How much longer will social distancing go on for in the UK?

[bramling]

Well for me that is far better than the highlight being a trip to a dirty sweaty pub to watch two alcho's slobber all over each other before smashing a couple of pool ques over each other's head.

But I appreciate that's just me and many people prefer the latter

It depends. Pubs aren’t really for me either, however I socialise at work and have been able to continue to do so (in a socially distanced way for the most part) there right through this. Socialising isn’t just about discussing the new pair of shoes the neighbour’s daughter has just bought, but about exposure to different views, opinions and ideas. Likewise for me going and about is largely about pursuing my interests and hobbies, rather than an inane trip to a beach, and I have enough of that to keep me going for pretty much a lifetime subject to having the time to be able to do it. Most of the people I associate with, and it seems the same can be said for many or most people on this forum.

By contrast what I see when out and about can be quite disturbing. Like today a young woman in a field walking round and round an old bale of hay. Perceived boredom is the first step towards mental health issues. It’s not healthy for people to be living like this, no matter how much they may think not having to go to work is a good thing.

 

[Bikeman78]

That's all well and good but I, along with many other people I'm sure, am not prepared to "stay at home" for months on end.

The powers that be can either set some parameters within which I can undertake some socially distanced outdoor exercise with my small circle of friends, or they can lose my cooperation. The choice is theirs.

I'll be out and about the second the lockdown ends. Even if hotels are still closed then I'll kip at my dad's for my trips in the south east. He should be vaccinated by then.

 

[yorksrob]

I'll be out and about the second the lockdown ends. Even if hotels are still closed then I'll kip at my dad's for my trips in the south east. He should be vaccinated by then.

Indeed. Hotels themselves are great for making socially distanced visits to relatives, but having them open and available goes against the ideology of the lockdown extremists.

 

[brad465]

Take away furlough and the majority would soon have a reality check about behaving that way.

The other issue imv is the majority have lost independent thought and have also largely dissociated themselves with whats happening in politics and the world around them. So when a crisis like this emerges they are easily led as they have been manipulated by the politicians and the media. One hundred years people had to fight (not in wars) to get through there lives and they were much more aware of what was going on how there lives would be impacted and would have seen what was going to happen.

Completely agree, the media have been "thinking" for the public for years/decades: relentless advertising, certain outlets being politically opiniated and spinning stories to make their readers think in line have been going on for so long many in public can't think for themselves on certain issues. This is common with political opinions but is also why consumerism is such a big thing.

What we could do with is teaching critical thinking a lot more in schools and possibly in workplaces as well where possible to help readers understand how to interpret information and see through behaviours like that above.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

The whole point of the original flawed plan (pre lockdown 1) was to slow the rate of transmission during the end of the winter period. As spring was just around the corner they were predicting rates would naturally drop away quickly. They failed miserably allowing the exponential momentum to build too high in the system. Thus the lockdown when it finally came had to be far longer than it should to bring the levels back down.

Yes I am suggesting we educate people so they can change their own behaviour. But the lockdown rules we have in place are encouraging people to stay inside where they are at more risk of spreading the virus. People should be outside whilst refraining from socialising. Even if it feels unnatural to get out in the cold and the wet. Spending time in nature away from other people is what should be encouraged. I say this from a place where it is currently - 11 with a foot of snow on the ground.

But I appreciate that's just me and many people prefer the latter

The trouble with closing everything except essential retail means on a dry sunny day, people will all have the same small number of choices in their local area in which to take exercise (assuming they don’t want hassle from plod for driving somewhere). A friend of ours in Hove sent me a couple of photos of the seafront yesterday and it was rammed with people walking, or sitting on the pebble beach. Shops, cinemas, leisure centres, cafes and restaurants are closed, and there’s very little daylight hours to enjoy. All that the lockdown does is compress people into smaller areas in a smaller number of hours!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The trouble with closing everything except essential retail means on a dry sunny day, people will all have the same small number of choices in their local area in which to take exercise (assuming they don’t want hassle from plod for driving somewhere). A friend of ours in Hove sent me a couple of photos of the seafront yesterday and it was rammed with people walking, or sitting on the pebble beach. Shops, cinemas, leisure centres, cafes and restaurants are closed, and there’s very little daylight hours to enjoy. All that the lockdown does is compress people into smaller areas in a smaller number of hours!

