown.

Many of us are compromising. Many of us are missing loved ones. Many people are finding things tough at the moment.

But most people are doing what we have to to reduce the numbers of people dying, and have little time for people trying to argue that their situation is so much more unique than anyone else's. Why doesn't everyone who misses a loved one arrange to meet up? We should just abandon social distancing and tell everyone to meet up as and when they like because a conversation with a boyfriend is more important than a thousands dying.

Exactly @LolaSmiles! It's called having a social conscience.

lialiana
It really is.

It's amazing how when people cited guidelines on here there were loads of posters saying "you can't make me... Police state... I don't have to follow guidelines, only the law matters. If it's not written in the law then I don't have to follow it". Now posters signpost to the law and suddenly it's "yeah but use your judgement... Who's going to notice...ignore the dogooders... You do you hun".

We could start applying the "but who will stop you / nobody's going to notice" logic to all sorts of things.
Eg. Nobody is going to notice me fly tipping and I decided that it's a bit crowded having my junk at my house. This field looks like a much better space for it. If any curtain twitchers have an issue with it then they're just nosey bitches who think I should be miserable during lockdown. #ClearHouseClearMind

Eg.

I’m sick of people saying to OP she needs to do this for her mental health.

YES, mental health will be a problem. YES, this whole situation is depressing. YES, we all want the lockdown to end and to see our family and friends again as normal.

But, would you rather meet up with your friends, risk getting ill or making them ill, the infection spreading and possibly killing somebody?

We need to abide by the rules. stop bending the rules to suit mental health. You are allowed out for exercise as long as you’re by yourself or only out with people from your house. That’s it. Take it or leave it. Why be selfish and risk more infections and a longer lockdown?

Surely that would cause more mental health issues! So if you’re struggling, call somebody, go for that walk, take that deep breath, but don’t meet up with people you don’t live with. Even if you are gonna be 2m apart it is still a risk.

I wish people would just stick to the sodding rules and quit trying to find loopholes.

Maybe I’m just bitter, my partner moved 300 miles away the week before lockdown to care for a terminally ill relative. I waved her off with plans to see her the following week. I’m a key worker and my job means frequent close physical contact with people who certainly aren’t complying with social distancing so we decided it was too risky for us to see each other with her ill relative.

I’m now off work for a month on ‘reserve’ so essentially on call. I live on my own. I have anxiety and depression and isolation is a massive trigger for me. It’s utterly shit and if I didn’t have belief that this is temporary, I would go jump off the nearest bridge.

It’s a shit situation but people need to just suck it up. When I’m going into work I’m literally putting my life on the line, I have to go into contaminated houses, deal with contaminated people. Yes I signed up for this but not to this extent and because of my line of work, I can’t be with my loved ones during one of the worst periods of my life. And it’s extremely frustrating to be doing that and watching people completely disregard my efforts and those of everyone else working to try and keep YOU safe.

Worst periods of their life that should read.

@Foreverlexicon You're not bitter. Your situation is exactly why we should all do our best to not take any risks with possibly spreading this thing. If you ever want to speak to someone, just idle chat or anything, please DM me x

@LolaSmiles and @fourpeasinapod but the point is if you actually look at the law it is ALLOWED

SI 2020/350 reg.7 states

1. During the emergency period, no person may participate in a gathering in a public place of more than two people except

see no more that 2 people

www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-guidance-on-access-to-green-spaces

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do#can-i-go-to-the-park

No you may not like it but it is within the rules. And one I think that a few people do follow

Indeed the Guardian wrote an article about it

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/01/dont-be-too-sad-about-the-new-public-gathering-rule-sometimes-two-is-company-threes-a-crowd

SO legally you can.

Whether you should of course is another question. But it is within the rules

Surely it’s better to err on the side of caution though and don’t go out or meet anyone, even if you are sticking to the rules.

Full facts do a nice summary here:
fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-essential-travel/

They summarise nicely that visiting friends and family isn't covered in the law under most circumstances.
Exercise is to be done with members of your own household. Her boyfriend is not a member of her own household. This has been said to death.

The reason public gatherings of 2 are allowed is linked specifically to the reasons why it's ok to be out and about, because if gatherings of 2 werent allowed then nobody could be served in a shop, for example.

It's not a case of "do what you like and meet who you like as long as there is 2 of you".

Combined with the endless repeating of guidance (which isn't law, because evidently there are some situations where mixing households is needed), it's ridiculous that adults can't get by without trying to argue they need to see their boyfriend.

It's a bit like the law states we should be shopping as infrequently as possible. The law doesn't state a number of times a week because different households will have different needs so legislating a set number would be stupid. Despite this there's still idiots going to the shops because they fancy some chocolate as perhaps it is essential travel for them in that moment.

There's always some adults behaving as petulant children.

Ok fair enough it mustn’t actually be fully illegal to meet other people, saying that it bloody well should be.

But OP, just cause this isn’t illegal, I again ask you to not meet your friend. Please use some common sense and stay away from other people as much as possible. It’s simple.

Sorry, boyfriend I was getting confused with another thread

I am quite bemused some posters are so righteous and passionate about enforcing the rules (fair enough) but refuse to see said rules are not clear (or purposely non dictatorial maybe?) and clearly do not ban from being in the same outdoor space as people who aren’t from the same household as long as they are 2m apart. Then in the next breath justify this trail of thought by saying it’s not possible to stay 2m away from your boyfriend without touching him....

This is not what OP asked and she might be mature enough to be 2m away from him and not jump all over him!

If she is in a public space, her boyfriend remains 2m away and vice versa at all time. They are on the move exercising, it is no different to other joggers in the park or queuing at the supermarket.

And i have seen quite a bit of social distancing rule breaking clappers! Echoing a PP comment upthread.

We probably aren't reducing any numbers we are delaying the inevitable. Unless we get a vaccine soon. We will come out of lock down and more people will die. I know six people who are seeing their partners who they don't live with.
Perhaps the government should have allowed the people least likely to be affected to carry on with their lives and the rest of the population should have to shield.

I'd do it.

I follow all of the practical steps to avoid catching the virus, and play an active role in helping vulnerable berable people in my community.

Where there's a chance to make life more bearable at no risk and no cost to anyone else, I'll not wait on the internet's permission to do it.

I went for a walk with my boyfriend on Saturday. We kept the 2m distance. Neither of us are frontline or looking after vulnerable people. We have to get it at some stage so isn’t it better if some of us start mixing. I’m healthy with no underlying issues, currently working at home.

The rules are relaxed every Thursday on Westminster Bridge. The Independent reported Cresida Dick ws present.
The sheer hypocrisy of it all
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