At least peoples fitness ought to be a lot better after this is over just hope the media don't start moaning about it and winding govt up to impose even more restrictions.

 

[yorksrob]

At least peoples fitness ought to be a lot better after this is over just hope the media don't start moaning about it and winding govt up to impose even more restrictions.

Mine isn't. I'm just getting fatter indoors. I usually do lots of walking to and from the station.

 

[Bikeman78]

Mine isn't. I'm just getting fatter indoors. I usually do lots of walking to and from the station.

I bet lots of people are putting on weight. I'm lucky that I have to go to work. It's a 10 mile round trip on the bike so it keeps me fit.

 

[takno]

At least peoples fitness ought to be a lot better after this is over just hope the media don't start moaning about it and winding govt up to impose even more restrictions.

What? After a year with little to do indoors other than sit home eating junk food and drinking, and with gyms shut? No danger are people going to be fitter. You might get that impression if you are looking at the subset of people who are out jogging or whatever, but when this is all over and you see all the people who've stayed home waddling back into the office carrying a few extra stone, then you'll realise the truth

 

[DustyBin]

What? After a year with little to do indoors other than sit home eating junk food and drinking, and with gyms shut? No danger are people going to be fitter. You might get that impression if you are looking at the subset of people who are out jogging or whatever, but when this is all over and you see all the people who've stayed home waddling back into the office carrying a few extra stone, then you'll realise the truth

Exactly this and I say that as somebody who trains at a decent level. It’s just another source of enjoyment and well-being that has been clamped down on, without any evidence whatsoever.

 

[bramling]

Exactly this and I say that as somebody who trains at a decent level. It’s just another source of enjoyment and well-being that has been clamped down on, without any evidence whatsoever.

I feel my health has declined. Not a day of work missed here, and taking exercise outdoors at home has been a distinctly unpleasant experience at times, not least recently with every single footpath thoroughly churned up by the increased footfall, as well as people everywhere which completely spoils the pleasure of a rural walk.

We normally do a lot of long-distance walking, plus quite a bit of physical exertion when out and about. Very little of that since last March.

Some of the shielding people who returned to work in the autumn were a sight to behold. Every single one of them is now quite badly obese. Hardly great for them.

 

[Crossover]

If I may be permitted to put on a tinfoil hat I wonder how many supermarkets have snuck up prices on non-obvious lines or shut unprofitable counters

I believe Sainsbury’s have already decided to close a number of their counters permanently going forward

Hospitalisations rates are not yet showing any signs of abatement and continue to move upwards on a daily basis

I was looking at the graphs earlier on the dashboard and there seemed to be a plateauing becoming evident in the overall beds occupied (be it the 7 day moving average hasn’t yet encapsulated it)

 

[bramling]

I believe Sainsbury’s have already decided to close a number of their counters permanently going forward



I was looking at the graphs earlier on the dashboard and there seemed to be a plateauing becoming evident in the overall beds occupied (be it the 7 day moving average hasn’t yet encapsulated it)

It probably doesn’t help that at least one news channel (Sky) has been parading “worst death rate in the world” all over their news this evening.

 

[notlob.divad]

You're going to the wrong pubs !

I don't think anybody prefers the latter. I am starting to suspect you've never actually been in a pub though, if you think that's at all reflective of what any of them are like.

Clearly tongue in cheek comments and all snese of humour has disappeared from these forums.

The trouble with closing everything except essential retail means on a dry sunny day, people will all have the same small number of choices in their local area in which to take exercise (assuming they don’t want hassle from plod for driving somewhere). A friend of ours in Hove sent me a couple of photos of the seafront yesterday and it was rammed with people walking, or sitting on the pebble beach. Shops, cinemas, leisure centres, cafes and restaurants are closed, and there’s very little daylight hours to enjoy. All that the lockdown does is compress people into smaller areas in a smaller number of hours!

Exaclty. Which is why the stay local guidence for excercise is stupid. Yes we also don't want everyone desending on the honeypot sites in the Lake District. The ramblers have recently doen a lot of work recording 49,000 miles of previously unmarked or unrecorded public footpaths, covering almost every area of England and Wales. How about people are encouraged to hunt them out. Instead of being sheep in a heard and going to the same places. People living in the UK who think they have a limited number of things to do or places to go really has lost all sense of imagination.

 

[yorksrob]

Clearly tongue in cheek comments and all snese of humour has disappeared from these forums.

I thought my response was quite pithy actually !

Exaclty. Which is why the stay local guidence for excercise is stupid. Yes we also don't want everyone desending on the honeypot sites in the Lake District. The ramblers have recently doen a lot of work recording 49,000 miles of previously unmarked or unrecorded public footpaths, covering almost every area of England and Wales. How about people are encouraged to hunt them out. Instead of being sheep in a heard and going to the same places. People living in the UK who think they have a limited number of things to do or places to go really has lost all sense of imagination.

Indeed. Prior to this ill-concieved lockdown, me and my friends have found a number of nature reserves and walks, which whilst not completely deserted, are secluded enough to easily distance and safely pass anyone coming in the other direction with a simple acknowledgement.

 

[DustyBin]

Clearly tongue in cheek comments and all snese of humour has disappeared from these forums.

To be fair it didn’t come across that way, I almost suffered a sense of humour failure there myself having seen our business decimated over the last ten months! I forgive you though.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

Mine isn't. I'm just getting fatter indoors. I usually do lots of walking to and from the station.

(cartoon shows man with rolls of fat, asking ‘is this what they mean by Tier 4?)

 

[yorksrob]

I like that

 

[westv]

Mine isn't. I'm just getting fatter indoors. I usually do lots of walking to and from the station.

I tried my work suit on a few weeks ago just for curiosity.
The trousers must have shrunk as there's no way I can do them up now.

 

[yorksrob]

I tried my work suit on a few weeks ago just for curiosity.
The trousers must have shrunk as there's no way I can do them up now.

I know the feeling. Walking around the local housing estate in the freezing cold, dark mid winter just doesn't hold the appeal !

 

[greyman42]

At least peoples fitness ought to be a lot better after this is over just hope the media don't start moaning about it and winding govt up to impose even more restrictions.

It ought to be but from what i have seen, a fair number of people just head into the city centre and sit on benches.
That is not meaningful exercise.

What? After a year with little to do indoors other than sit home eating junk food and drinking, and with gyms shut? No danger are people going to be fitter. You might get that impression if you are looking at the subset of people who are out jogging or whatever, but when this is all over and you see all the people who've stayed home waddling back into the office carrying a few extra stone, then you'll realise the truth

If people choose to live unhealthy lifestyles then it will not do their health any good. If people had an interest in going to gyms then going out for a run or bike ride should appeal to them.

What? After a year with little to do indoors other than sit home eating junk food and drinking, and with gyms shut? No danger are people going to be fitter. You might get that impression if you are looking at the subset of people who are out jogging or whatever, but when this is all over and you see all the people who've stayed home waddling back into the office carrying a few extra stone, then you'll realise the truth

If people choose to live unhealthy lifestyles then it will not do their health any good. If people had an interest in going to gyms then going out for a run or bike ride should appeal to them.

Exactly this and I say that as somebody who trains at a decent level. It’s just another source of enjoyment and well-being that has been clamped down on, without any evidence whatsoever.

I don't think that exercise is being clamped down on.

 

[johntea]

I don’t do exercise (I should!) but have noticed a weight loss working from home as there’s no temptation to pop to the McDonalds in the station on the way to/from work as an example

I’ve also not eaten a biscuit or packet of crisps since the start of the year just to try and cut ‘something’ out, weirdly I don’t miss those as much as I was expecting to

 

[kristiang85]

I'm definitely not getting fitter. My average day in work would mean 12,000 steps (walking to and from the stations at both ends, and going out for lunch), and more if I was socialising afterwards as I would tend to walk across central London if the weather was OK, rather than take the rammed tube.

Now I'm getting about 3 long walks a week in, but it's still nowhere near as much as I was doing just by going through my normal day-to-day life.

Also we had a no-takeaway policy at home before, which we've broken now as there's not much else to bring joy to the week. So we have a big takeaway every Saturday.

After the various combined months of this over the past year, I doubt I'll be much healthier at all.

 

[Bantamzen]

I'm definitely not getting fitter. My average day in work would mean 12,000 steps (walking to and from the stations at both ends, and going out for lunch), and more if I was socialising afterwards as I would tend to walk across central London if the weather was OK, rather than take the rammed tube.

Now I'm getting about 3 long walks a week in, but it's still nowhere near as much as I was doing just by going through my normal day-to-day life.

Also we had a no-takeaway policy at home before, which we've broken now as there's not much else to bring joy to the week. So we have a big takeaway every Saturday.

After the various combined months of this over the past year, I doubt I'll be much healthier at all.

Same here, before lockdown I could easily see 3-5 miles walking most days. Even during the spring and summer I was talking plenty of walks nearby. But the weather closing in turns local pathways into mudbaths, and the roads are now as busy as pre-lockdown so are not fun to walk along. So even though I've not been eating any more, I have definitely put weight on.

 

[DustyBin]

I don't think that exercise is being clamped down on.

That may not be the intention but it is very much the net effect of these restrictions.

 

[MikeWM]

I'm definitely not getting fitter. My average day in work would mean 12,000 steps (walking to and from the stations at both ends, and going out for lunch), and more if I was socialising afterwards as I would tend to walk across central London if the weather was OK, rather than take the rammed tube.

Similar here - I averaged just over 17,000 a day in 2019. Since April last year, the mean is just under 9,000 a day - and it is far more granular, some days I effectively do 0, which in previous years would have only happened for a few days over Christmas or when I was ill.

 

[bramling]

That may not be the intention but it is very much the net effect of these restrictions.

It de-facto is. There’s no enjoyment in going out at the moment, the weather doesn’t help, but the real issue is it’s all-nigh impossible to have a pleasant walk, due to people everywhere, and the big issue of any rural unsurfaced path being a complete mudbath. All this combined with the short days make it unappealing to drive somewhere.

I am making the effort to go out purely for exercise, but it’s hardly enjoyable at the moment, on the contrary it’s a complete chore to be honest.

And don’t think the pro-lockdown zombie-existence people are really properly exercising either. In most cases it’s a short walk to somewhere they can chill for a bit.

 

[Jamesrob637]

This thread is about social distancing

Is there a thread on exercise, or should mods create one?

 

[david1212]

What? After a year with little to do indoors other than sit home eating junk food and drinking, and with gyms shut? No danger are people going to be fitter. You might get that impression if you are looking at the subset of people who are out jogging or whatever, but when this is all over and you see all the people who've stayed home waddling back into the office carrying a few extra stone, then you'll realise the truth

With more time even if you are not into spending a lot of time cooking, this includes me, there is no reason to buy unhealthy microwave and oven ready meals rather than for example putting a chicken breast portion in the oven, grilling a pork chop, baking fish etc. Vegetables can be frozen and even potatoes out of a tin. Depending if your main meal is daytime or evening the second meal can be healthier too, not similar to a takeaway from Greggs, McDonalds etc.

If now burning less calories than 12 months ago balance that by eating smaller portions.

I'm not a gym person but now on days not at work unless the weather is awful all day get a least a half hour brisk walk around the estate, sometimes I take a larger loop to make it an hour. 12 months ago I might not leave the house all weekend.

Debatable if I am any healthier, at best probably marginal, but I have not gained weight.

 

[farleigh]

With more time even if you are not into spending a lot of time cooking, this includes me, there is no reason to buy unhealthy microwave and oven ready meals rather than for example putting a chicken breast portion in the oven, grilling a pork chop, baking fish etc. Vegetables can be frozen and even potatoes out of a tin. Depending if your main meal is daytime or evening the second meal can be healthier too, not similar to a takeaway from Greggs, McDonalds etc.

If now burning less calories than 12 months ago balance that by eating smaller portions.

I'm not a gym person but now on days not at work unless the weather is awful all day get a least a half hour brisk walk around the estate, sometimes I take a larger loop to make it an hour. 12 months ago I might not leave the house all weekend.

But you could have done that 12 months ago